Gizmodo: radeon

The Glorious, Hulking History of 3D Graphics

matt buchanan — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:00:00 EDT

From the Voodoo1 in 1996 to the wallet-and-pixel crushing Nvidia GeForce GTX 285, Maximum PC recounts the entire history of 3D graphics in ultra-gory detail. A fantastically nerdy way to kill 30 minutes. [Maximum PC]

Giz Explains: GPGPU Computing, and Why It'll Melt Your Face Off

matt buchanan — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:00:00 EDT

No, I didn't stutter: GPGPU—general-purpose computing on graphics processor units—is what's going to bring hot screaming gaming GPUs to the mainstream, with Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. Finally, everbody's face melts! Here's how.

What a Difference a Letter Makes
GPU sounds—and looks—a lot like CPU, but they're pretty different, and not just 'cause dedicated GPUs like the Radeon HD 4870 here can be massive. GPU stands for graphics processing unit, while CPU stands for central processing unit. Spelled out, you can already see the big differences between the two, but it takes some experts from Nvidia and AMD/ATI to get to the heart of what makes them so distinct.

Traditionally, a GPU does basically one thing, speed up the processing of image data that you end up seeing on your screen. As AMD Stream Computing Director Patricia Harrell told me, they're essentially chains of special purpose hardware designed to accelerate each stage of the geometry pipeline, the process of matching image data or a computer model to the pixels on your screen.

GPUs have a pretty long history—you could go all the way back to the Commodore Amiga, if you wanted to—but we're going to stick to the fairly present. That is, the last 10 years, when Nvidia's Sanford Russell says GPUs starting adding cores to distribute the workload across multiple cores. See, graphics calculations—the calculations needed to figure out what pixels to display your screen as you snipe someone's head off in Team Fortress 2—are particularly suited to being handled in parallel.

An example Nvidia's Russell gave to think about the difference between a traditional CPU and a GPU is this: If you were looking for a word in a book, and handed the task to a CPU, it would start at page 1 and read it all the way to the end, because it's a "serial" processor. It would be fast, but would take time because it has to go in order. A GPU, which is a "parallel" processor, "would tear [the book] into a thousand pieces" and read it all at the same time. Even if each individual word is read more slowly, the book may be read in its entirety quicker, because words are read simultaneously.

All those cores in a GPU—800 stream processors in ATI's Radeon 4870—make it really good at performing the same calculation over and over on a whole bunch of data. (Hence a common GPU spec is flops, or floating point operations per second, measured in current hardware in terms of gigaflops and teraflops.) The general-purpose CPU is better at some stuff though, as AMD's Harrell said: general programming, accessing memory randomly, executing steps in order, everyday stuff. It's true, though, that CPUs are sprouting cores, looking more and more like GPUs in some respects, as retiring Intel Chairman Craig Barrett told me.

Explosions Are Cool, But Where's the General Part?
Okay, so the thing about parallel processing—using tons of cores to break stuff up and crunch it all at once—is that applications have to be programmed to take advantage of it. It's not easy, which is why Intel at this point hires more software engineers than hardware ones. So even if the hardware's there, you still need the software to get there, and it's a whole different kind of programming.

Which brings us to OpenCL (Open Computing Language) and, to a lesser extent, CUDA. They're frameworks that make it way easier to use graphics cards for kinds of computing that aren't related to making zombie guts fly in Left 4 Dead. OpenCL is the "open standard for parallel programming of heterogeneous systems" standardized by the Khronos Group—AMD, Apple, IBM, Intel, Nvidia, Samsung and a bunch of others are involved, so it's pretty much an industry-wide thing. In semi-English, it's a cross-platform standard for parallel programming across different kinds of hardware—using both CPU and GPU—that anyone can use for free. CUDA is Nvidia's own architecture for parallel programming on its graphics cards.

OpenCL is a big part of Snow Leopard. Windows 7 will use some graphics card acceleration too (though we're really looking forward to DirectX 11). So graphics card acceleration is going to be a big part of future OSes.

So Uh, What's It Going to Do for Me?
Parallel processing is pretty great for scientists. But what about those regular people? Does it make their stuff go faster. Not everything, and to start, it's not going too far from graphics, since that's still the easiest to parallelize. But converting, decoding and creating videos—stuff you're probably using now more than you did a couple years ago—will improve dramatically soon. Say bye-bye 20-minute renders. Ditto for image editing; there'll be less waiting for effects to propagate with giant images (Photoshop CS4 already uses GPU acceleration). In gaming, beyond straight-up graphical improvements, physics engines can get more complicated and realistic.

If you're just Twittering or checking email, no, GPGPU computing is not going to melt your stone-cold face. But anyone with anything cool on their computer is going to feel the melt eventually.

[Back to our Complete Guide to Snow Leopard]

Factory-Overclocked ATI Radeon HD 4890 Is First 1GHz Graphics Card

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:00:00 EDT

At 1GHz, the ATI Radeon HD 4890 is the fastest-clocked graphics card in the planet—a world's first. It's not a new chip, however, just a "factory-overclocked" air-cooled 4890 that looks like a Ferrari.

So that's a bit of a cheat: In theory, you can buy the 850MHz version and overclock it yourself without paying the premium for the 1GHz version. Or maybe you can buy the factory-overclocked 1GHz version and overclock it again so your PC melts and reaches the Earth's core. [Hot Hardware]

Eee Box Upgraded With HDMI and Discrete Graphics

Mark Wilson — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:10:00 EST

There was nothing wrong with the Eee Box, a PC not so dissimilar to the Wii, except that it lacked any real reason for existence with processing no more powerful than a netbook.

The new Eee Box B204 and B206 look to beef up the line's capabilities into something worthy of HTPC application. While still running light 1.6GHz Atom processors with 1GB of RAM, the systems now feature ATI Radeon HD 3400 series discrete graphics with 256MB of DDR2 memory along with HDMI output to play back high def video on an HDTV. And when you account for the Wireless-N networking and 160GB SATA hard drive, you realize that the the Eee Box could be a contender in the low end home theater PC market.

No word yet on pricing or availability, but the original Eee Box ran a palatable $300. [Asus]

Note: Image is of the original Eee Box.

Get Ready for Cheap Nvidia Graphics Cards

matt buchanan — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:40:00 EST

ATI has been hitting Nvidia hard with its 4000-series big guns like the Radeon HD 4870 X2, and they're starting to feel it, with ATI successfully clawing away marketshare from Nvidia. Which has Nvidia skurred. So, sources say, Nvidia's readying a barrage of price cuts to keep the territory loss to a minimum.

If it pans out, we should be in for some sweet deals—last time Nvidia played hard ball with ATI, they threw bricks, cutting their top-end graphics cards by $200 just a month out the gate, and let loose its GeForce 9800 GTX for around $200 as well. It could be a Merry Christmas after all. [Digitimes via Maximum PC]

Preoder the Linux Evo Smart Console, Toss the 360/PS3/Wii

Mark Wilson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:20:00 EDT

More than one major software developer has argued on behalf of a one console future, a way that they could make games for a single system and maybe even circumvent royalty rates paid to Sony or Nintendo to take part on their platforms. Well here it is, whiners. Go ahead and make games to your heart's content. The Evo Smart Console is essentially a Linux based PC loaded with an AMD 64x2 processor, ATI Radeon 3200 graphics and 2GB of RAM, but it hopes to offer cloud storage and social networking through its included Evo Network.

Priced at $600, the Linux Evo Smart Console can be yours for $250 if you're willing to sign up for some subscriptions. And if you put down some money now, one of these beauts can be yours on November 20th when it's released. As for all the awesome games...uhh...they're on the way. Really. (OK, to be fair, they've got Hexen II Hammer of Thyrion teased on their homepage.) [Envisions via The Gadget Site]

Fastest Graphics Card Alive ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Gets Official Tomorrow

matt buchanan — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EDT

ATI's Nvidia-slaying Radeon HD 4870 X2, previewed last month, will get official tomorrow at SIGGRAPH says the WSJ, who notes that some reviewers are calling it the most powerful card around. It's an interesting test of ATI's graphics card strategy: Cheaper, less power-hungry GPUs that can be easily strapped together (like the dual-GPU 4870 X2) versus Nvidia's penchant for obscenely powerful single GPUs. The best part? Whoever you go with, you can't really go wrong anymore. Update: The reviews are rolling, and yes, the $549 HD 4870 X2 destroys everything else. [WSJ]

Dealzmodo: $19 HDMI Graphics Card

Mark Wilson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EDT

If you've been scouting for components to build a budget media center PC, this Asus ATI Radeon HD3450 is going for just $19 after a $10 mail-in rebate. (It usually runs about $50.) While not a gaming powerhouse, the card is DirectX 10.1-compatible, HDCP-compliant, capable of 1920x1200 resolution and happens to be a "champ with desktop video" according to CNET. The offer expires July 31. [NewBiiz via CNET]

ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Previewed: ATI's Fastest Single Graphics Card Ever

matt buchanan — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:40:00 EDT

ATI fanboys, your time may have come with the R700-based Radeon HD 4870 X2. It's a $500 multi-GPU card that basically straps together a pair of Radeon HD 4870s with 2GB of onboard memory to create ATI's fastest single card ever. (It's not your imagination, they're really stepping with the Nvidia-killing, which is sweet.) Benchwise, it actually beats Nvidia's monster GeForce GTX 280 running in SLI in a couple of games, like Age of Conan.

One of the most fundamental changes in the R700 cards—which are two RV770s with a PCI Express switch connecting the the two and double the memory—is that the GPUs actually communicate with each other, whereas past CrossFire configs had both cards basically rendering their own sections independently, then combining them. AnandTech says it's not entirely clear how much communication there will be, but there will definitely be more than there was. Also, the drivers still need to come up to spec to let the card truly shine, but the hardware is totally in the right place. [AnandTech]

ATI's Nvidia GeForce GTX 280-Killer Is Water-Cooled, Super-Powered

matt buchanan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:00:00 EDT

ATI's probably pretty mad Nvidia stole some of the excellent mid-range Radeon HD 4850's thunder by dropping the GeForce 9800 GTX+ for a mere $30 more. So they're hitting back with a special Radeon HD 4800 card designed solely for the crushing of Nvidia's top-of-the-line GTX 280 graphics card in pure performance.

Code-named "Super RV770," it has pre-installed water-cooling and an unlocked BIOS so you can push the core speed to 950MHz (maybe beyond 1GHz) with a memory bandwidth of 150GBps, even more than the GTX 280.

Diamond's Radeon HD 4870 XOC Black Edition (which launched today for Smooth Creations' build-to-order gaming PCs) is actually the first "Super RV770" card, though it's not clocked quite as high as AMD's super spec. TG Daily expects announcements from other ATI partners like Asus and Sapphire to be coming up shortly. Of course, this is all talk 'til we see some benches. [TG Daily]

ATI Radeon Graphics Cards Running Nvidia PhysX Are Faster, Stronger, Awesomer

matt buchanan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EDT

After Nvidia picked up PhysX, it was obvious ATI would probably get left out of Nvidia's efforts to spread the love to graphics cards and x86 CPUs (hence ATI hooking up with Havok). (Physics engines, for the uninitiated, are what make your body bounce around with aplomb after getting stuck with a grenade in Halo 3.) But some modders have fixed that and ported PhysX to ATI's Radeon 3800 cards, instantly improving benchmarks.

A Radeon HD 3870 system jumped from an overall 3D Mark Vantage score of P3800 to P4262. Though it won't be available for ATI's latest 4800 cards for a bit, you can download the PhysX enabler this weekend at NGOHQ, which should make your Unreal experience on ATI that much sweeter. [NGOHQ via TG Daily via /.]

Mid-Range Graphics Card Showdown: Nvidia 9800 GTX+ Slides Past ATI Radeon HD 4850

matt buchanan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:59:00 EDT

Poised and waiting for ATI's latest graphics card to hit, Nvidia immediately fired off the 9800 GTX+, a nimbler version of its behemoth 9800 GTX, aggressively priced at $229 to put serious pressure on the $199 HD 4850. Benchmarks comparing the two weren't available yesterday, but PC Perspective has 'em up now. In short, while the HD 4850 can mostly keep up with Nvidia's older, regular 9800 GTX, the steroid-injected 9800 GTX+ has enough juice to edge it out in almost every single benchmark. The Radeon HD 4850 has about a month on the shelf to itself before the 9800 GTX+ hits though. Check out PC Perspective for more graphs and numbers than your brain wants to deal with on a Friday. [PC Perspective via Engadget]

ATI Radeon HD 4850 Graphics Card Onsale Now

matt buchanan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:59:00 EDT

With ATI's latest Radeon graphics card already getting benchmarked, I guess cardmakers decided it was silly to wait until June 25 for the official unveil—pretty much everybody is popping the Radeon HD 4850 right now—they're all over Newegg and assorted other merchants. Built on a 55nm process with 512MB of DDR3 memory running at 1986MHz and a clock speed of 625MHz, it's got ~~480 stream processors~~ (480 was old number, it's actually 800) and support CrossFireX up to four graphics cards. While the MSRP is $199, you can pick one up for about $174.99 after rebate. [Newegg]

ATI's Latest Radeon Graphics Card (HD 4850) Benchmarked: Mid-Range, As Expected

matt buchanan — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:52:45 EDT

ATI's next line of Radeon graphics cards—the RV770-based 4800 series—doesn't officially launch until June 25, but Hot Hardware's got benchmarks already on the first shot, the mid-range $199 Radeon HD 4850. It's prompted a response from Nvidia in the form of the $229 GeForce 9800 GTX+, a speedier version of the 9800 GTX on a smaller manufacturing process. But that's just jibber jabber—the benchmarks show it's a pretty decent mid-range card, for now.

The performance is pretty on par with the pricepoint—it edges out the currently more expensive GTX 9800 (the revamped plus version wasn't available yet, so that'll be interesting) though it struggles against the 3870 X2 (which is two cards in one) and Nvidia's fresh-off-the-boat and doubly expensive GTX 260. If you're in the market for a mid-range ATI card, this might be it, but I'd wait for a showdown against the similarly priced 9800 GTX+ if possible. [Hot Hardware]

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 Is Triple Awesomer, With CrossFireX and XGP External Graphics Box

matt buchanan — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EDT

AMD's not letting Nvidia have all the graphics card fun at Computex this week, with some big ATI launches of their own. The Mobility Radeon HD 3800 is their new top-of-the-line notebook graphics card, with supposedly 3x the performance of the last gen. A part of the Puma platform, it brings performance/power balance features, as well as CrossFireX to notebooks, and is so far the only mobile GPU supporting DirectX 10.1 (Nvidia says it ain't no thang). Finally, it's the first ATI card to roll with XGP, basically a honkin' externally powered and cooled graphics card in a box when you wanna toss steroids at your notebook (and have the outlets to do so).

AMD Announces its Highest-performance Mobile Graphics Chip Ever for HD Visual Computing on the Go

— ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3800 series outperforms previous generation ATI Mobility Radeon™ GPUs by 3X for amazing power management and eye-catching graphics1—

Computex, TAIPEI, Taiwan — June 4, 2008 —AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3800, tripling top-of-the line graphics performance in comparison to the previous generation ATI Mobility Radeon™ GPUs1. Joining the previously announced ATI Mobility Radeon™ 3000 family, the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series offers notebook manufacturers the ability to deliver fast graphics performance, energy-efficient 55nm graphics processor technology, amazing video playback, and, for the first time ever, ATI CrossFireX™ technology for a mobile graphics solution. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series coupled with the AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Processors, the AMD 7-Series Chipset, and industry-leading wireless technologies like 802.11n Draft 2.0 form the next-generation AMD notebook platform, also announced today, for the ultimate in HD visual performance on the go.

Notebooks equipped with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series allow users to experience the power of HD with graphics processing designed for work and play to satisfy the needs of the most demanding graphics professionals on the go. 2

“The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 is the most feature-rich notebook graphics solution we have ever produced,” said Matt Skynner, vice president of marketing, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “It’s an ‘uber-performance’ chip that beats all comers. Our notebook manufacturing customers now have the ability to create the ultimate in notebook solutions that feature amazing energy efficiency coupled with next-generation, unsurpassed mobile graphics technologies.”

As the only high-performance mobile graphics solution capable of supporting applications created using Microsoft® DirectX® 10.11, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series offers superb HD game performance and life-like realism for The Ultimate Visual Experience™. New PCI Express® 2.0 support enables fast throughput and superior overall system performance — ideal for high-performance gamers. Notebooks with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series will allow users to enjoy the latest Blu-ray movies in full-HD 1080p resolution2 and free the CPU for other tasks. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series also provides break-through energy efficiency with improved performance-per-watt to deliver exceptional battery life.
The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 features a variety of new technologies designed to improve overall notebook performance:

* The Ultimate Visual Experience™ is enabled with next generation Unified Shader Architecture, immense processing power and a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series delivers feature-rich graphics for astonishing image quality and optimal 3D modeling application performance.
* ATI CrossFireX technology for mobile graphics delivers high-performance PC gaming by combining multiple ATI Radeon™ graphics in a single notebook PC to increase graphics quality and performance. ATI CrossFireX is designed to the latest industry-standards for notebooks today.
* PCI Express 2.0 offers more than enough horsepower for the most demanding professional graphics applications by boosting 3D graphics performance while providing fast throughput resulting in an excellent overall system performance.
* ATI Avivo™ HD Technology is the high-performance engine for advanced image and video technology, while freeing the CPU from compute-intensive video decoding tasks. ATI Avivo™ HD Technology delivers smooth full HD format video playback and photo editing with brilliant colors and sharp images, ideal for professionals demanding the next level of display technology excellence. 2
* Energy-efficient 55nm graphics processor technology helps extend battery life and conserve energy.
* ATI PowerPlay™ technology dynamically delivers the optimal balance between performance and power to suit performance requirements for long battery life and superior performance-per-watt operation.
* Breakthrough Performance-per-watt is critical to users who demand exceptional performance and power saving features that help lower power consumption.
* New design size implementation allows the chip to run cool, producing less heat so that notebook delivers the power, performance and efficiency users crave.

And for the XGP:

AMD Announces Revolutionary External Graphics Solution for Notebooks

Portable ATI XGP™ Technology unlocks notebooks for enthusiast-class desktop graphics performance and true multimedia upgradeability

Computex, TAIPEI — June 4, 2008 —AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced ATI XGP™ (External Graphics Platform) Technology, a new external PCI Express® (PCIe) 2.0 graphics platform, designed to deliver enthusiast-class desktop graphic performance and true multimedia upgradeability to notebooks1. ATI XGP is an exclusive technology that capitalizes on PCIe 2.0 to deliver enthusiast-class graphics via a connected cable to an externally powered and cooled device. This unique innovation delivers up to 4.0 Gbyte/s in each direction in bandwidth communication between the notebook and external graphics, whereas previous consumer level external solutions were limited in graphics bandwidth2. ATI XGP is fully optimized for new AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra notebook platforms, also announced today.

ATI XGP Technology is being first launched with the newly announced ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3800 series for eye-catching HD graphics. As an industry first for notebooks, ATI XGP Technology delivers multi-GPU capabilities of scalable performance with ATI CrossFireX™ technology. The additional high bandwidth of the included USB 2.0 connectivity allows users to connect to a wide variety of USB-based devices, including external TV tuners, external Blu-ray players, and much more.

“With ATI XGP Technology, notebooks can switch between everyday computing and hard-core gaming with a simple plug-in that’s also portable enough to bring powerful 3D performance on-the-go,” said Matt Skynner, vice president of Marketing, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “This technology allows users to choose notebooks with slim, lightweight and elegant designs, yet enjoy the full performance of a traditional desktop gaming rig wherever it’s convenient.”

Björn Fehrm, head of Strategy and Innovation Consumer, EMEA, Fujitsu-Siemens Corp., said: “Powered by ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 in an external AMILO GraphicsBooster, the ultra mobile AMILO Sa 3650, with ATI XPG technology, takes on two very different but equally compelling personalities. Use it for your daily computing with the internal graphics for outstanding mobility and battery life. Dock it to your AMILO GraphicsBooster when coming home, in a hotel room or at a LAN event and now your gaming and multimedia performance is in another world.”

ATI XGP Technology is contained in an external chassis connected to the notebook via a specially designed self-latching, easy-connecting PCIe 2.0 cable from Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited, a leading provider of electronic devices and connectors. Based on AMD’s dedicated research and development, the cable also provides USB 2.0 connectivity directly to the notebook allowing for additional USB functionality. Independently cooled and powered, ATI XGP Technology offers the potential for higher performance than traditional entry-level graphics solutions. Notebook users can take advantage of the varied usage scenarios including multiple monitor support, high performance gaming, Blu-ray video playback, and increased graphics performance for video editing3.

“ATI XGP Technology is cutting edge and we’re excited to participate in this revolutionary solution for notebooks,” said Mark Saubert, marketing manager, Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited. “ATI XGP Technology redefines what mobile graphics is all about.”
The initial offering of ATI XGP Technology features the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series graphics solution giving notebook users a variety of additional functionality:

* PCI Express® 2.0 offers more than enough horsepower for the most demanding professional graphics applications by boosting 3D graphics performance while providing fast throughput resulting in an excellent overall system performance
* ATI Avivo™ HD Technology that delivers smooth video playback and photos in high-definition format with brilliant colors and sharp images
* ATI Avivo HD technology features an enhanced version of AMD’s Unified Video Decoder (UVD) offering full hardware acceleration of video decode for smooth playback of full 1080p content from Blu-ray movies4
* Integrated Digital Outputs enable viewing standard and high-definition content on a variety of devices including HDMI with integrated audio and DVI5

For more information about ATI XGP Technology, please visit: http://ati.amd.com/technology/xgp/index.html

[AMD, AMD]

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 Reviewed (Verdict: Pwns Radeon HD 3870 X2, But...)

matt buchanan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:10:18 EDT

Nvidia's headlining GeForce 9 series card, the monstrous 9800 GX2, officially launched today. It pulls an old trick out of Nvidia's hat—melding two GPUs onto a single board—so you can actually go quad-SLI for a mere $1200. It completely crushes ATI's top-of-the-line dual-GPU Radeon HD 3870 X2. But is two times the GPU necessarily two times the awesome?

It's running the same GPU series as the 9600 GT, 8800 GT and 8800 GTS 512MB (not be confused w/ the regular 8800 GTS). Actually when you look closely at the number of shader and stream processors and their clock speeds, it turns out the 9800 GX2 is basically two slightly underclocked 8800 GTS 512MB GPUs strapped together, and this plays out in the virtually indistinguishable benchmarks too.

Here's the rub: The 9800 GX2 is over 600 smackers. You can run two 8800 GT cards in SLI at $200 a pop and get almost the exact same performance for $200 less. So the real conclusion is that the 8800 GT is still the best card out there for the money. [Hard OCP]

ATI Breaks Teraflop Barrier with Radeon HD 3870 X2 GPU

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:07:26 EST

Remember that honkin' ATI graphics card we showed you at CES? The one that was 1,000 times as fast as a Cray-1? Well, it's official, making its debut today as the $450 ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2. It's the first GPU to break the teraflop barrier, and is nearly double the performance of the HD 3870 you spent all your money on back in November. Press release with technical details after jump. [Product Page]

AMD Delivers Enthusiast Performance Leadership(1) with the Introduction of the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3870 X2
— Industry's First Teraflop Consumer Graphics Card Redefines High-Definition Performance for 1080P Gaming and beyond —
SUNNYVALE, Calif. —(Business Wire)— Jan. 28, 2008 AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced the immediate availability of the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3870 X2 graphics processor, expanding the visual boundaries of PC entertainment well beyond the 1080P High Definition (HD) threshold. The industry's first graphics processor to break the Teraflop (one trillion floating point operations per second) barrier, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 nearly doubles the performance of the award-winning ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3870 introduced in November 2007.(2)

Through an elegant yet aggressive design, the 55 nanometer process-based ATI Radeon 3870 X2 combines two ATI Radeon HD 3870s on a single graphics board, connected through integrated CrossFire(TM) technology. ATI Radeon 3870 X2 is also the first performance-leadership graphics product in the world to support Microsoft's upcoming DirectX(R) 10.1 technology. The ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers a new class of price and performance leadership with unbelievable enthusiast value at a suggested retail price of US $449.

This launch follows on the success of the recently released ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3400 and ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3600 series graphics products, completing a comprehensive portfolio of next-generation 55nm GPUs that deliver unparalleled price, performance and energy efficiency from entry-level to performance-leadership class products.

"PC gaming enthusiasts demand the ultimate in performance and scalability for their HD gaming experience and the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 sets the standard by which all should be compared in this segment," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Product Group, AMD. "With this launch we reaffirm our commitment to enthusiast performance leadership and send a clear message that the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 is the new gold standard of the PC gaming world."

Ultimate Performance

With the upcoming introduction of Microsoft's DirectX 10.1 specification, gamers can expect more realistic gaming environments while developers have access to an increased amount of tools and resources to enhance overall image quality. Through delivering top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support, ATI Radeon HD 3000 series users can enjoy a more complete gaming experience now and in the future.

"We're pleased to see our newest DirectX 10 technology brought to market so soon with the introduction of AMD's latest enthusiast hardware," said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows, Microsoft. "One of the greatest advantages of PC gaming is the rapid pace at which the experiences evolve and improve. ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 delivers on the promise of DirectX 10 gaming with significantly improved visuals and enhanced performance."

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 will also provide support for ATI CrossFireX(TM), the innovative next-generation AMD multi-GPU technology designed to support up to four GPUs. Software support to enable ATI CrossFireX is planned for late Q1 2008.

Ultimate HD Experiences

With the launch of ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2, AMD continues to support the industry-leading Unified Video Decoder (UVD) and ATI Avivo(TM) HD for exceptional platform efficiency and image quality for H.264 and VC-1 high definition content. Enhanced HDMI functionality is also offered via integrated HDCP and audio for HDMI video.

"Alienware prides itself on staying at the forefront of HD gaming innovation so that our brand stands for the best possible experience for our customers," said Patrick Cooper, director of product group, Alienware. "With the launch of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 in our Area-51 ALX CrossFire platform, we can push the boundaries of visual realism one step further and provide enthusiast gamers with the perfect blend of next-generation features, performance and platform efficiency."

Ultimate Efficiency

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 is the first enthusiast graphics processors to use TSMC's 55nm process technology. The smooth transition to 55nm has allowed for a 2X increase in performance-per-watt over the previous generation. Through an elegant board design, the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers exceptional acoustics that are roughly equivalent to a single ATI Radeon HD 3870. When combined with ATI PowerPlay(TM) technology, the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers exceptional idle power efficiency with the ability to dynamically raise or lower GPU power depending on the usage scenario.

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 launches with broad availability and ecosystem support from AMD's Add-in-Board (AIB) and Systems Integrators (SI) partners. AIB partners building boards based on the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 include Asus, ASK, Club3D, Diamond Multimedia, HIS, ITC, Jetway, MSI, Sapphire, Triplex, Tul and Visiontek. Systems integrators launching ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 series include ABS, Alienware, Canada Computers, CyberPower, Falcon-Northwest, iBUYPOWER, Maingear, Systemax and Velocity Micro.

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

(1) Performance comparisons using ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 versus NVIDIA 8800 Ultra using 3D Mark 2006, Supreme Commander, Call of Juarez, BioShock and Unreal Tournament 3 at 2560X1600 on AMD Phenom 2.6GHz CPU, AMD 790FX chipset, 2GB DDR2-800, Windows VISTA 64bit and ATI Catalyst display driver v. 8.45

(2) Performance comparisons of ATI Radeon HD 3870 versus ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 using 3D Mark 2006, Supreme Commander and Unreal Tournament 3 at 2560X1600 on AMD Phenom 2.6GHz CPU, AMD 790FX chipset, 2GB DDR2-800, Windows VISTA 64bit and ATI Catalyst display driver v. 8.45

It's rumored that Apple is underclocking...

Adrian Covert — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:08:02 EDT

It's rumored that Apple is underclocking the graphics cards in the new batch of iMacs. [TUAW]

ATI's recalling a batch of Radeon HD 2400...

Jason Chen — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:45:11 EDT

ATI's recalling a batch of Radeon HD 2400 and HD 2600 cards with a bug in the BIOS application process. If you've got one, return it. [Digitimes via Slashgear]

ATI Leaks More R600 Details

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:45:42 EDT

AMD has been teasing us with glimpses of ATI's next-gen DirectX 10 video cards, and the latest peek is the most tantalizing. The cards will all fall into the HD 2000-series umbrella (the HD stands for their Avivo HD technology).

At the top of the line is the Radeon HD 2900 XT with 320 stream processors (each one reducing dependence on the CPU), native CrossFire support (making it easier to pair two of these babies up), and integrated HDMI out with support for 5.1 surround sound. They will also support

128-bit HRD rendering and 16x anti-aliasing. The RV630-based cards will fall under the Radeon HD 2600 umbrella with Pro and XT versions and finally the budget RV610-based models will carry the Radeon HD 2400 name. There's no word on what kind of power consumption to expect from these cards, but hopefully we'll hear the official word from ATI soon. The cards are expected to roll out starting this month (which is around the same time we expect Nvidia's new 8800 Ultra card and their mid-tier cards as well). Let the war begin. – Louis Ramirez

Ed: There's no HDMI in either of these pics.

ATI Releases More R600 Details [DailyTech]