Fozzik
09-14-2005, 07:35 PM
Those crazy Canadian graphics folks with their snazzy red printed circuit boards may finally be launching a next-generation graphics chip in the next month or so.
739More details have been floating around the web, and after seeing some things from several different sources, I suppose it's time for an update to the most recent and widely reported set of unconfirmed rumors.
We're finally seeing a real retail name for ATI's new cards...Radeon X1800. Don't worry, there's better news.
Here's how the lineup seems to be shaping up -
Radeon X1800 XT (16 pixel pipes, 600MHz core, 1400MHz GDDR3, 512MB, dual-slot cooling)
Radeon X1800 XL (16 pixel pipes, 550MHz core, 1250MHz GDDR3, 512MB, dual-slot cooling)
Radeon X1800pro (16 pixel pipes, 500MHz core, 1000MHz GDDR3, 256MB, Single-slot cooling)
Radeon X1800 LE (12 pixel pipes, 450MHz core, 900MHz GDDR2, 256MB, single-slot cooling)
Prices are being hinted as $599, $499, $449, and $349 respectively.
If you aren't confused by this high-end lineup, just wait until you hear about the X1600 and X1300 cards that should also be launching at the same time.
Interesting to note that at least in the current set of rumors, ATI is going to manage to stuff 512MB of very high-speed memory onto their highest-end cards, and still sell them at competitive prices. If true...this could be big. I'm going to speculate a bit and say that the shader model 3.0 hardware in these new chips, along with a rather tweaked up memory controller (512bit, supposedly), these cards may be able to really take advantage of that much memory in games that utilize it. This could give ATI a bit of an advantage, and help them make up some lost ground if the prices are correct.
Although it appears more and more likely that ATI's new flagship product is going to have the same number of pipelines as their current-gen high-end cards (16), don't take this as an apples-to-apples comparison. Remember that a huge amount of additional transistors needed to be added to make this new card Shader Model 3.0 compliant. Pipelines are not all created equal. Everyone seems to be claiming that the X1800s will be very competitive (read: a little faster) than their Nvidia counterparts. I don't see much reason to doubt that, considering how much time ATI has had to get these products together and compare them to 7800s behind closed doors. I'd expect Nvidia to hit back in some fashion if that's the case.
I do have some doubts about the quoted prices... the difference in price between the XL and the PRO versions seems to be rather small considering the differences between the two parts. Either the PRO is going to be a very bad deal, or those prices aren't quite right. We'll have to wait and see.
Anandtech has a fairly substantial amount of info in an article here (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2532). Check it out if you want more. I can't wait to see these cards on shelves...I sure hope the XT is available in enough quantity so that normal humans (well, hardware geeks with disposable cash) will be able to purchase them.
739More details have been floating around the web, and after seeing some things from several different sources, I suppose it's time for an update to the most recent and widely reported set of unconfirmed rumors.
We're finally seeing a real retail name for ATI's new cards...Radeon X1800. Don't worry, there's better news.
Here's how the lineup seems to be shaping up -
Radeon X1800 XT (16 pixel pipes, 600MHz core, 1400MHz GDDR3, 512MB, dual-slot cooling)
Radeon X1800 XL (16 pixel pipes, 550MHz core, 1250MHz GDDR3, 512MB, dual-slot cooling)
Radeon X1800pro (16 pixel pipes, 500MHz core, 1000MHz GDDR3, 256MB, Single-slot cooling)
Radeon X1800 LE (12 pixel pipes, 450MHz core, 900MHz GDDR2, 256MB, single-slot cooling)
Prices are being hinted as $599, $499, $449, and $349 respectively.
If you aren't confused by this high-end lineup, just wait until you hear about the X1600 and X1300 cards that should also be launching at the same time.
Interesting to note that at least in the current set of rumors, ATI is going to manage to stuff 512MB of very high-speed memory onto their highest-end cards, and still sell them at competitive prices. If true...this could be big. I'm going to speculate a bit and say that the shader model 3.0 hardware in these new chips, along with a rather tweaked up memory controller (512bit, supposedly), these cards may be able to really take advantage of that much memory in games that utilize it. This could give ATI a bit of an advantage, and help them make up some lost ground if the prices are correct.
Although it appears more and more likely that ATI's new flagship product is going to have the same number of pipelines as their current-gen high-end cards (16), don't take this as an apples-to-apples comparison. Remember that a huge amount of additional transistors needed to be added to make this new card Shader Model 3.0 compliant. Pipelines are not all created equal. Everyone seems to be claiming that the X1800s will be very competitive (read: a little faster) than their Nvidia counterparts. I don't see much reason to doubt that, considering how much time ATI has had to get these products together and compare them to 7800s behind closed doors. I'd expect Nvidia to hit back in some fashion if that's the case.
I do have some doubts about the quoted prices... the difference in price between the XL and the PRO versions seems to be rather small considering the differences between the two parts. Either the PRO is going to be a very bad deal, or those prices aren't quite right. We'll have to wait and see.
Anandtech has a fairly substantial amount of info in an article here (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2532). Check it out if you want more. I can't wait to see these cards on shelves...I sure hope the XT is available in enough quantity so that normal humans (well, hardware geeks with disposable cash) will be able to purchase them.