Recap: AMD Radeon R9, R7, Mantle, TrueAudio, Social App

AMD yesterday in Hawaii unveiled the Radeon R9 290X, R9 290, R9 280X, R9 270X, R7 260X and R7 250 graphics cards. AMD also introduced the world to Mantle and AMD TrueAudio technology, the latest innovations that leverage the GPU for improving audio and performance for compatible games.

“The AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series graphics cards are new GPUs for a new era in gaming,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, Graphics Business Unit, AMD. “This era is shaped by ultra-resolution gaming and an exciting new generation of highly-anticipated games like Battlefield 4. But it’s also an era shaped in a very powerful way by our own Unified Gaming Strategy; we’ve teamed up with the world’s top game developers to establish a comprehensive portfolio of games that you can maximize to their full potential only with AMD Radeon graphics.”

Mantle

With Mantle, games will be empowered with the ability to speak the native language of the Graphics Core Next architecture, presenting a deeper level of hardware optimization. Mantle also assists game developers on multiple platforms by leveraging the commonalities between GCN-powered PCs and consoles for a simple game development process. The first game to take advantage of Mantle will be Battlefield 4.

Read more about AMD's Mantle tech here.

TrueAudio

AMD TrueAudio technology empowers game developers with a programmable audio pipeline on the GPU. Enabled games can feature more realistic environmental dynamics, sound effects, and directional audio. Upcoming games to support TrueAudio include THIEF and Lichdom.

Multi-Display

AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series graphics cards support gaming on UltraHD (3840x2160) displays, including support for non-tiled 2160p60 displays with a future Catalyst driver release. Of course, AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology will be in the R9 and R7 Series graphics cards

Gaming Evolved App with Raptr

AMD has partnered with Raptr to release the AMD Gaming Evolved App, a downloadable desktop client designed to make "PC gaming as simple as consoles". This app promises to help AMD customers get the most out of their gaming rigs by suggesting customized optimal game settings. Users can also earn rewards by playing supported PC games, broadcast live gameplay via the Twitch service, take in-game screenshots, browse the internet and chat with friends.

Read more about the AMD Gaming Evolved desktop app here.

For all the details, watch yesterday's full presentation here, or scroll through our live blog for the most important moments.

Follow Marcus Yam @MarcusYam. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

_{Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback}