Continued
The last new product is the already known X800 with no changes to the specs so far. All cards offer a native or bridge-less PCI Express interface to ensure the full usage of the new PCI Express bus interface. ATi is confident that they are on a better way than NVIDIA is with their HIS PCI Express bridge solution .
The PCI Express connector of the GeCube X600 XT.
The RV380 graphics processor - bridgeless PCI Express interface.
The GeCube X600 XT stripped.
It's unclear yet how ATi will handle future AGP models. It seems that ATI will continue to use the Radeon 9600SE, 9600, 9800 and X800 for the current AGP product line. Since ATi is not using a bridge solution like NVIDIA - or just didn't announce it yet - they will have to tape out two versions of every new chip. One for the AGP model and one for the PCI Express. One other speculation is that ATI will use a bridge solution for future AGP models. That's the way NVIDIA will go in the future with native PCI Express chips and bridged AGP models.
No doubt, PCI Express will replace AGP in the long term. But the platform is still not officially launched by Intel or others and available on the market so AGP will still be a very important factor for the next 6-12 months, at least in the retail market.
Overview of the new ATI PCI Express card series:
| Header Cell - Column 0 | X300SE | X300 | X600 | Pro X600 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Codename | RV370 | RV370 | RV380 | RV380 |
| Core Speed | 325 MHz | 325 MHz | 400 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Memory Speed | 400 MHz | 400 MHz | 600 MHz | 750 MHz |
| Architecture | 4 Pixel Pipes2 Vertex Pipes | 4 Pixel Pipes2 Vertex Pipes | 4 Pixel Pipes2 Vertex Pipes | 4 Pixel Pipes2 Vertex Pipes |
| Process Tech. | 110 nm | 110 nm | 130 nm LowK | 130 nm LowK |
| Memory Size | 64, 128 MB | 64, 128, 256 MB | 128, 256 MB | 128, 256 MB |
| Memory Interface | 64-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Performance | 163M Tri/s1.3 Gpixel/s3.2 GB/s | 163M Tri/s1.3 Gpixel/s6.4 GB/s | 225M Tri/s1.8 Gpixel/s9.6 GB/s | 250M Tri/s2.0 Gpixel/s11.8 GB/s |
| ATi Features | Smartshader 2.0Smoothvision 2.1HyperZ III+ | Smartshader 2.0Smoothvision 2.1HyperZ III+ | Smartshader 2.0Smoothvision 2.0HyperZ III+ | Smartshader 2.0Smoothvision 2.0HyperZ III+ |
| DirectX | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Outputs | VGA+DVI+ViVoVGA+TVDVI+TV | VGA+DVI+ViVo | VGA+DVI+ViVo | VGA+DVI+ViVo |
| Form Factor | Full HeighLow Profile | Full Heigh | Full Heigh | Full Heigh |
| Header Cell - Column 0 | XT X800 SE ??* | X800 Pro | X800 XT (PE) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codename | R423* | R423 | R423 |
| Core Speed | 450 MHz* | 475 MHz | 520 MHz |
| Memory Speed | 400 MHz* | 450 MHz | 560 MHz |
| Architecture | 8 Pixel Pipes*6 Vertex Pipes* | 12 Pixel Pipes6 Vertex Pipes | 16 Pixel Pipes6 Vertex Pipes |
| Process Tech. | 130 nm LowK* | 130 nm LowK | 130 nm LowK |
| Memory Size | 128,256 MB* | 128,256 MB | 128,256 MB |
| Memory Interface | 128-bit* | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Performance | 640M Tri/s*3.4 Gpixel/s*12.8 GB/s* | 675M Tri/s5.4 Gpixel/s28.8 GB/s | 780M Tri/s8.3 Gpixel/s35.8 GB/s |
| ATi Features | Smartshader HDSmoothvision HDHyperZ HD | Smartshader HDSmoothvision HDHyperZ HD | Smartshader HDSmoothvision HDHyperZ HD |
| DirectX | Row 9 - Cell 1 | Row 9 - Cell 2 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| Outputs | VGA+DVI+ViVo | VGA+DVI+ViVo | VGA+DVI+ViVo |
| Form Factor | Full Heigh | Full Heigh | Full Heigh |
* Specs not announced yet - speculation