R600 will be ATI’s first DirectX 10 capable graphics circuit for the PC market and the first to use a unified shader architecture, if we don’t count ATI Xenos in Xbox 360. New information says that ATI is has succeeded with its last tape-out of R600, which means that the circuit has passed the last development stage and is now ready to be mass produced. R600 is expected to be a truly massive circuit made 80nm technology, and perhaps even a 65nm manufacturing process later on. The first circuits are supposedly working well and if this is correct ATI should be on the verge of meeting its planned launch during the fourth quarter of 2006. Any exact launch date is, of course, not available at this time and we are still awaiting more information about NVIDIA’s G80 circuit, which should arrive a few weeks before ATI’s R600.
