AMD’s next generation mid-range GPU is code-named Barts. As previously revealed Barts will be the first graphics circuit to market in October, but it will be named Radeon HD 6800, while Cayman will be saved for the Radeon HD 6900 series.
According to reliable sources AMD will now revise its naming scheme and move up the mid-range models to the HD x800 series where we previously say performance models including the flagship Radeon HD 5870 and the Cypress GPU.
Barts is the successor to Juniper in the mid-range segment, but performs so well that AMD has decided to give the mid-range chip higher status. Barts will be launched in two versions, Barts XT and Barts Pro. These cards will become Radeon HD 6870 and Radeon HD 6850 respectively. Radeon HD 6870 will be the first to come with a launch slated for late October. When Radeon HD 6850 will arrive hasn’t been confirmed.
The West Indies have given names for AMD’s latest circuits
That Barts will be offering good performance for a mid-range circuit is pretty obvious, but exactly how good is not as certain, but more information should appear very soon.
According to other sources to NordicHardware AMD will start shipping reference cards to manufacturers and partners this week, for testing and evaluation. We can confirm that several manufacturers have tested the card and performance is said to be on par with Radeon HD 5850, but we will have to return with more details on the performance of the new mid-range cards.
| AMD Radeon | Evergreen 40nm (2009-2010) | Northern Islands 40nm (2010-2011) |
| Mid-range | Radeon HD 5700 (Juniper) | Radeon HD 6800 (Barts) |
| Performance | Radeon HD 5800 (Cypress) | Radeon HD 6900 (Caymen) |
| High-end | Radeon HD 5900 (Hemlock) | Radeon HD 6990 (Antilles) |
As revealed in previous posts Barts will be follows by the performance circuit Caymen in November (the true successor to Cypress) and Antilles, AMD’s dual-Caymen card. These cards will be launched as the Radeon HD 6900 series where Antilles will be named Radeon HD 6990. Most likely we will also find Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon HD 6950 in this series, based on Caymen XT and Caymen Pro.
