RV620 will be heart of AMD/ATI’s next low-end replacement and for the first time some information on the chip has surfaced. Over at Expreview they’ve published a couple of photos of the actual core, not just RV620 but also the current RV610, and the thing that really stands out is that the RV620 core is noticeably smaller than the predecessor. Even though the RV620 brings PCIe 2.0, DirectX 10.1, UVD and software-based Crossfire, the core is still 15 % smaller than RV610. The reason is the more efficient 55 nm manufacturing process.
RV610 is made with 65 nm technology, but all circuits boards made for the RV610 (since the start of August) are compatible with the coming RV620 chip. The replacement isn’t expected until sometime during the first quarter, 2008.
