AMD has sent out a memo to partners about the current status of its coming products. This includes the next generation graphics chip RV770. This chip will replace the RV670 as the high-end solution, and last we heard, AMD was hoping to have the chip ready for launch in late Q2. Apparently, things have been going smoothly since then and the launch is still slated for late Q2. This means that Computex, Taipei, will have more than a few partners proudly showing off RV770-based cards.
Specifications are still in the dark, even though some too specific rumors have said things like up to 640 stream processors, 32TMUs and just as many ROPs. We’re also avoiding using the suggested name Radeon HD 4000 until further. Frequencies are estimated to end up in the sub-GHz range, but still higher than RV670. Card to card, this is suppose to mean something in the order of 40% faster. Yields are excellent, which should mean great availability at launch and decent prices.
Do remember though, AMD’s focus is on multi-core. The recent unveilment of CrossFireX is the start of something bigger than it might look. The upcoming sets of drivers are expected to bring significant scaling improvements to multi-GPU configurations and we can only assume AMD will have the same focus with the R700 family, mainly because it’s also based on the R600 architecture, which was the start of AMD’s newfound love of multi-GPU.
Unlike NVIDIA not wanting partners to show GeForce 9800GX2 before launch, which they did anyway, AMD usually doesn’t disallow partners to show cards when they aren’t ready, mainly perhaps because it doesn’t send out cards before they are ready. We’ll just have to wait and see whether this means that “GT200” will also be shown at Computex.
