Advanced Micro Devices has thrown down the
gauntlet to graphics rival Nvidia, unveiling a graphics card that runs
two graphics chips.
AMD Tuesday unveiled the ATI Radeon HD 4870
X2, which uses two smaller chips - the 4870 graphics processing units
(GPUs) -- rather than one big chip. The dual GPU technology, said AMD
spokesman Matt Skinner, provides users with 30 to 50 percent more
performance and lower energy requirements than Nvidia's GTX280 graphics
card.
The performance boost comes from having two
chips on board along with the improved their chip-to-chip
communications technology in the card, Skinner added.
"We wanted to develop a graphics card for
enthusiasts," he said. "We developed a chip targeted at performance.
And then we took two of those chips and put them on one card. People
have tried to build bigger chips but the problem has been heat and
cost. It's difficult for them to put two on one board because of space
and power limitations."
The new graphics card is a big win for AMD,
which has taken a lot of heat in the industry and on Wall Street for
its 1996 acquisition of ATI Technologies. The purchase caused a big
financial hit to AMD, which staggered through most of 2007. While AMD
has shipped a slew of new products this year, the haze from last year
lingers.
Dan Olds, an with the Gabriel Consulting
Group, said coming out with a fast 2-GPU card is a very positive step
for AMD, and could help show that the ATI acquisition was a smart move
after all.
"It's good to see AMD/ATI back in the high
performance game," said Olds. "The new card looks like it will be able
to deliver the goods to high-end gamers, a lucrative and desirable
market. Moreover, AMD's single card -- but dual GPU -- 4870 X2 can, if
early reviews are on target, out perform dual-card configurations from
Nvidia."
"The payoff is that this puts [AMD] in an
enviable position of having both the highest performance video card and
the less expensive solution -- an experience they haven't enjoyed for a
while," he said.
AMD's news comes just a week after rival Intel teased out
a few details for its upcoming Larrabee graphics chip, which will power
its first stand-alone graphics card. Larrabee marks a major strategic
shift for Intel, which has traditionally relied on graphics technology
from companies like Nvidia and ATI.
The good news for AMD and Nvidia, though, is
that Intel isn't planning to release Larrabee for another year to 18
months. That gives Intel's rivals time to put beef up their own
offerings and get out ahead in this looming graphics race.
From : http://www.techworld.com.au/
