ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, has introduced a new professional graphics card that can support up to six monitors and carries 4GB of GDDR5 memory onboard. The novelty is based on ATI's highest-performance graphics processing unit with 1600 stream processing units.

ATI FirePro V8800 graphics board is based on the Cypress GL XT graphics processing unit clocked at 825MHz with 1600 stream processors, has peak performance of 2.64TFLOPS in single precision math operations and 532GFLOPS in double precision math operations. The graphics board carries 4GB of GDDR5 memory, six mini-DisplayPort outputs, one stereo sync outputs and supports framelock/gunlock functionality, as well as for 10-bit per colour components. The chip fully supports DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.0 and OpenCL.

With six mini-DisplayPort outputs, the ATI FirePro V9800 allows to use up to six independent monitors to increase productivity/ ATI Eyefinity technology can provide an expansive desktop resolution of up to 5760 x 2160 to enable more efficient multitasking and improve visualization applications. This feature will be particularly valuable for customers in industries with large volume data sets, such as medical and oil & gas, and in animation and compositing.

Many software developers, designers and professionals have applauded ATI's move to drive the Eyefinity technology to the professional segment.

“The ability to drive six display outputs simultaneously and achieve such a large image on a very high resolution display is a great step forward for engineering collaboration. Sharing a 3D model at full scale and achieving a significant cost reduction at the same time sounds like a dream, yet it is a reality,” said Jerome Maillot, senior manager at Dassault Systèmes.

“We’ve tested it and without doubt, the FirePro V9800 is fast, very fast. Just one card can hold the complete graphic data in only one frame buffer and allows us to drive six monitors without the need for a sync card,” said Dr. Johannes Friebe, sales director at Schneider Digital.

“Onboard GPU memory is critical for advanced visualization and is an area where the V9800 excels. MachStudio Pro software uses this memory to deliver the real-time cinematic-quality results 3D artists demand. Add together the 4 GB of memory and the native support for up to six monitors with ATI Eyefinity technology, and the combination of the V9800 and MachStudio Pro provide artists with the tools they need to effortlessly produce a visual feast, said Yoni Koenig, chief scientist at StudioGPU.

Like the other products in the ATI FirePro family, the ATI FirePro V9800 offers comprehensive support for stereo-3D capability, supporting active shutter glasses via the on-board 3-pin connector, as well as passive and auto-stereoscopic displays and projectors. Additionally, with support for the ATI FirePro S400 synchronization module, up to four ATI FirePro V9800 graphics cards can be synchronized (genlock, framelock), delivering up to 24 synchronized outputs from a single computer – a breakthrough in display density for demanding powerwall and video wall applications.

ATI FirePro V9800 has an estimated retail price of $3499 and, according to the manufacturer, offers unparalleled performance for the price.

Tags: ATI, AMD, FirePro, Cypress, Evergreen