RADEON X800-series from ATI Technologies may be unwrapped a bit later than the industry suggested, according to a report from The Inquirer web-site. There are no reasons given for the delay, but it looks like early May is the right timeframe to expect ATI’s next-generation VPU introduction.

ATI Technologies still plans to roll-out various versions of the code-named R420 VPU branded as RADEON X800 PRO, RADEON X800 XT, RADEON X880 XT and RADEON X800 SE. The solutions will enable different number of rendering pipelines: 12, 16, 16, 8 and will function at different clock-speeds that are still to be decided. Higher-end graphics cards, such as RADEON X800PRO, X800XT and X880XT will have 256 or 512MB of GDDR3 memory functioning at clock-speed in the range of 1000MHz. The performance-mainstream offering RADEON X800 SE will use memory with 128-bit bus that is clocked at lower clock-speed compared to high-end products.

There are some changes with ATI’s launch plans. Apparently, the RADEON X800 PRO will be launched on the 4^th or the 5^th of May, while the RADEON X800 for AGP 8x and RADEON X880XT for PCI Express x16 are scheduled for June, not May introduction, if the information is correct.

There is no information on the reasons for the postponement, however, keeping in mind that ATI has reportedly boosted specifications of its graphics processors, some additional qualification tests might be required.

Representatives for ATI Technologies usually do not comment on unreleased products.