X-bit labs

GeCube Finally Releases “Gemini” Dual-Chip ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Graphics Card.

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov

[ 08/31/2007 | 07:42 AM ]

Infotek Corp. is first to announce the graphics card that Advanced Micro Devices wants to position against Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics accelerator. But complexity of the product with two chips and necessity to offer mainstream pricing forced the manufacturer to use low-cost memory, which may thwart the success of the graphics card.

GeCube, Infotek’s subsidiary and a well-known graphics cards supplier, on Friday said it initiated shipments of the world’s first dual-chip graphics card based on ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics processing unit. The product, according to product positioning of ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, will compete against Nvidia Corp.’s GeForce 8600 GTS. But while the power of two GPUs will offer high horsepower, low-speed memory may limit performance of the dual-chip graphics board in real-world applications.

GeCube’s Gemini 3 Radeon HD 2600 XT X2 graphics cards (GC-D26XT2-F5) are equipped with two ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (RV630) GPUs clocked at 800MHz and either 512MB (256MB per chip) or 1GB (512MB per chip) of 1.0GHz GDDR2 memory. The card support four dual-link DVI connectors with multiplexed HDMI signals as well as HDCP support. GeCube does not mention whether the new dual-GPU graphics board can operate in all types of mainboards with PCI Express x16 slot, or compatibility will be limited to those that support multi-GPU technologies..

The graphics cards supplier claims that once appropriate drivers and mainboards are available, the Gemini 3 graphics boards will be able to work in pairs, allowing four graphics processors to combine their rendering power.

ATI Radeon HD 2600 GPU sports 120 stream processors (SPs), 8 texture units (TUs) and 4 render back ends (RBEs). Typically the highest-speed – 2600 XT – incarnation of the chip is equipped with 1.40GHz or 2.20GHz memory chips, whereas the more affordable – 2600 Pro – version of the product features 1.0GHz memory. GeCube decided to use the high-speed RV630 graphics chip at 800MHz along with low-speed 1.0GHz memory, which may negatively impact performance of the solution.

GeCube’s Gemini 3 Radeon HD 2600XT X2 512MB graphics card with 512MB of memory has manufacturer suggested retail price of $259, whereas the 1GB version will cost $279. Both price-points exceed those projected by AMD earlier this year.