ATI RADEON X1900 Graphics Cards Surface

by Anton Shilov
12/27/2005 | 10:08 PM

ATI Technologies’ yet-to-be-released code-named R580 graphics product, which commercial name is believed to be RADEON X1900, surfaced pictured on an Asian web-site. The main message that the pictures may send is that there are graphics cards based on the chip and the chip is substantially larger compared to the RADEON X1800 (R520).

Web-site HKEPC claims that the R580 will be called RADEON X1900-series and the family will consist of the RADEON X1900 XTX, XT and CrossFire Edition models. Later on the RADEON X1900 XL and some other models may show up, according to other sources. The RADEON X1900 XTX, the premium member of the family, will feature the highest clock-speeds, which are claimed to be 650MHz for the visual processing unit (VPU) and 1550MHz for memory. The new chip is proclaimed to be scheduled for January, 24, 2006, introduction.

Presumably RADEON X1900 graphics card

Sources close to ATI said that the product specifications have not yet been determined about a week ago and that the launch date may be pushed back or forward depending on the product availability in stocks of retailers and online stores. Market sources suggested that ATI wants to make its new high-end graphics product available worldwide starting from the first day.

Presumably R580 (RADEON X1900) graphics chip and picture of the RADEON X1800 (R520) chip

Die size of the R580 chip is significantly bigger compared to the R520 and resembles that of the G70 chip that powers NVIDIA’s GeForce 7800 GTX products. Higher die size means higher cost to build a chip.

Unofficial information hints that the R580 has 48 pixel shader processors, 8 or more vertex processors and works at high clock-speeds. The chip, however, is expected to have 16 texture mapping units (TMU), less that could be expected. The product is to support Shader Model 3.0, ring-bus memory controller that supports GDDR4 memory type and other innovations.