R600, RV610, and RV630 details unveiled

[zekrahminator]

The R6x0 series will be paper-launched at CeBIT this year, though we will still have to wait until roughly March before seeing anything, so that we don't see any shortages. The latest details of the R6x0 family, according to our friends at VR-Zone:
The R600 will be available as previously stated. It will come with 64 unified shaders (32 ROP's?), clocked at 814MHz. It should perform 2.5 to 8 times better than the current R580, depending on the application.
The RV610 will be AMD's entry-level DirectX10 entry. It will ship in May. It will have an 8 layer PCB, digital PWM's, will be manufactured on a 65nm process, and support up to 256MB of 64 bit DDR2.
The RV630 will be AMD's mid-level DirectX10 entry. It will ship with the RV610. It will be on a 65nm process, use "bi-directional PWM for GPU and uni-directional PWM for memories", and have up to 2x256MB (wonder why they don't call it 512MB) GDDR4.
Source: VR-Zone (http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=4571) and VR-Zone (http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=4572)

[Murasame]

Looking good. Now if they would just show them to us and give some prices. I wanna know if the r630 is in my price range and if It'll fit in my p180b. Maybe I should just save up a bit and get that silverstong Tjo9 Temjin. Then I wouldn't have to worry about space.

[XooM]

sounds like R600 will be an 8x performance boost in F@H :cool:

[Random Murderer]

by the statement "2x256" it makes it sound as if the r630 will be dual gpu...
probably not, but it will be interesting to see.

[newtekie1]

64-bit...booooooooooooo

Even the x1300s and 7300s come in 128-bit...

[C.Ash]

65nm? 64-bit? I have serious doubts.

[OnBoard]

RV630 sounds like a good next GPU :)

zekrahminator: you might want to edit "The R6V10 will be.." to "The RV610 will be.." :P

[Mussels]

610 sounds like a 6200/x300 kinda deal, cheap, slow, but full featured - in other words, the kinda DX10 card you'd get in a dell, or as onboard. The mid range one has my attention however, two of em in crossfire oughta be tasty.

[zekrahminator]

RV630 sounds like a good next GPU :)

zekrahminator: you might want to edit "The R6V10 will be.." to "The RV610 will be.." :P

:laugh: Thanks for that.

[C.Ash]

This is still a rumor - not news.

[Namslas90]

Waiting for MAY and the release of the "top end" cards of the 2XXX series. By then hopefully somebody will have a MOBO with all the right stuff on it, and AMD will have the new 4x4's out.

[pt]

64-bit...booooooooooooo

Even the x1300s and 7300s come in 128-bit...

dx10 could probabily be more bandwith efficient ;)

[Mussels]

DX10 wont be more efficient, most likely the hardware is. Just because its 64 bit doesnt mean its that bad... i mean, X1650PRO is 128 bit and it sure kicks the ass off older 256 bit cards.

[lemonadesoda]

The RV610 will be AMD's entry-level DirectX10 entry. It will ship in May. It will have an 8 layer PCB, digital PWM's, will be manufactured on a 65nm process, and support up to 256MB of 64 bit DDR2.
64bit is fine for a 2D desktop. This card is aimed at the corporate/home market AND NOT for enthusiasts and gamers. Use R600 for gaming. Doh! RV610 will probably also be used on AMD's integrated graphics. Not bad I say!

[pt]

64bit is fine for a 2D desktop. This card is aimed at the corporate/home market AND NOT for enthusiasts and gamers. Use R600 for gaming. Doh! RV610 will probably also be used on AMD's integrated graphics. Not bad I say!

if it's equal to nowadys x1300xt, it will even do fine for games on low settings :)

[C.Ash]

64bit is fine for a 2D desktop. This card is aimed at the corporate/home market AND NOT for enthusiasts and gamers. Use R600 for gaming. Doh! RV610 will probably also be used on AMD's integrated graphics. Not bad I say!

Why would the corporate/home market want DX10 cards?

[SPHERE]

well traditionally the low end card of each gen is roughly equivilant to the mid range of last gen maybe they are gonna use soem wicked fast ddr2 or make up for the small bus with some pumped up core spex

[jocksteeluk]

it will be interesting to see the performance differences with all the different pcb designs and layouts with these chips.

[tofu]

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

65nm :eek:

ATI wins the race to get smaller lol :nutkick:

Performance comparison will be interesting between RV630 and the 8600Ultra :p

[Azn Tr14dZ]

Good news, very good news. I'll be going for the RV630 for a Mid-Range PC when (if?) I do get Vista.

[wazzledoozle]

DX10 cards probably have lower power draw on the Aero interface, they are more compatible with the new WDDM.

[Ketxxx]

nice to see manufacturers going to an 8 layer pcb. from the very vauge specs given, they look weak for midrange, lets hope memory and gpu clocks make up for any hardware skimping. 16 pipelines and 256bit memory look inevitable for midrange with with dx10, so its not all bad. expect memory and gpu cores to be massively undervolted tho.

[Saurian]

As said, ATI is the first to 65nm. Hopefully we'll be seeing some ATI DX10 Mobility cards in short order, perhaps in time for me to be shopping for a C2D/Santa Rosa/ATI DX10 Notebook. :)

[niko084]

64-bit...booooooooooooo

Even the x1300s and 7300s come in 128-bit...

Well are we talking about a 64bit Processing core?

Or 64bit memory?

Beh never mind I can't read today...

[InfDamarvel]

Is these are 65nm I expect these things to not kick up some crazy extreme heat.

[Zubasa]

65nm should bring the R600 to consume much less power than the Aircraft Carrier.

[PVTCaboose1337]

wait... gddr2 on the rv610?

[SPHERE]

65nm should bring the R600 to consume much less power than the Aircraft Carrier.didnt it say the r600 was gonna be on 80nm? and the rest where on 65nm

[WarEagleAU]

ATI is looking good. that 2x256MB screams dual core gpu to me.

[BXtreme]

ATI is looking good. that 2x256MB screams dual core gpu to me.

maybe, but if it would be so, R600 series will surely be the best DX9 gpus in the world.
But, who's gonna make the drivers ? Nvidia's crappy drivers messed up its reputation a lot, hope ati makes some better driver ;)

[XooM]

ATI is looking good. that 2x256MB screams dual core gpu to me.

hate to break it to you, but dual core GPUs are nothing new... ever hear of a "pipeline" or a "quad"? :p

2x256MB screams to me... i dunno, turbocache/hypermemory?

[Mussels]

hate to break it to you, but dual core GPUs are nothing new... ever hear of a "pipeline" or a "quad"? :p

2x256MB screams to me... i dunno, turbocache/hypermemory?


Hmmm 256 onboard, 256 system. I can see that being a possibility.

[Random Murderer]

Hmmm 256 onboard, 256 system. I can see that being a possibility.

that would piss me off to no end...
i thought turbocache/hypermemroy was pretty much over with...

[newtekie1]

I don't think we will ever see the end of turbocache/hypermemory.

However, I doubt their mid-range cards would use it, which is what the 2x256MB was listed for. So I am a little confused.

[Keiki]

So if the R630 is a "mid level" Dx10 card, then whats the high end?

[Pinchy]

Remember...*rumours* :p

Could have been a typo :p?

[Mussels]

So if the R630 is a "mid level" Dx10 card, then whats the high end?

The R600? *hands you some wake up juice*

and the 2x256 i meant is interesting as an option, if 256 isnt enouogh it goes to system ram, if its forced on that would be gay.

[Pinchy]

*shrugs*

Turbocache/hypermemory are a waste IMO, especially when you are seeing 512mb 6200's :p

[Mussels]

512MB 6200's are a waste... at least turbocache cards have a use as onboard.

[Pinchy]

na im saying 256mb + 256mb turbocache on a 6200...stoopid :p

[cdawall]

maybe dual channel? 2x256mb running dual sounds cool

[Wile E]

What I want to know is, why only 64 shaders on the R600? I mean the 8800GTX has 128. Or are they saying that their design is so much more efficient that it can make up the 64 shader deficit? Sounds fishy to me.

[BXtreme]

What I want to know is, why only 64 shaders on the R600? I mean the 8800GTX has 128. Or are they saying that their design is so much more efficient that it can make up the 64 shader deficit? Sounds fishy to me.

ya, this was twitching me too. 8800gtx then would theorotically win the 1st gen dx10 battle ??

[Pinchy]

lol, 64 vs 128 shaders...thats a big difference. How many pipes do these cards have?

[BXtreme]

exact details still remain unknown.......

[BXtreme]

hey, isn't the 8600 ul. also have 64 shader ? THAT WOULD MEAN R600 = 8600Ul.
i.e 8800GTX pwnz R600 ???

[InfDamarvel]

hey, isn't the 8600 ul. also have 64 shader ? THAT WOULD MEAN R600 = 8600Ul.
i.e 8800GTX pwnz R600 ???

We all should know by now that ati and nv works different. For example Nvidia went for more pixel pipelines while ati went for more shaders in the age of DX9 cards.
Anyways last I heard Ati's Shaders or ROPS or whatever they are calling them now are working at double the rate compared to Nv's.

Im thinking the two cards will be close in performance but the R600 comming on top of course since it was released later. Id kinda saw wtf in any of them released a high end card that didnt beat the other that was released earlier.

[BXtreme]

yup, we're throwing stones in the water blindly, but atleast we can guess/ or imagine ;)

[dino25]

i think that wil be a gddr5 beacuse a firm caled "Qimonda" is bilding gddr5..:)

[Grings]

2x256 bit mem controllers maybe???

[mullered07]

Why would the corporate/home market want DX10 cards?

um for windows vista duh :slap:

[Teh Gimp]

WARNING:

To all the noobs screaming "OMGz ONLI 64 SHADERZ?! NV HAS 128 LOL! 8600 WILL HAV 64! OMGZ LOL PWNT!"

Realize it said 64 vec4 shaders. Vec4 shaders are a more advanced shader design than the design in G80, which uses 128 scalar shaders.

Scalar shaders can do one shader operation per cycle, vec4 can do a maximum of 4 operations.

This means that theoretically the R600 could be as powerful as having 256 G80 shaders --BUT -- not necessarily. The problem for ATI is that scalar shaders are so simple they are always at 100% usage (meaning no wasted power in the G80), but their R600's vec4 shaders are more complex -- 100% usage is very hard to achieve, they'd be lucky to get 80%.

Expect both cards to be within 20% of each other, maybe more in some, less in others...

My money is on R600 for DX10 performance, maybe a tie in DX9. This has yet to be seen however..

So, remembering that 64vec 4 = ~256 scalar shaders (NV = 128 scalar), plus the fact that R600 is 512-bit external memory bus w/ gigabit (1024bit) internal ringbus (NV = 384-bit internal/external), plus higher core and mem clocks at rumoured 800/1100 (NV = 575/900)... don't count ATI/AMD out of the game yet...

[Random Murderer]

if all ^that^ is true, im getting me 2 r600's :D

[Pinchy]

WARNING:

To all the noobs screaming "OMGz ONLI 64 SHADERZ?! NV HAS 128 LOL! 8600 WILL HAV 64! OMGZ LOL PWNT!"

Realize it said 64 vec4 shaders. Vec4 shaders are a more advanced shader design than the design in G80, which uses 128 scalar shaders.

Scalar shaders can do one shader operation per cycle, vec4 can do a maximum of 4 operations.

This means that theoretically the R600 could be as powerful as having 256 G80 shaders --BUT -- not necessarily. The problem for ATI is that scalar shaders are so simple they are always at 100% usage (meaning no wasted power in the G80), but their R600's vec4 shaders are more complex -- 100% usage is very hard to achieve, they'd be lucky to get 80%.

Expect both cards to be within 20% of each other, maybe more in some, less in others...

My money is on R600 for DX10 performance, maybe a tie in DX9. This has yet to be seen however..

So, remembering that 64vec 4 = ~256 scalar shaders (NV = 128 scalar), plus the fact that R600 is 512-bit external memory bus w/ gigabit (1024bit) internal ringbus (NV = 384-bit internal/external), plus higher core and mem clocks at rumoured 800/1100 (NV = 575/900)... don't count ATI/AMD out of the game yet...

Thanks for the heads up :D