It is uncertain how many users consider floating point or "Teraflops" as an important performance feature for their computers. But even so, a 5 Teraflops performance in one desktop computer should probably make most of the technology enthusiasts raise an eyebrow. This performance tag is expected from a desktop computer that will run on four ATI next generation graphics cards connected by a CrossFire X setup.

As most of you already know, AMD is about to release its new RV770-based graphics card lineup, which is expected to bring 1.2 TFlops of performance. However, before that happens, AMD has decided to unleash upon us the FireStream 9250 graphics card. During the International Supercomputing Conference today, the Sunnyvale-based chip manufacturer introduced its next-generation stream processor, that is said to have been specifically designed to accelerate critical algorithms in high-performance computing (HPC), mainstream and consumer applications.

With this card, AMD breaks the teraflop barrier for single precision performance. Even more, the card comes with an impressive power consumption rate of less than 150 watts. The AMD FireStream 9250 can deliver an unprecedented performance per watt efficiency, with up to eight gigaflops per watt.

The AMD FireStream card is meant to deliver graphics performance to business users that run critical workloads, such as financial analysis or seismic processing, dramatically faster than with CPU alone, helping them address more complex problems and thus achieve speedier results.

The announcement of the new card has also brought to light a collaboration between AMD and Kronos Compute Working Group. The Group's goals include developing industry standards for data parallel programming and working with proposed specification like OpenCL, which can help developers by providing them with an easy path to development across multiple platforms.

"An open industry standard programming specification will help drive broad-based support for stream computing technology in mainstream applications," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Product Group, AMD. "We believe that OpenCL is a step in the right direction and we fully support this effort. AMD intends to ensure that the AMD Stream SDK rapidly evolves to comply with open industry standards as they emerge."

The FireStream 9250 card is expected to become available for purchase in Q3 2008, at an MSRP of $999. AMD will also provide the supporting SDK for this card.

Because the FireStream 9250 is based on an RV770 core, future owners of the 4800 series of cards will also be able to benefit from the increased performance level. Moreover, the 4870 X2 card is expected to provide twice that performance.