14 DAY TRIAL // Yep, you've heard it right. Not only does AMD have plans to further improve the manufacturing process of the R600 GPU but they are also planning to launch an entire new line of chips based on 55nm manufacturing process. That might take a long time since currently all R600 chips are manufactured using 80nm transistor gates.
However if there's something we simply love about AMD is their ability to make some of the best plans money can buy. Evidently since we're talking about AMD you can be sure that things won't happen exactly as planned. Just look at the HD 2900 XT and you'll realize that this statement is actually true. Remember how the 1GHz GPU featuring 1GB of GDDR4 (running at 2GHz or more...) transformed into the 512MB GDDR3 and a 700-740MHz core?
If you do remember that you know what's going to happen next. Well, anyhow AMD has cooked up a new plan to rule the 3D world again. The latest roadmap announces some interesting new GPUs starting with the RV670 and R670 but also some mobile ones, such as the M88, M86 and M82.
In the mobile world, the M88 is the highest performer as it implements DirectX 10.1 features directly into the hardware. CrossFire and UVD support are also there so you won't need to worry about HD decoding. Evidently as all future Radeons, the M88 uses PCIe Gen2 so that CrossFire can have a lot more bandwidth than its PCIe 1.x counterparts.
The mainstream and value segment are also well represented with two variations also based on the original R/RV670 desktop design. The M86 also comes with full DirectX 10.1 support and PCIe v2 interface but also uses a new type of hybrid output (HDMI + DisplayPort). The same set of features will also be implemented in the value-oriented M82 but this GPU won't be as powerful as the M86.
All the M8x line will be compatible with AMD's RD780M chipset but due to the fact that PCIE 2.0 parts can work in 1.x interfaces the line of GPUs will also be compatible with the upcoming Montevino and the already available M690G and Santa Rosa.