14 DAY TRIAL // Traditionally a graphics card comes with a single graphics processing unit and in some case users needing extra performance in games and other 3D intensive applications can join up two or more such cards in order to form multiple setups like CrossFire for AMD/ATI cards and SLI for cards based on Nvidia made processors.
As the number of cards that can be stacked into a SLI or CrossFire configuration is somehow limited, an alternative approach was developed in order to multiply the 3D performance while keeping the overall number of cards at a low level. This new approach is based on the simple fact that says that if one graphics processing unit is good, two such chips should perform way better. Of course, nothing can stop a user from piling up two or more of these dual graphics processing units equipped cards in a CrossFire or SLI configuration and achieve even a higher 3D overall performance.
And it looks like Advanced Micro Devices want to do just that with its next generation of graphics processing units, the RV670. While the RV670 graphics processing unit will be aimed at providing a decent amount of performance in games, it will not be considered the absolute state of the art graphics processing unit and the manufacturing company has additional plans for it next year.
According to the news site driverheaven, Advanced Micro Devices will go for a Radeon HD 2950 X2X graphics card that is expected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2008. This new graphics card is said to be very similar in design with the Nvidia made GeForce 7950 GX2 that packed SLI capabilities on a single printed circuit board. The Radeon HD 2950 X2X will pack two RV670 processing units on a single PCB, just like in the case of the dual GPU Radeon HD 2600 cards and unlike the Nvidia approach that went for two closely linked boards.
As the RV670 graphics processing unit is manufactured using the 55 nanometer fabrication process, there should be more than enough space on the board for two such GPUs and this approach should also keep the power drain levels at a reasonable level. As every RV670 GPU comes with 320 stream processing units, the Radeon HD 2950 X2X will pack twice as many stream processors and it will also offer support for up to 1GB of dedicated video memory.