14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA's enthusiast cards are selling, the mainstream GPUs have been detailed and even an alleged GeForce GTX 465 got benchmarked. When looking at these events, one might say that the time when AMD will raise the stakes is approaching, since the HD 5970 won't be able to hold the field by itself for much longer. Verily, it appears that said time might even come sooner than end-users might think, now that the HD 5670 is being considered for an upgrade.
As it always occurs with products seen as relevant or important, the ATI Radeon HD 5670 has been the subject of a recent report. Made by the inpai.com.cn website, said report suggests that the graphics processor currently at the heart of the adapter, the 40nm Redwood, will be swapped for the Juniper, known for being the foundation of the HD 5750 and HD 5770.
The existing Radeon HD 5670 has 400 stream processors, 512MB or 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM and a memory interface of 128 bits. The upgraded model will maintain the interface width and memory options, but will have 640 stream processors and will be able to function on just the power provided by the PCI Express slot. The GPU itself will operate at a frequency of 750MHz. For comparison, the Juniper has a maximum of 800 stream processors and the 5770 needs an extra PCI Express power connector.
If the pictures published by inpai.com.cn are anything to go by, it can be seen that AIB partners, such as PowerColor and Sapphire, have already finished work on their board designs, which seem quite similar to those used in their HD 5700 series. There is, of course, no way of knowing exactly when and where the devices will show up, but the price can be assumed to stay in the vicinity of $90, for the 512MB card, and $110 for the 1GB board.