AMD is just getting used to being the leading manufacturer of high-performance graphics, and all thanks to its high-end dual-chip Radeon HD 4870 X2. On the other hand, NVIDIA is becoming more familiar with the entry-level market with the release of its recent GeForce cards, the 9500GT and the even lower 9400GT. Unfortunately for the Santa Clara-based graphics manufacturer, AMD is not planning to sit and watch how NVIDIA gradually becomes the main provider of low-end graphics cards, a market segment in which AMD's graphics subsidiary has a vast experience.

 

In an interview with TG Daily, AMD's Dave Baumann stated that the Sunnyvale-based chip maker was nearing the release date for the third wave of its current generation GPU. As recent rumors have it, the upcoming cards are expected to compete with other low-level products, such as NVIDIA's GeForce 9500GT and 9400GT cards. Dave Baumann also said that AMD believed that NVIDIA's recently released 55nm-based G96 GPU might not be cheap to produce and could ultimately prove to be a “quick-and-dirty-solution” meant for the $60 segment.

 

The performance levels achieved by the new GeForce 9400GT with its 16 processor cores and the 550MHz-running GPU could actually compete with some high-end IGPs, such as AMD's 789G. The card can make for a quick upgrade alternative for users on a budget.

 

“If you have the performance high-ground, you can price your products according to performance,” Baumann said. “If you don’t have the high-ground, you have to price them to products around you.” With AMD being the leading manufacturer in the “high-ground” segment, the company can easily set its products prices according to performance, whereas NVIDIA will probably need to re-price some of its offerings.

 

Baumann declined to detail AMD's upcoming products for the low-level market but, according to recent rumors, the new cards should be part of the company's 4600-series of graphics cards. Two new cards should roll out on September 10, based on the RV730Pro and the RV730XT graphics core. They will provide 320 stream processors, and will be branded as the HD 4650 and HD 4670, coming with 512MB and 1GB of GDDR3 memory.