We know that Ati is sampling R600 parts for 3 months now. But we also know that they've already delayed the official launch of R600 twice this fall. So it comes as a big surprise the fact that several South-Asian websites (including some Chinese ones) have published what appear to be the first live pictures with R600. I guess it's really out this time.

R600 GPU is Ati's first chip that complies with DirectX 10 standards. Previous information states that R600 will have 64 unified shader processors (SIMD 4-way capable, similar to 256 simple shaders used in G80 cards), 16 texture units, 650MHz - 700MHz or higher GPU clocks and support for GDDR4 memory controller. Some rumors suggest that the R600 will have 512-bit physical memory interface and will deliver about 130-150 Gb/sec memory to GPU throughput making R600 even faster that G80 when it comes to bandwidth.

As for considerations about the actual picture, what is most interesting about it is that the chip is rotated by a 60 degrees angle. Why this operation was performed is unknown, but it's safe to assume that the actual position of the GPU is the most effective when it comes to minimizing the E-M noise of the PCB. And it is also a good placement if you plan to shorten the traces to the video memory.

R600 seems 15-20% bigger than R580. When you take into account that it is manufactured under 80nm process, you'll understand that a 500 million transistor count cannot be far from the truth. The card is said to come out January the 20, right before the official launch of Vista.