Radeon HD 3450, HD 3470 and HD 3650, Coming Out Next Month

AMD is going to release its second wave of graphics cards to complete the Radeon 3000 series. The only details that have emerged on the web are concerning the Radeon HD 3870 X2, AMD's first video card that is alleged to feature two GPUs bridged by a PCI-Express 2.0 link.

The low-end 3400 and 3600 graphics cards have been kept in complete dark, and their specifications haven't been posted anywhere. Both Radeon HD 3450 and 3470 will feature the RV620 graphics chip, built on the 55-nanometer technology. The video cards will have a PCI-Express 2.0 lane with a 64-bit memory interface. The 3450 will be the slowest video card in the series (and at the same time, the cheapest). Still, the card will integrate the new DisplayPort technology, but will be backwards compatible with the VGA output.

The Radeon 3450 will work at 525MHz for the core and 400MHz (800MHz effective) for 256MB of GDDR2 memory, while the HD 3470 will be a little faster, with a clock set at 600 MHz. It is supposed to carry either 256 or 512MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 500MHz (1000MHz effective). The 3470 version will not be endowed with DisplayPort, but it will carry VGA, DVI and TV-Out connectors. The cards will sell for a modest price: the HD 3450 will be around $50 USD, while HD 3470 will be sold for $60 USD.

The Radeon 3650 is a little bit faster and is based on 55nm RV635 GPU that works at 800MHz for XT and 600MHz for PRO version. This may seem a little confusing, as AMD has dropped the PRO and XT brandings. Anyway, the card will come rigged with either 256MB or 512MB of GDDR3 memory working at 1000MHz (2000MHz effective), but will use a 128-bit memory interface, unlike the 64-bit one used in the 3450 model. The 3650 will be the last member in a series of video cards that AMD wishes to market at sub-$100 prices.

All of the cards in the HD 3000 series will feature DirectX 10.1 support and ATI's UVD technology.

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