14 DAY TRIAL // AMD is going through some serious changes. Since I don't know the entire story (probably no one outside AMD does) I will only make some assumptions over AMD's latest market moves. But I have to say that they are getting more and more mysterious since it is not the first time they rename a product instead of launching a new one.
RV 515 and RV516 chips are currently incorporated into X1300 series. AMD thought it would be better if they power up a new product and so they re-launched X1300 under the name X1550. Although the name suggests that this product will actually perform closer to X1600, it is in fact the same X1300 that you already know. Only the name has been changed. So, if you're planning to buy a new X1550, don't get your hopes up as it will in fact perform exactly as the X1300 did. On the good side, it remains a Vista Aero compatible card.
I'm tired of writing news that shouldn't be called that way. And to give you an example of what news should sound like, what do you think about this: AMD is firing 375 of its employees, from which many work in the marketing area. The exact number of persons from every factory is unknown but rumors claim that 130 jobs are being cut from Canada, up to 50 from Austin and again 45-50 from Silicon Valley with another 140 from the rest of AMD's centers around the world to follow shortly. It seems that buying Ati had some curious repercussions both on the thinking and on the budget of AMD.