14 DAY TRIAL // AMD's GeForce killer is coming and, as expected, it will ship as a dual-core graphics card, ready for some serious graphics performance. For the moment details are scarce but even so, the new model promises to unleash a whole new level of power.
For starters, the new Radeon graphics card now has an official name, R700, but, according to some recent ongoing rumors, for the consumer market it will be branded as Radeon HD 4870 X2. The card is going to be build with 2GB of GDDR5 graphics memory, but there is a possibility for a 1GB version.
The 2GB GDDR5 model is expected to enter volume production on July 28th, which will set the card available for an August release. Apparently, AMD plans to sell BBA cards (Built By ATI), which means its partners will have to buy a complete board with an included fan, at least for the time being.
Currently there are no clear details concerning the price tag of the card but, according to expectations, the 2GB GDDR5 R700 is not going to come cheap. This is because AMD believes its new card is going to place the company as the leading manufacturer of graphics cards, a title that the Radeon counterparts haven't seen for quite some time now. And this might be very possible as, according to an ATI VP, the R700 has shown impressive results in the internal testing, as compared to the GeForce GTX 280.
The 1GB version is going to be built by AMD's partners and will be provided as a GDDR3-based card. The board will be cheaper than the 2GB version, but there are no concrete details regarding its price tag. Because it is going to be built by AMD partners, the card will probably feature a custom cooling solution.