14 DAY TRIAL // After the graphics division from Advanced Micro Devices quietly announced the launch of the downgraded version of the Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics processing chip that will be available under the name of Radeon HD 2900 Pro and serve as a bridge across the performance gap that spans between the 2600 and 2900 series, now it looks like yet another lower performance version of the 2900 GPU is in the making.
This new graphics processing unit will bear the name of Radeon HD 2900 GT and will be aimed at the mainstream market segment. Unlike the Radeon 2900 Pro that is essentially identical at the low hardware level with the top of the line Radeon 2900 XT model, except for the clock speed, the new addition to the Radeon HD 2000 series comes as a cut-out version of those more powerful chips.
On the hardware level, the Radeon HD 2900 GT graphics chip comes with fewer stream processing units than its bigger brothers, the Pro and XT models, as it is equipped with only 240 such units, unlike the other chips from the 2900 series that come with 320 Sps. Apart from the smaller number of stream processors, the Radeon HD 2900 GT also comes with a narrower memory interface of only 256-bits, a clear step down from the 512-bit interface of the other 2900 models.
In terms of performance, the biggest penalties will probably come from the reduced number of stream processing units, but the narrow memory interface and the presence of only 256MB of dedicated video RAM are also likely to cause problems. Apart from these already big limitations, the Radeon HD 2900 GT will also only come equipped with GDDR3 memory modules unlike the GDDR4 modules that are found on the higher end graphics cards.
Just like the 2900 Pro versions, the GT graphics processing units from AMD will most likely have a short life span as they are intended to hold the fort while the company prepares for the launch of the RV670 chips. As the Radeon HD 2900 GT equipped graphics cards will only come to the general consumer market in October, the next generation of video chips from AMD, the RV670, is still pretty far away from its debut.