14 DAY TRIAL // Two months ago, chip manufacturer AMD has released its first 55-nanometer graphics core (the RV670). The series is now complete with the advent of two new 55-nanometer chips (RV620 and RV635) and their graphics cards, the Radeon HD 3400 and 3600 series.
The new series of graphics cards are primarily targeted at the low-cost market and can be considered as an update to the previous Radeon 2400 and 2600 cards. The 55-nanometer versions include a new set of features as well as the benefits of a lower production node: increased computing power and lower energy consumption.
"With the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, AMD is delivering outstanding graphics performance to the mainstream," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Graphics Products Group. "AMD is leading the industry by delivering top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support with modular graphics capabilities for easy upgradeability. It's part of our commitment to deliver The Ultimate Visual Experience to more users than ever before."
Both low-cost 55-nanometer chips will power graphics adapters to sell for $49 to $65 and from $79 to $99 respectively. Although they are rated as low-end cards, they will be able to deliver DirectX 10.1 compatibility as well as a new implementation of DisplayPort. Although the DisplayPort connector will not be available on all cards in the series, they will all feature the unified video decoder (UVD) technology and CrossFireX.
The RV620 chip powers the Radeon HD 3450 and 3470 models, while the RV630 can be found on the Radeon HD 3650. According to the company, the Radeon HD 3450 and 3470 graphics cards will be the cheapest in the series and will come with 40 Stream Processors, Hybrid CrossFire support and a 64-bit memory interface.
Both video cards come with 256 MB of memory, but the differences between them are related to the GPU clock and the memory type. While the HD 3450 will be clocked at 600/1000 MHz for the GPU and GDDR2 memory, respectively, the 3470 will be sport clock frequencies of 800/1900 MHz for the GPU and GDDR3 memory.
The Radeon HD 3650 will be available in multiple configurations, depending on the add-in board partners. The reference Radeon HD 3650 will have 256 MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1600 MHz and a 725 MHz GPU rigged with 120 Stream Processors. Unfortunately, the chip does not feature Hybrid CrossFire support.
