Latest R480 speculation

[kemosabe]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19573

Seems rather credible (Fuad not being the source might have something to do with it ), although recent roadmap leaks had R480 being fabbed on 0.13u (R430 on 0.11u).

 

[wireframe]

Have there been any hints as to what else will be brought to the table except for ATI Multi-Rendering (AMR)? If ATI is planning on upping the ante with those speculated core and memory frequencies while staying at 256MB VRAM, it is not looking like a very attractive product unless greater product availability and price will be the driver. Perhaps ATI (and maybe Nvidia also) are hoping that PCIe will help tip the benchmarks in favor of these models, but it sure looks pretty boring from how it reads in the linked article.

 

[IgnorancePersonified]

I'm hoping the emphasis is on greater availability.

 

[anaqer]

"Pretty boring" is an understatement. I just can't see the point (besides the obvious "must...release... fall refresh!" urge). Could someone with a bit more insight than me old self drop some hints as to why we should even *think* about these cards in the first place?

 

[Waltar]

Oh god 15mhz faster and it's pci-e only and brings nothing else new? Sign me up.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

That's why it's called a refresh - it's just a tweaking and better manufacturing of the R420 series. I'm sure the NV40 refresh will be the same - an incremental improvement, rather than a massive generational jump.

There won't be anything seriously new from ATI until R520 arrives.

 

[jvd]

WHoot my card will still be faster

600/600

 

[wireframe]

The R420 introduced the programmable memory controller and there has been lots of talk about the unit for R520, so I was thinking maybe this is where ATI would focus and 'hide' the talents of their new VPU. Nvidia also revealed that their refresh part would be about 'greater efficiency' (some roadmap snapshot found on Net) and if you put these two together, and they tend to move together, it would make sense if there was something new in the refresh parts.

Then again, it's not difficult for a marketing department to turn "PCIe part" into "greater efficiency" although those hoping for some saucy core logic will loathe to interpret it that way.

 

[Nick]

So it's just like 9700 to 9800, a higher clock but virtually no new innovation like Shader Model 3.0 support? Small evolution... Worth it only if it has higher availability (lower price) before Christmas.

 

[DegustatoR]

We don't know for sure what's NV40 refresh will be. NV48 won't be out this year, and NV47 is a 24x1 chip. So it's a bit early to say something like "I'm sure the NV40 refresh will be the same".

 

[Richard]

Taking the usual INQ bucket of salt, a conservative fall refresh is nothing new. What is new is the alleged dual slot cooling solution. I also don't get the XT/XTPE split. If I wanted to be a cynic I'd say the XTPE was only a review product with very limited availability.