R520 - talk, rumours, speculation; the lot!

I don't know why it would be brought up now. The reporting web site might just be confused.

You have heard a lot of marketing about DDR.
512 bits @ 500MHz == 256 bits DDR @ 500MHz (1GHz effective).
The 1 GHz effective is the part marketing always picks up on.

 

Well, considering that no Crossfire solutions are yet available, I'd say the topic is still quite relevant. Just not much to discuss about it.

 

Ok, so the inclusion of Intel i955X would suggest that there is really nothing special needed. It's just about driver supporting (recognizing) the chipset (this is what meant by artificial restriction). My point was that ATI has not locked themselves in to requiring some special function on the mainboard. It would seem that it is up to ATI to decide if CrossFire works on Nvidia's SLI x16. Because this board offers full x16 on both connectors it would seem obvious that you just set your dip-switches/BIOS to single board (non-SLI) and let ATI's drivers do the rest. However, the point is that enabling this is up to ATI, not Nvidia.

PS. I suppose it would be fair to say that Nvidia's "SLI" restrictions are also "artificial". Especially given how the discrete bridge is supposed to do all the work. That looks more like a way to get away from mainboard restrictions than impose them.

 

That may be, I suppose, but not supporting the nForce SLI motherboards seems to be cutting ATI out of a huge portion of the market.

 

Well, sure, but the problem would be that you could use CrossFire on an SLI mainboard but not use SLI cards on a "CrossFire" mainboard. So, ATI has to play its cards, so to speak to get Nvidia to buckle (which I am not sure they will), but if they don't they still need to sell cards (and the performance associated with them). Using your video card and mainboard businesses synergistically is one thing (Nvidia has done this well), but I really don't think ATI can afford to let both go down hill just because nobody is using their mainboards (if that is the case).

I certainly see no roses in ATI's garden regarding this aspect, but your point was that if CrossFire mainboards fail the whole shebang goes with it. I am saying they could exploit the SLI user base if they wanted to. They are just hungry to force customers into buying their chipsets, but if push comes to shove they will very probably be able to support CrossFire on SLI mainboards and might have to. They may have to relegate their mainboard business to non-CrossFire where it might still make sense, but this wouldn't necessarily imply quitting CrossFire altogether.

But, who knows, maybe CrossFire mainboards will be all the rage and people will be saying "Nforce - who dat?" soon.

 

If one would be splitting hair, he could also mention that it's actually 500MHz (1000 effective), since the "1000" is merely a data rate and not a frequency.

 

I know how DDR works and all that jazz, and I know a lot about marketing (owning my own shop and all).

I just think its kinda weird that if you could see the 256-bit DDR bus like this all along then why has it not been mentioned before. I think its slightly more than just marketing, because if it was then Nvidia could easily claim they have this too.

 

Not a chance. Every reviewer in the world would scream "bullshit!" simultanously.

 

Btw, on the "no compromises" front. . .would the extra internal bandwidth allow for unoptimized (or at least significantly less optimized) AF?

Edit: Also, that thin red fin on the front right --what's up with that? Structural stability? Marks the spot where the rest of the card hangs over the mobo? There do appear to be resistors on the back in that spot, but they don't look all that dense as to require more heat dissipation. . .

 

Ummm why does the card from the back look like it has four connection points and from the front only three?

 

What is that garbled out on the backside,bottom left...

 

me thinks its "something" that can uniquley identify the card.

 

If what I have heard is true then we might see Nforce 4 mobos shrink in numbers. I can't remember were but some one set up a SLI 6600GT on a ATI Xpress 200 mobo and it worked in SLI mode. If this is the case then your looking at the ATI chipset mobos being able to uses both ATI and NV duel card setups and the Nforce 4 will only be able to use duel card setups with only NV cards. That would bring alot of sales for ATI Xpress mobs and very little for Nforce 4 mobos.

 

Ummm. What?

 

the picture between front and back is 2 seperate cards..

 

Actually it looks more like they 'cut' a potentialy revealing portion of the image out.

Some other portions were also photo-'chopped' to blur or remove parts.

 

As pointed out by Sampsa at Muropaketti, if you take a picture of the core with flash, it might end up almost pitch black. Take a look at the 7800GT core in here.

 

To me the back of thre card looks taller than the front.

 

More pics from HKEPC: Exclusive first look r520

Edit: English version

 

So, no bigger than a 7800GTX, length wise at least. Dual slot cooling still makes me feel funny...

I would also hazard that the white connector is an internal pass through, instead of that stupid external DVI cable taking up two of the DVI ports. At least, I hoping it is...