AMD Delivers TeraFLOPS Graphics Chip

By DE Editors

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD; Sunnyvale, CA)  announced that it has achieved two “world firsts” in visual computing: the launch of the first teraFLOPS graphics card, the ATI Radeon HD 4850, and the launch of the first graphics card featuring ultra high bandwidth GDDR5 memory,  the ATI Radeon HD 4870.

These two innovations combine with AMD’s energy-efficient design and DirectX 10.1 compatibility to deliver performance at the high-volume mainstream and represents a new milestone in graphics architecture, with 800 cores driving cinema-quality realism in all aspects of visual computing.

The ATI Radeon HD 4850 ($199), offering one teraFLOPS (TF) of visual compute power,  has already been welcomed by global graphics reviewers. As the world’s first teraFLOPS graphics chip, with 800 stream processing cores (identical to the ATI Radeon HD 4870), a stock GPU core clock speed of 625MHz, 512MB of GDDR3 memory rated at 2Gbps, and comes in a single-slot PCI Express 2.0 configuration with a maximum board power of 110 watts.

The ATI Radeon HD 4870 ($299) represents an unprecedented 1.2 TF of visual compute power. It features a stock GPU core clock speed of 750MHz, 512MB of GDDR5 memory rated at 3.6Gbps, and comes in a dual-slot PCI Express 2.0 configuration with a maximum board power of 160 watts.

The ATI Radeon HD 4800 series allows users to experience HD digital content with improved definition and image quality of standard DVDs and videos — the series can handle the visual fidelity and clarity of all standard formats of today’s high definition media. It includes new HD media capabilities, like picture-in-picture HD viewing, super fast format conversion of your favorite media, and support for the latest HD audio technologies like 7.1 surround sound.

For details on the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series, please visit AMD.

Sources:  Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.