Advanced Micro Devices is bringing the capabilities of its ATI
Radeon HD 5000 series of graphics cards to mainstream systems.
AMD on Jan. 14 rolled out its ATI
Radeon HD 5670 card, which puts features offered in its higher-end graphics
offering—such as support for Microsoft DirectX 11 and AMD’s
ATI Eyefinity technology—into a product that
sells for less than $100.
Like its higher-end brethren, the 5670 also supports AMD’s
ATI Stream technology, which can combine the
GPU and CPU computing when needed, and OpenCL. Eyefinity enables users to run
their applications over multiple displays.
AMD has been aggressive in pushing its
way into the graphics space, with an eye toward its upcoming Fusion strategy of
marrying its CPU and GPU technologies.
“Combined with the successful launches of the ATI
Radeon HD 5970, ATI Radeon HD 5800 series
and ATI Radeon HD 5700 series, AMD
has defined the DirectX 11 gaming experience like no other, bringing graphics
innovations like ATI Eyefinity technology
and ATI Stream technology to millions of
consumers worldwide,” Matt Skynner, vice president and general manager of AMD’s
Graphics Group, said in a statement.
The 775MHz ATI Radeon 5670 graphics card
is targeted at users who play some video games, rather than hard-core gamers.
It offers 620 gigaflops of computing power and up to 1GB of memory. It uses
about 61 watts of power and can run programs over three monitors.
The graphics space is becoming increasingly competitive as CPU makers such
as AMD and Intel look to increase their
capabilities, and GPU maker Nvidia pushes its graphics products into more
mainstream computing uses.
Intel spent two years working on its “Larrabee” discrete graphics chip
before shelving
it in December due to development issues, instead using it as a platform
for developers. However, Intel is still enhancing the graphics capabilities of
its CPUs, most recently—at the Consumer Electronics Show—rolling out a host of
new Core chips for PCs that offer integrated graphics.
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