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.