AMD-ATI at the forefront for DirectX 11 notebooks.

With Windows 7 Microsoft hosting the official DirectX 11, a multimedia interface, DirectX-11 cards so far are only being made available for desktops. But rumors started that AMD has a Direct X11 graphics solution for notebooks in the wing and that they will come in the first quarter of 2010 known as the ATI Radeon HD 5000 family.

AMD is expected to divide the 5000 GPU Series into four groups. This much we know so far:

. all models are DirectX 11 compatible

. all models are produced in 40 nm process - the current 4000 series are still largely in 55 nm built.

With few exceptions, all should work and perform with the upcoming GPUs GDDR5 graphics memory. This will bring better energy performance than the previous GPU generation.

. Introductory level ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400 (Codename "Park")

. Mainstream: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5600 (Codename "Madison-LE")

. Performance: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5700 (Codename "Madison")

. High end Gaming: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 (Codename "Broadway")

..... to be continued ..

The nuts and bolts

... expansion to previous post!

. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400

The development version is currently known under code name "Park". Later, the GPUs are expected to be found under the name of ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430, HD 5450 and HD 5470 in notebooks of all sizes. They are to be used strictly under 64-bit memory access and, according to AMD, possess GDDR5 memory. Notebook manufacturers however are speaking of using slower and cheaper GDDR3, DDR3 or even DDR2 memory. Even with this lowest performance GPU this "slow memory" is actually negligible since this is more about the DirectX 11 feature compatibility than gaming performance.

. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5600

Since AMD only plans the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (code-named "Madison-LE") for the middle class as its only model, it could be a purely business product move. It could be a slim down ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5700 and therefore, would have not passed the tests belonging to the superior 5700er family. Thus instead of pumping it up, AMD could simply specify a lower clock speed and sell them anyway. A common procedure that Intel, nVidia & Co. has used before.

.ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5700

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5770, HD 5750 and HD 5730 (code-named "Madison") represent the middle class and could be the best choice for notebook gamers. These models should have enough power to support graphic-intensive games in the current display resolutions of 15.4 up to 16-inch displays (1280 x 800 to 1680 x 1050) . According to industry rumors, only the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5770 and HD 5750 will work with GDDR5, the model of HD 5730 is likely to support slower GDDR3/DDR3-Memory.

. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800

The King-class and the big money makers are being reserved to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, HD 5850 and HD 5830 (code-named "Broadway"). Consumers would only see them in Desktop Repacement Notebooks of 17" or larger. For even greater 3D performance notebook manufacturers can couple each of the 3 models with a second GPU (CrossFire mode). But practice may differ from the plan, when come to which memory is being used. For although AMD provides GDDR5 memory support to all 5800er, notebook manufacturers will want to take advantage only with the 5870 - and 5850-models. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 will have to live with GDDR3-/DDR-Memory.


(Information and source are being provided by Chip Online) with translation by qhn.

...

My thinking is that the hardware platform has improved so much and so fast that it no longer makes sense to stay within DX10. If we look at the gaming industry itself, games are skating between DX10 and DX11 for quite a while now without the developers making any fanfares about it.

Another important factor is the introduction of Vista and now Windows 7, for a while Microsoft has been pounded for not supporting XP games (DirectX 9) in their full capabilities. Thus it only makes sense that games developers and OS shaking hands to create features rich games in the new environment.

Interesting read here!

cheers ...