ATI’s Next-Generation Product ‘R520’ Taped Out
ATI Technologies’ next-generation high-end visual processing unit code-named R520 has been taped out, reports Beyond3D web-site citing analysts from Goldman Sachs research firm who had presumably been at ATI’s Analyst Day last week. The news confirms ATI is on-track to launch its new high-end product in the first half of 2005.
Source: X-bit LabsA high-ranking source close to ATI Technologies confirmed X-bit labs that the chip had been taped out, which means that the completed design of the processor has been sent to an ATI’s foundry partner. The source said the chip would be made using 90nm process technology, presumably at TSMC, and will be launched commercially in the first half of next year. Not much is known about the architecture and capabilities of the code-named R520 product that was initially referred as the R500. What is clear at the moment is that the new graphics chip will sport Shader Model 3.0 – pixel shaders 3.0 and vertex shaders 3.0 – bringing additional programming capabilities to ATI’s graphics processors as well as some other innovations. ATI’s architecture will not resemble that of the previous generation products and NVIDIA’s GeForce 6 architecture known as NV4x, particularly ATI will implement efficient flow-control, a crucial feature for pixel shaders 3.0, that will not bring speed penalty it does on existing SM3.0 hardware, according to sources.
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