Windows 7 is coming and with it a new variation of DirectX, version 11. It is automatically incorporated into the new operating system from Microsoft, but will be available for download by updated only for Windows Vista users. Who say that new version of DirectX, said new generation of graphics cards compatible with this new API, the aim is obviously to take advantage of new visual effects in our favorite games but also feature a change that can go beyond the fun.
The Radeon HD 5870
At a presentation held in London, the manufacturer has been constantly telling us that the information was vital for rememberance that ATI was the first to release a DirectX 11 chip. It suffices to recall the launch of the first DirectX 10 GPU ATI: the famous Radeon HD 2900 XT, Exits 7 months after the cards from Nvidia DirectX10, the GeForce 8 that were launched. At the time, it was the first ATI occurring after the acquisition by AMD and the least we can say is that this card was not very successful. It was less efficient than GeForce 8800 GTX and forces behind the 8800 Ultra. It also showed a high consumption and was very noisy. It was difficult to find any interest. ATI had understood at the time and quickly took out the Radeon HD 3870 and 3850 which saw a well-deserved success before giving way to the Radeon 4800 which also made the happiness of many users with a price / performance ratio much more interesting than the Nvidia cards.
Following the GT200, Nvidia has developed a huge and complex chip and it's not for nothing that the firm to the chameleon will long to release a dual GPU card when AMD came out very quickly with the 4870 X2. Today, Nvidia is not ready with its future DirectX 11 chips and are expected to better end of the year and most likely in early 2010. Nvidia took the opportunity to remind us that games supporting DirectX 11 would not be very many in 2009 and 2010 but the PhysX-enabled games would be abound. Not forgetting a sentence launched by an official Nvidia stating that current games did not need the power of the Radeon HD 5800. Not sure that the speech had been the same if Nvidia DirectX 11 cards had been ready before ATI. Recall also the speech of the firm to the chameleon at the launch of the GeForce 8: "the first DirectX 10 cards, before anyone else." It's fair game ...
DirectX 11 is currently only a pretext, the goal of our test is to see the behavior in the 5870 games currently available ...
But these trade wars and marketing does not interest us. We prefer to explore the new Radeon HD 5870 from another angle: See what it has in its performance for gaming! For DirectX 11 or not, the goal is ultimately to know what is its level of performance in DirectX 10 games over the previous generation Radeon and compared to the current generation of Nvidia cards.
Specifications of the Radeon HD 5800
The 5870 is code-named Cypress and abandoned the codenames beginning with R or RV followed by 3 digits. In late October or early November it should reach as the GPU known as the Hemlock and code which will be the high end ATI and resume the two-GPU which has proved itself over the 3870X2. This will be accompanied by 5870X2 card for the midrange and known under the name Juniper. Finally in 2010, the ATI chips Direcxt 11 attack the low end, it will chip Redwood and Cedar. In less than 6 months, ATI has released for 4 different GPUs, or at least to four different market segments.
Etching in 40 nanometers
The fine engraving of 40 nanometers was inaugurated by the famous AMD Radeon HD 4770 which was a comet in the galaxy of graphics cards. Indeed, it was very difficult to find commercially and even today it is very rare to cross. At the time, AMD had even been to undercut prices of the Radeon HD 4850 to alleviate the problem. The reason for this shortage was very poor yields at TSMC for this fine engraving, with a very high waste. In an interview with Joe Macri who participated in the development of new Radeon, we learned that ATI's teams have examined the waste in detail to understand the problem. TSMC sent defective chips to ATI, who studied for 3 weeks, then reported back to TSMC. The errors were in the two heads: the design of the chip was partly involved and the manufacturing process not yet fully mastered by TSMC. But this has also enabled ATI to prepare the ground of its chips on the 5800 series which are also engraved in 40 nanometers. But given what has been said above, it is reasonable to ask whether the yields on the silicon wafers are as good as claimed for these new chips.
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