R360 Launch @ Alcatraz Ca.!!?? Sept. 30!!

[CapsLock]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11547

Can't believe this hasn't already been posted.

By Faud. Don't know what to make of this. Clock speeds seem low and pointless. Except maybe Ati have found another method for boosting speed. New memory controller? 512 bit bus?

I know! Its a MAXX !!!!! :eek:


Wouldn't that be COOL? :jumping:

Well I can dream can't I?

Caps

[sbp]

{eyes bucket of cold water} http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/wink2.gif

...clock speeds will be a little less than 415MHz for the core, and 730MHz for the memory.

Yes, the clock speeds are not impressive but what do folks expect? There's a limit to how high this thing can be clocked. Unless one wants a dustbuster. http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/ugone2far.gif :rofl

[bkswaney]

If this holds true no one with a 9700 or better will need to upgrade for sure.

Only 30 more mhz on the core sucks. There r lots running 480+ on the core.
440 is my core max even with a Zalman and fan. I get those little dots poping up everywhere. No lockups tho. :)

I was really hoping for at least 430 on a stock 9800XT.

[bkswaney]

Originally posted by sbp
{eyes bucket of cold water} http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/wink2.gif

...clock speeds will be a little less than 415MHz for the core, and 730MHz for the memory.

Yes, the clock speeds are not impressive but what do folks expect? There's a limit to how high this thing can be clocked. Unless one wants a dustbuster. http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/ugone2far.gif :rofl

A 512 bus with be a huge over kill at this point. Save it for the R420. :)

I would gladly take a FlowFX on a 9800 clocked at 500 core. :D

[Viral]

It's possible the reason is so that the R420 (9900?) will look better at its release. The R420 is basically a redesigned R3xx isnt it? Despite the possibility of 12x1 or higher, there shouldnt be all that much which makes the card better clock for clock than a 9800pro. Thats a bit of an exaggeration.. i think an R420 clocked at 9800pro speeds may be up to 25% faster.. but making the R420 look impressive is more important than making the R360 look important.. ATI could probably just do nothing, not release a R360, and they would hardly notice IMO.

If these specs are anything to go by, then expect the R420 to be clocked fairly modestly also... Possibly 450/800 will be a minimum? Hopefully the 12x1 or above architecture will make up for this, as well as all the other features and benefits. So basically.. i'm not expecting the R420 to be clocked very high at all, it will make up for this in other areas.. but this low clocking of the R360 makes sense, just so the R420 looks better and gives those stubborn 9700pro'ers a reason to upgrade from their 'gods gift' video card:D

[bkswaney]

Originally posted by Viral
It's possible the reason is so that the R420 (9900?) will look better at its release. The R420 is basically a redesigned R3xx isnt it? Despite the possibility of 12x1 or higher, there shouldnt be all that much which makes the card better clock for clock than a 9800pro. Thats a bit of an exaggeration.. i think an R420 clocked at 9800pro speeds may be up to 25% faster.. but making the R420 look impressive is more important than making the R360 look important.. ATI could probably just do nothing, not release a R360, and they would hardly notice IMO.

If these specs are anything to go by, then expect the R420 to be clocked fairly modestly also... Possibly 450/800 will be a minimum? Hopefully the 12x1 or above architecture will make up for this, as well as all the other features and benefits. So basically.. i'm not expecting the R420 to be clocked very high at all, it will make up for this in other areas.. but this low clocking of the R360 makes sense, just so the R420 looks better and gives those stubborn 9700pro'ers a reason to upgrade from their 'gods gift' video card:D

With the 420 being built on 13 I would think a nice clock would be easy.
I was just hoping they would max the 15 out on the 360. With it being the last 15nm built high performance card for them I wanted to see 420+.
But I guess it just was not meant to be. I guess yealds had a lot to do with it to. Trying to get as many usable chips as possible makes more sense. :)

[schuey74]

The R420 is supposed to be 2 1/2 times the speed of a 9700 pro across the board so I don't think ATI has any reason to hold back anything with the R360. Just the fact that the R420 is 12x1 would make it 50% faster than a 9800 pro if they were running identical clocks. I would really expect a minimum clock speed of 475/500 on the R420 which would give it roughly twice the power of the 9800 Pro. ATI has not made any major advances in speed since the 9700 Pro, and the fact is that they didn't need to. But they know that they need another big jump in performance to hold Nvidia back when the Nv40 launches. The Nv40 will definetely outpace the current R3xx architecture.

[Paul]

ATi won't stop at 500mhz DDR2. They can't.

[emacs]

Originally posted by bkswaney
A 512 bus with be a huge over kill at this point.


... "and 640K of RAM is all a personal computer needs" -- Bill Gates circa early 1980s ;-)

[Ninja Prime]

Originally posted by emacs
... "and 640K of RAM is all a personal computer needs" -- Bill Gates circa early 1980s ;-)

At the time that was true. ;)

[bkswaney]

There is nothing using much over 128 as of now.
By the time u need 512 there will be 4 new cards come out. ;)

[GlowStick]

My question is why hold a launch at Alcatraz, maybe its a joint HL2 + R360 laucnh party, but that brings up the last question.

If you are renting a big location like that, you need a alot of people, so who is getting invited?

Better not be just reviewers bah!

[Ninja Prime]

Originally posted by GlowStick
My question is why hold a launch at Alcatraz, maybe its a joint HL2 + R360 laucnh party, but that brings up the last question.

If you are renting a big location like that, you need a alot of people, so who is getting invited?

Better not be just reviewers bah!

Prolly just press and some industry big wigs. A few hundered at most, I would guess. I doubt is costs all that much to rent Alcatraz for a little while.

[TheOneKEA]

Would a 512-bit DDR GPU memory bus really make that much of a difference over a 256-bit DDR-II memory bus? Unless ATi is already using DDR-II......

[Miksu]

I would think that Alcatraz has something to do with HL2. Maybe HL2's theme is escaping from some prison or something.

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by TheOneKEA
Would a 512-bit DDR GPU memory bus really make that much of a difference over a 256-bit DDR-II memory bus? Unless ATi is already using DDR-II......

What does the memory bus width have to do with DDRI vs DDRII :confused: I'm not sure where you get the idea that ATI couldn't use a 512bit bus in the future with DDRII or DDRI. They can. By the time we see 512bit buses though, DDRI will not be a feasible option because it will be too slow and DDRII will probably be cheaper.

[sbp]

http://www.lemonizer.com/upload/uploadsSep/connery5.jpg
"Welcome to the rock."

[TheOneKEA]

Originally posted by StealthHawk
What does the memory bus width have to do with DDRI vs DDRII :confused: I'm not sure where you get the idea that ATI couldn't use a 512bit bus in the future with DDRII or DDRI. They can. By the time we see 512bit buses though, DDRI will not be a feasible option because it will be too slow and DDRII will probably be cheaper.

Allow me to clarify.

I was asking about the architectural differences between a 512-bit DDR I arch and a 256-bit DDR II arch. Right now NV35 uses a 256-bit DDR I arch, and R350 uses a 256-bit DDR II arch (IIRC, I'm probably wrong).

Which is better: moving to a 512-bit DDR I arch or moving to a 512-bit DDR II arch in the short term? I know that DDR II will eventually take over, but I have heard (and read) in some places that DDR II production is still low. Can anyone provide more information?

[Paul]

Originally posted by TheOneKEA
Allow me to clarify.

I was asking about the architectural differences between a 512-bit DDR I arch and a 256-bit DDR II arch. Right now NV35 uses a 256-bit DDR I arch, and R350 uses a 256-bit DDR II arch (IIRC, I'm probably wrong).

Which is better: moving to a 512-bit DDR I arch or moving to a 512-bit DDR II arch in the short term? I know that DDR II will eventually take over, but I have heard (and read) in some places that DDR II production is still low. Can anyone provide more information?

NV35 and R350 support both DDR1 and DDR2 on a 256-bit bus. A 512-bit bus with DDR2 is better than the same bus with DDR1 for obvious reasons (higher clocks, bandwidth etc).

You won't see a 512-bit bus with DDR1, however.

[TheOneKEA]

ACK. All has been made clear. Thanks, Paul.

[digitalwanderer]

I'm still not sure what's up with the Alcatraz event...but I promise to tell y'all about it just as soon as I get back from it. ;)

[eesa]

Originally posted by Viral
The R420 is basically a redesigned R3xx isnt it?

err, not exactly. In fact, that's not true. R420 will kick R3xx @ss
I haven't seem benchmarks or anything, but I think that's a given.

[digitalwanderer]

Originally posted by Miksu
I would think that Alcatraz has something to do with HL2. Maybe HL2's theme is escaping from some prison or something.
*DING* *DING* *DING* *DING*

"We have ourselves a winner!", shrieks the Dig in his best carnival barker voice

And the R420 is a totally redesigned chip, it's not just a refresh. :)