Il 10 Settembre è il giorno dell'annuncio ufficiale delle prime gpu mainstream appartenenti alla gamma ATI Radeon HD 4600 di AMD. Il chip maker ha lanciato, in particolare, le soluzioni siglate ATI Radeon HD 4670 e ATI Radeon HD 4650, peraltro già presenti suil mercato come engine delle schede grafiche omonime di ASUS, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, GECUBE, GIGABYTE, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), Jetway, MSI, Palit Multimedia, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE Technology e VisionTek.

In accordo ad AMD, si tratta di prodotti che, pur consentendo all'utente di beneficiare in pieno delle tecnologie multimediali in HD e del 3D gaming con i titoli recenti, tra cui Crysis, vantano un ridotto consumo di potenza, oltreché un MSRP molto limitato rispetto alle soluzioni omologhe della concorrenza (NVIDIA, ndr).

Le nuove gpu sono fabbricate in tecnologia a 55nm e includono entrambe 320 processori di stream. La ATI Radeon HD 4670 è capace di vantare un consumo di potenza che è inferiore ai 60W in condizioni di pieno carico: l'MSRP della implementazione con 512MB di G-DDR3 è pari a $79 mentre quella con 1GB di G-DDR3 sarà immessa sul mercato a fine mese.

La ATI Radeon HD 4650 consuma meno di 50W a pieno carico; AMD ne ha previsto una sola variante con un frame buffer di 512MB in tecnologia G-DDR2 con MSRP di $69.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- September 10, 2008 --AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series, mainstream graphics offerings that deliver exceptional gaming and HD multimedia performance while consuming less power than a standard light bulb. Comprising the ATI Radeon HD 4670 and the ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics cards, the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series leverages the leading technology found in the award-winning ATI Radeon HD 4800 series, including support for the latest DirectX 10.1 games, superior HD multimedia capabilities and industry leading performance-per-watt, all delivered at affordable prices for the mainstream graphics segment. The combined features and technologies and incredible prices makes the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series a superb all-around performer, ideal for playing the latest games or driving a high quality home theatre entertainment experience.

The ATI Radeon HD 4670 and ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics cards feature AMD’s TeraScale graphics engine, with 320 stream processing cores, and are based on AMD’s advanced second generation 55nm process. The result is that even in today’s most demanding games like Crysis, the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series delivers up to double the performance of competing products at the same price. Both the ATI Radeon HD 4670 and ATI Radeon HD 4650 deliver substantial gaming horsepower with minimal power draw – the ATI Radeon HD 4670 operating at under 60 watts and the ATI Radeon HD 4650 operating under 50 watts under full load – eliminating the need for additional power connectors and making installation a cinch. The ATI Radeon HD 4670 is immediately available with a frame buffer of 512MB GDDR3 memory with an MSRP from USD $79, while a 1GB DDR3-based variant is scheduled to ship later this month. The ATI Radeon HD 4650 features a frame buffer of 512MB GDDR2 memory and is expected to be available later in the month at an MSRP from USD $69.

"Today, AMD is providing mainstream users – one of the largest segments of the market – with superior graphics products and performance at previously unheard of prices," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. "The success of the ATI Radeon HD 4000 series validates that AMD’s shift away from the traditional means of producing large, hot, monolithic graphics chip continues to be a successful strategy AMD continues to execute against its timelines and deliver leading graphics performance at every price point.

"Mainstream graphics cards – those priced under $100 – represent more than two-thirds of all desktop graphics sold today," said Dean McCarron, founder and principal, Mercury Research. Providing competitive solutions in this segment is a mandatory requirement to have a strong position in the graphics market."

"The ATI Radeon HD 4670 proved to be an excellent performer, especially considering its low-power operation and affordable price," said Marco Chiappetta, HotHardware.com. "AMD’s new ATI Radeon HD 4670 handily outperformed the ATI Radeon HD 3650 and GeForce 9500 GT across a broad range of benchmarks and just missed hitting the mark set by more expensive offerings. The ATI Radeon HD 4670 performed very well in our benchmark testing, which included a number of popular 3D applications and SD and HD video playback tests."

Leading DirectX 10.1 support
Only AMD graphics offer top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support and the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series continues that legacy. Leading game developers are working with AMD to create a new generation of game titles utilizing DirectX 10.1 to deliver improved features and performance for a better game experience. Developers including Electronic Arts’ Phenomic Studio and its forthcoming fantasy online real-time strategy game BattleForge, and SEGA and its futuristic military real-time strategy game Stormrise, both exploit DirectX 10.1 for advanced gaming performance and visual realism.

"As one of the largest computer system manufacturers in North America targeting the mainstream gaming space, we are committed to building systems that deliver tremendous value to our customers," said Eric Cheung, CEO, CyberPower. "The leading edge technology that AMD is delivering to the mainstream marketplace with the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series is unsurpassed and we are proud to support AMD’s efforts to bring a high-end gaming experience to the masses."

"You don’t have to be a professional gamer to appreciate the incredible performance delivered by the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series for under $100," said Orlando Garcia, president and CEO, Frag Dominant.

Stunning HD viewing experience
The ATI Radeon HD 4600 series brings high-definition, home theatre quality video features to the mainstream segment. AMD has incorporated its second generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD 2.0) for advanced hardware HD video processing ensuring a smooth HD viewing experience on HD-capable monitors. In addition, it features support for HDMI 7.1 surround sound audio for an immersive big-screen entertainment feel.

Home theater enthusiasts will be captivated by ATI Avivo HD technology that...