On the example of the reference ATI RADEON HD 3870 512MB DDR4 (775/2250 MHz).

Features:

• GPU: RADEON 3870 (RV670)
• 512 MB GDDR4 SDRAM in 8 Samsung chips on the front side; 1250 (2500) MHz peak clock rate
• Interface: PCI-Express x16
• GPU (ROPs/Shaders) clock rate: 775/775 MHz (nominal)
• Memory clock rate, physical (effective): 1125 (2250) MHz (nominal)
• Bus width: 256-bit
• Vertex processors: -
• Pixel processors: -
• Unified processors: 320
• Texture processors: 16 (BLF/TLF)
• ROPs: 16
• Size: 220x100x33 mm (the latter is max. width)
• PCB color: red
• RAMDACs/TDMS: on the separate NVIO chip
• Outputs: 2 x DVI (Dual-Link/HDMI), TV-out (integrated into GPU)
• VIVO: -
• Multi-GPU: Hardware CrossFire

This card features an audio codec that is output via a DVI-to-HDMI adapter.

This card features an original TV-Out interface, so an adapter is required to output video via S-Video or RCA. Such adapters are usually bundled.

This card requires a DVI-to-D-Sub adapter to be connected to an analog monitor with a D-Sub interface.

Maximum resolutions and frequencies:

• 240 Hz maximum refresh rate
• 2048 x 1536 x 32bit @ 85Hz Max - analog interface
• 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Max - digital interface (all Dual-Link DVIs)

MPEG2 playback (DVD-Video) was analyzed back in 2002 and little has changed since that time. Modern graphics cards do not load CPUs during video playback by more than 25%.

The HDTV review is available here.

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