ATI To Release X1650 To Compete With G73

Since nVidia released Geforce 7600 family (G73) in match, its corresponding rival Radeon X1600 was facing a strong enemy with lower cost and better performance, forcing ATi to recall a weakened R520 version Radeon X1800GTO (R520LE) for the level. In long term, ATi is going to release new Radeon X1650 family.

Radeon X1650 is composed by RV560, RV530 and RV535 chipset, where RV560 is correspond to the top model 1650XT. They are manufactured by TSMC with 80nm process, featured 8 Pixel Shader Pipelines, 24 Pixel Shader Processors (12 for RV530), 128Bit memory controller with 1.4GHz DDR support, 600MHz clock speed and build-in Compositing CrossFire Engine. It is no more master/salve card for CrossFire. Expected to be available in October, its price is set between $149 and $199.

After the launch of Radeon X1650XT, source hinted that Radeon X1600XT and Radeon X1600Pro would be renamed as Radeon X1650Pro and Radeon X1300XT with no any change in specification. Besides, the 80nm version of RV530 is available in October, codenamed RV535 and manufactured by TSMC. With a lower cost, ATi would definitely become more compatible. Radeon X1650 Pro is expected in $99 to $119, while Radeon X1300XT is expected in $79 to $99.

Source: HKEPC