AnandTech's R520, RV530 and RV515 Pre-NDA Extravaganza
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 13, 2005 9:24 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
ATI's RV515 aka Radeon X1300
ATI's internal roadmap reveals that the RV515 (X1300) is the follow up to RV370, and will come in three main variations with several HyperMemory options and differing core clocks as well. Our previous roadmaps have revealed that RV515 is exclusively a single quad design, with memory interfaces from 32 to 128bits. Even the low end RV515 cards will utilize some form of H.264 decoding and/or HDCP support, making these cards extremely attractive for DVR machines.
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ATI RV515 Roadmap
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| Card | Pipes | Std Core Clock | Std Memory | Memory Width |
| X1300 Pro | 4 | 550MHz | 500MHz | 128-bit |
| X1300 LE | 4 | 450MHz | 400MHz | 128-bit, 64-bit |
| X1300 LE HyperMemory | 4 | 450MHz | 500MHz | "64-bit" |
HyperMemory versions of RV515 will utilize a 32-bit memory bus, but since they utilize the system memory they use a different system of determining the "Supported Memory" configurations as follows:
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HyperMemory "Supported Memory"
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| Card Memory | System Memory | "Supported Memory" | ||
| 32MB | 256MB | 128MB | ||
| 64MB | 256MB | 128MB | ||
| 128MB | 256MB | 256MB | ||
| 32MB | 512MB | 128MB | ||
| 64MB | 512MB | 256MB | ||
| 128MB | 512MB | 256MB | ||
Wrap Up
Among other noteables in the roadmap, some of the more prominent features of R520 included HDMI over Silicon Image's WALDO interface -- all other cards in the roadmap that feature HDCP but not HDMI will use TI's TFP513PAP. On low profile RV530 cards, HDMI connectors are supported directly on the PCB, while analog and DVI connectors are attached via a ribbon cable to a daugther card. For users looking to set up a cheap TV-only DVR, the daughtercard is completely optional - saving money and space.
In the roadmap we also saw some new SKUs from the X550 line and X600 line supporting HyperMemory. With NVIDA's quasi-TurboCache GeForce 6500, an X600 HyperMemory card could put a real advantage of low end video processing back in ATI's court.
X800GTO is also going to be hitting the shelves soon with street prices of $159 for the 128MB version and $179 for the 256MB version. You might want to check our previous roadmap on this particular product, since everyone (including ATI) expects a sub $200 12 pipe R420 to really become the de facto midrange option. A low volume sixteen pipe version will show up for select vendors in select regions.
We go under NDA in the near future for many things ATI, so get ready for AnandTech's upcoming coverage come launch time!
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yacoub - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
I can't WAIT 'til these are available ... so I can pick up an X800 XL dirt cheap! :DIntelUser2000 - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
Is it too much to ask for the editors to do a test of power consumption for at least mobile video cards?? If not desktop ones.quanta - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
According to Digitimes[1], XT. XL, LE has 32, 24, 16 pipelines respectively. Maybe ATI is using GeForce FX style of arranging pipelines, or splitting fragment shader from Raster OP engine?[1] http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050914A7037.html">http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050914A7037.html
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
All we can say is that AnandTech has a source of information that is quite convincing and it states 16 pipelines for X1800 XT/XL and 12P for Pro. The Inquirer, Digitimes, etc. can report whatever they want, but we do not have their same sources, and our sources disagree with their sources right now. Time will tell who is correct. One of the goals of AnandTech is to do our best to report truth rather than rumor - or if we report rumor we make it clear that it is speculation and not fact.KristopherKubicki - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
On the contrary - we have all the sources those guys do, and then some of course.The difference between AnandTech and other websites is we have a strict policy that we only publish on information that is internally documented, and we have a copy of the document. We don't publish information without a roadmap/memo/etc.
Kristopher
SimonNZ - Thursday, September 15, 2005 - link
As i said before, in the last generation cards ATI cards, on a apples 2 apples comparsion eg x850xt pe v 6800 ultra ATI was simply better at running half life 2, the same went for nvidia in doom3, so it always not about what power you are putting out its about how efficient you use what youve got, so until benchmarks are out we can speculate all we want:) my money is on a even split across different benchmarks and gamesStas - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
They better have more than 16. Otherwise it's a complete failure and no high frequencies will save them. I'm really looking forward to the new cards. And I hope they will continue the tradition and KICK nVIDIA's ASS! :)mistersnail - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
Altough I agree that it would be nice to see a continuous trend of general whoopage on ATI's part, I have to say that pipelines and even clockspeed have little affect on how performance turns out. It all depends on the design of the pixel and vertex pipes. A good example of this is the FX5800 (Blow Dryer Edition). The 9700 Pro had 8 pixel pipes, 4 vertex pipes, and 256bit/DDR memory bus running at 325MHz/620MHz. The 5800 Ultra had a 4x2 pixel pipes, 3 vertex pipes, and had a 128bit/DDR2 which ran at 500MHz/1GHz. The 9700 Pro blew the FX5800 completely out of the water just because it had a better design. Even though the clocks were high, pure ingenuity came out on top. The same will (or won't, it's yet to be determined) happen here.
Just because the R520 may be a 16pp design, it doesn't mean that it'll be inferior to a 24pp design. Personally, I think the R520 will have more vertex processing power due to the high clockspeed. Assuming they use 8 vertex pipes, the R520's 8x600MHz is a lot better than the G70's 8x430MHz. Yet again, maybe the R520's vertex pipes will be weaker than the G70's and it'll all balance or. Who knows? Anand does...
SimonNZ - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
I guess it also worth taking into consideration what next-gen games are optimized to run on ATI or Nvidia archecture....just like half life 2 and doom 3, either way this dosn't look like the monster of I card i was hoping to seetayhimself - Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - link
X800 X800GT X800GTO X800XL X800 X800XL X800XT X800XTPE X800XT X850XT PE X850Now only 3 X1800?? What a shoame