ATI to Release Fastest DirectX 9 Chip in ATI’s History

ATI is a leader in the graphics processing unit market. Current generation games are largely designed to be used with either ATI graphics cards or NVidia cards. With the advent of dedicated physics processors and games that require more and more power from hardware, ATI has decided to step their game up.

Code named R600, ATI’s upcoming GPU will support advanced new features including: unified shader architecture, unprecedented support for DirectX 9 applications and more “horsepower” than current chips, generally speaking. According to Richard Huddy, the head of ATI’s software developers relations department, the new GPU will be the “fastest DirectX 9 chip that we have ever built.”

The unified shader architecture used by ATI will provide world class performance even in existing applications, according to Mr. Huddy. the Xbox 360 utilizes an ATI chip (xenos graphics core) with unified shader architecture that has 48 shader processors. It loses 20 to 25% of its performance in pixel-shader limited games when the chip is configured as non-unified (16 processors work strictly on vertex shaders while 32 are assigned for pixel shaders).

It will be up to game developers to craft games that will best utilize the hardware they are being developed for. Games can be designed to work better with the 360’s hardware setup, but when dealing with multiple platforms and a market that supports a variety of hardware designs, game developers are sometimes forced to chose between widespread compatibility and optimization for a specific system. Too much optimization can drive up prices and add an inordinate amount of time to the development process. This can cause problems, but the flexibility the configuration provides is a trade-off that ATI is aggressively pursuing.

NVidia, on the other hand, believes that the implementation of a unified shader architecture should be gradually and cautiously approached. ATI’s R600 will certainly provide users with a GPU that will handle today’s applications with ease and also give them a leg up on future releases as well. However, as game developers and GPU manufacturers move into the future, only time will tell which view of processor architecture will provide the best results for users in the long run.

ATI is a leader in the graphics processing unit market. Current generation games are largely designed to be used with either ATI graphics cards or NVidia cards. With the advent of dedicated physics processors and games that require more and more power from hardware, ATI has decided to step their game up.

Code named R600, ATI’s upcoming GPU will support advanced new features including: unified shader architecture, unprecedented support for DirectX 9 applications and more “horsepower” than current chips, generally speaking. According to Richard Huddy, the head of ATI’s software developers relations department, the new GPU will be the “fastest DirectX 9 chip that we have ever built.”

The unified shader architecture used by ATI will provide world class performance even in existing applications, according to Mr. Huddy. the Xbox 360 utilizes an ATI chip (xenos graphics core) with unified shader architecture that has 48 shader processors. It loses 20 to 25% of its performance in pixel-shader limited games when the chip is configured as non-unified (16 processors work strictly on vertex shaders while 32 are assigned for pixel shaders).

It will be up to game developers to craft games that will best utilize the hardware they are being developed for. Games can be designed to work better with the 360’s hardware setup, but when dealing with multiple platforms and a market that supports a variety of hardware designs, game developers are sometimes forced to chose between widespread compatibility and optimization for a specific system. Too much optimization can drive up prices and add an inordinate amount of time to the development process. This can cause problems, but the flexibility the configuration provides is a trade-off that ATI is aggressively pursuing.

NVidia, on the other hand, believes that the implementation of a unified shader architecture should be gradually and cautiously approached. ATI’s R600 will certainly provide users with a GPU that will handle today’s applications with ease and also give them a leg up on future releases as well. However, as game developers and GPU manufacturers move into the future, only time will tell which view of processor architecture will provide the best results for users in the long run.