ATI's next-gen RV870 core shares a well-known ancestry.
The RV770 core is one of the most popular choices for enthusiast cards on the market, powering such cards as the HD4870 and 4870X2, but is set to be replaced later this year by something quite familiar.
Called the RV870 chip and codenamed Evergreen to indicate that it's the next generation of GPU cores, rather than being an all-new design it's merely a very tweaked version of the RV770.
Changes include more shader units, higher clock speeds and full support for DirectX11, with a release set for late Q3 2009.
We knew it was coming as recently as last week; but we've finally got a confirmation - whether or not NVIDIA can match this date with their next generation of cores is up in the air.
Head over to Fudzilla to check out some scant details about the RV870, and let the specification speculation begin!
Issue: 107 | December, 2009