ATI launches 5670

AMD wants DX11 for all!

ATI is bringing out the latest in graphics support for the masses with the launch of the 5670, based on the same 40nm process that it used in the 5700 series.

The launch forms part of ATI's 'sweet spot' strategy which sees launches of the latest technologies, first for the enthusiast market, followed by the mid-market, then the mainstream value users and finally trailed by the budget segment.

In this instance, the 5670 follows on from the 5700 series and is aimed squarely at the mainstream market. According to AMD around two thirds of PC gamers use graphics cards that cost less than $US100 and have a display resolution of less than 1920 x 1200.

As well as full Directx11 support, the 5670 includes ATI Stream to boost tasks such as transcoding and hardware Flash acceleration. Furthermore, the 5670 supports ATI's Eyefinity multi-monitor technology, with the reference design able to support up to three displays, but with the possibility of third parties supporting four should they opt for a two slot design.

With a total compute power of 620Gflops, the 5670 has a core clock speed of 775MHz and 512MB or 1GB of 128bit GDDR5 memory clocked at 1000MHz with a data rate of 4Gbps and up to 64GBps of memory bandwidth.

The reference design features five SIMD engines, 400 stream processing units and 20 texture units.

The 5670 will draw about 14W at idle and around 61W under load. This means that the reference design doesn't need an extra power connector, however third party versions that can be overclocked might need one.

The budget end of the market will get a similar refresh next month with the launch of the 5500 and 5450. AMD is aiming these upcoming cards at basic users as well as low profile and home theatre PCs thanks primarily to the fact that the 5450 can be passively cooled, thereby reducing noise.

These budget cards will also support up to three displays using Eyefinity as well as HDMI 1.3a, software crossfire and hybrid crossfire on the 5450.

With that sub $100 sweet spot in mind, ATI is pushing the 512MB 5670 with a recommended retail price of $US99, however the 1GB version will come in at closer to $US120.

With the cards tipping up from today, ATI has assured us that there will be enough supply to meet demand.