Earlier this month AMD held its “Next Generation Technology Summit” in London where it announced its next-generation graphics card platform.<\/p>\n
Previously referred to as “Cyprus” it is now known as the HD 5800 series.<\/p>\n
The launch of the HD 5800 series kicks off with the HD 5850 and HD 5870.<\/p>\n
AMD representatives spoke about a number of peripheral technologies which will accompany the HD 5800 series such as Eyefinity, easy transcoding, improved Blu-ray and HD playback and Stream Computing. Of course the primary purpose of these graphics cards will be gaming, and AMD has made sure that the HD 5870 features higher specifications than any graphics card before it. <\/p>\n
The new 40nm die shrink has allowed for high performance optimisation, as well as relatively low power consumption and low heat generation. The 2 billion+ transistor count, 1600 stream processors and 2.72 TFLOP computational performance confirms that – on paper – the HD 5870 is the fastest single GPU graphics card ever made. <\/p>\n
Pricing roadmap<\/strong><\/p>\n From today onwards international retailers will begin stocking the HD 5850 and HD 5870. Those familiar with previous AMD HD products will be familiar with the structure. Like the award winning HD 4850, the HD 5850 will target mid-range-high-end users, while the HD 5870 will become AMD’s flagship high-end performance graphics card. <\/p>\n Later on this year AMD will launch “Hemlock,” which is the codename for the dual-GPU HD 5870. This will most probably come just before the holiday season and will serve to boost the product range after the initial launch. Later on AMD will launch “Redwood” and “Cedar,” its entry level HD 5000 series GPUs.<\/p>\n The HD 5850 will launch internationally at $300 (R2200) and the HD 5870 will launch at $400 (R2900).<\/p>\n Local pricing and availability<\/strong><\/p>\n The HD 5850 will retail locally for R2699 and the HD 5870 will sell for R3999. The HD 5870 will officially launch in SA at the rAge expo which will take place in the first week of October. The HD 5850 will appear at retail the following week.<\/p>\n View a detailed early look at the HD 5800 series, complete with full specs as well as performance and feature information on MyGaming<\/a><\/p>\n