AMD has launched ATI Radeon HD 5800 series graphics processors, with 2.72 teraflops of compute power. The series initially consists of two cards: the ATI Radeon HD 5870 and the ATI Radeon HD 5850, each with 1GB GDDR5 memory.
The company said that the new series supports Microsoft DirectX 112, a new gaming and compute standard that will ship with Windows 7 operating system. It also supports DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL titles in single card configurations or multi-card configurations using ATI CrossFireX technology.
The new series of graphics cards is two generations ahead of DirectX 10.0 support, and features sixth generation evolved AMD tessellation technology, third generation evolved GDDR5 support, second generation evolved 40nm process technology, claimed the company.
The new series allows up to three displays, and the forthcoming ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity6 graphics card is expected to allow up to six displays.
Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of products group at AMD, said: “As the first to market with full DirectX 11 support, an unmatched experience made possible with ATI Eyefinity technology, and ATI Stream technology harnessing open standards designed to help make Windows 7 that much better, I can say with confidence that AMD is the undisputed leader in graphics once more.”
