Cards Makers Are Gearing Up to Release Dual-GPU 4GB Graphics Boards

From Tom's Hardware: The launch of Nvidia Corp.’s GeForce GTX 400-series graphics boards is getting closer and it looks like ATI’s add-in-board partners are gearing up for this launch just like Nvidia’s allies. At least three manufacturers of graphics cards are preparing to release factory-overclocked ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics boards with 4GB of memory, which will raise performance bar for high-end accelerators.

Asustek Computer seems to be the first company that decided to create a higher-performance version of the Radeon HD 5970 graphics board. Asus Ares graphics card features two ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics processors (with 1600 stream processors) running at 850MHz with 256-bit bus and 4GB of GDDR5 memory running at 4800MHz. The graphics board may provide 20% higher performance compared to ATI’s original Radeon HD 5970. The card features two one dual-link DVI-I connector, DisplayPort connector as well as mini-DisplayPort outputs. The card utilizes proprietary design with two 8-pin and one 6-pin PCI Express power connectors as well as a proprietary cooling system.

Sapphire Technology is another company planning to release enhanced ATI Radeon HD 5970 with 4GB memory. The board will carry two Cypress graphics processors with 850MHz clock-speed with 2GB of 4800MHz GDDR5 memory per chip. The card will also have proprietary design with two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, two dual-link DVI-I and a mini-DisplayPort connectors as well as ArticCooling cooling system with three fans.

XFX Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition Limited will also feature two fully-fledged ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics chips with original clock-speeds, e.g. 850MHz for the GPU and 4800MHz for 4GB of memory. The most interesting thing about this graphics board is that it has a cooling system that looks very similar to that developed by ATI itself for the original model 5970, which implies that the Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition Limited will not be a proprietary product by XFX, but a solution offered by all partners of AMD’s graphics business unit. The board has six mini-DisplayPort connectors, which seems excessive considering the fact that multi-GPU ATI CrossFireX technology that powers dual-chip graphics cards only supports simultaneous rendering to three monitors. The device requires two 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

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