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AMD unveils Radeon R9 and R7 series graphics cards in Hawaii

by Mark Tyson on 26 September 2013, 10:00

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qab3gj

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AMD revealed its latest graphics card range last night, including the AMD Radeon™ R9 290X, R9 290, R9 280X, R9 270X, R7 260X and R7 250. Earlier in the evening HEXUS got some early snapshots of the top of the range R9 290X, you can read about that here. The computer processor company heralded its new Radeon range as the “first GPUs in a new era of gaming defined by UltraHD displays, renewed vigour in game engine development, and a new generation of gamers that expect a more immersive entertainment experience”. Specs and technical details for the range are thin on the ground right now and are expected in follow-up presentations and events.

Last night AMD also talked about two other innovations; Mantle, which will help game developers write for multiple AMD platforms and AMD TrueAudio Technology which empowers game developers with a programmable audio pipeline on the GPU.

“The AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series graphics cards are new GPUs for a new era in gaming,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, Graphics Business Unit, AMD. “This era is shaped by ultra-resolution gaming and an exciting new generation of highly-anticipated games like ‘Battlefield 4.’ But it’s also an era shaped in a very powerful way by our own Unified Gaming Strategy; we’ve teamed up with the world’s top game developers to establish a comprehensive portfolio of games that you can maximize to their full potential only with AMD Radeon graphics.”

As mentioned in the intro, at the time of writing AMD hasn’t supplied us with detailed spec tables about this new range of graphics cards, the event was more of an overall picture of things to come. There was some basic information shared about the range though, as you can see above, several of the cards had the amount of RAM, price and 3DMark Firestrike score revealed. The folks over at Anandtech have compiled that into a handy table, as below.

Mantle

AMD told us about its new Mantle technology last night. Mantle helps games developers write code to “speak the native language of the Graphics Core Next architecture, presenting a deeper level of hardware optimization no other graphics card manufacturer can match”. Also Mantle facilitates a games development over several platforms “by leveraging the commonalities between GCN-powered PCs and consoles for a simple game development process”. Mantle is also part of AMD’s Unified Gaming Strategy – unifying PC, living room and cloud.

More information about Mantle will be shared at the AMD Developer Summit, APU13, in November.

AMD TrueAudio

Some of the newly announced Radeon range support AMD TrueAudio which is supposed to mark “a new frontier in realism for PC gamers”. AMD draws parallels with the “way that the programmable graphics pipeline brought unfettered artistic vision to PC graphics”. By providing a programmable audio pipeline on the GPU AMD foresees more realistic in-game dynamic sounds, “breathtaking directional audio” and more.

AMD Multi-Display technology for Ultra-resolution gaming

Last but not least AMD reminded us how the new range of graphics cards “are made for gaming on UltraHD (3840x2160) displays, including support for non-tiled 2160p60 displays with a future AMD Catalyst driver release”. In addition AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology will be made more flexible to offer “virtually any combination of display outputs when connecting matching monitors” on a PC system.



HEXUS Forums :: 33 Comments

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Odd choice to stick the trueaudio in the high end card and the near budget model. Think they would stick it in all or just the high end models. Must be honest I'm still struggling with the new naming structure…
I want one lol… The R9 290X seems like a good upgrade from my 7950. And I agree with cheeseamp, the TrueAudio being on the top and mid-low end cards is an odd choice. They should implement it on the whole series.
*cheesemp, sorry.
I fell asleep with all the audio B$.

R9 270x - $199 (HD 7870)
R9 280x - $299 (HD 7970 GHz)
R9 290 -
R9 290x - rumours suggest $ 599?


Things that would have been interesting is performance in relation to the current market. Maybe an indication of when the NDA is lifted.
The 280X is against the 770 - Arguably team green is superior but cost Ā£50 more.

There is little to be excited about, where is the game changer? Where is the consumer benefit?
At least the 770 was a marginal improvement on the 680, Is the 280x just the same product?
While I can see my 7970's going for sale soon. Cannot wait for the 290x. Then maybe go crossfire at a later stage. Last time I saw my bank manager he told me to take a seat, I said I felt comfortable on my knees. What am I going to say this time?