Radeon HD2900Pro 1GB, and2900GT 256MB appear

FOLLOWING OUR story about ATI Radeon HD 2900 Pro boards tipping up, here, we have found more and more graphics cards based on cheaper iterations of R600 chip appearing in e-tail and retail stores.

A search of Geizhals.at reveals that Sapphire is offering two 2900Pro boards. One features 512MB of memory, like the GeCube one, but the second one sports full 1GB of frame buffer memory. In both cases, Sapphire uses GDDR3. The chips used on the 1GB board should prove quite friendly overclock monsters.

The retail box of upcoming 2900GT card is located at Sapphire's website. It is obvious now that the official launch is on Monday or Tuesday

Beside the 2900Pro, one of our sharp-eyed readers also spotted a 2900GT from Sapphire. We're unsure of the specs here, but now it is for sure that it will come with only 256MB of local memory, most probably with a 256-bit interface. Judging by the pricing of 2900Pro, we would not be surprised if the 2900GT retails at around £150, making this card quite a deal.

Regardless of what you might think about the R600 marchitecture, even with the 256-bit interface these cards are a bargain for an asking price of just a little above 200 Euro, including VAT (or way below, as far as the 2900GT is concerned). Seeing the current prices of 2600XT and 8600GTS cards, these will be a great buy once highly-demanding DX9 and DX10 titles appear. If ATI has kept 320 scalar shaders for the 256MB model as well, with decent overclock capabilities, 2900GT could prove quite a premium for those that are seeking most performance for least possible sum of money.

Lastly, as far as we know, both 2900Pro and 2900GT sport a PCB identical to the one found in the Radeon HD 2900XT, so both 8-pin and 6-pin connectors are present. But with these cut-down boards consuming 150 Watts and less, we wonder if the second rail (8-pin) with its 75-125W rail is needed or it is just a neat feature for overclockers? Only time will tell. µ

L'INQ
Geizhals