ATI's R520 has eight Shader units

THE NEXT generation ATI graphic chip codenamed "Fudo" will increase the number of Shader units from previous generation. When it comes to Shaders, R520 will have quite some fuel to pump those little programs.

We learned that R520 will have eight Shader units. The current R420/R423 generation that come under the X800 brand has six Shader units. These extra two units will certainly speed up shading operations and that's what developers need for endless shading loops.

We also have to add that R520 comes with support for Shader Model 3.0+.

We still stick to our original story that R520 "Fudo" will come in spring of 2005, let's say around Cebit 2005.

It's very unclear what Nvidia reaction will be. With NV48 and NV50 cancelled and with a very slim chance that it is working on rumoured NV47 re-spun chip we're still in the dark what Nvidia has against R520.

It's interesting to note that at its editor days NviDiA haven't said a thing about its future high end graphic plans. It likes to keep things secret as long as it can. µ