AMD samples 80nm RV505CE - finally

ATI took its time over the 80 nanometre transition. The original plan was to have 80 nanometre chips back in July time, but we didn't see a single one before mid October. And the cheapest ones have been pushed from mid September to sampling in mid October. With some luck you might see the new cards based on RV505 this year.

RV505 is a shrunken version of ATI's 90 nanometre RV515 core. The RV505CE is a 80 nanometre chip.

The RV505 ASIC is manufactured by TSMC and has the same features as RV515, RV516 chips. It supports Shader Model 3.0, 64 or 128-bit memory interface, Avivo and Hyper memory that can address up to 512MB system memory.

The plan is to brand the RV505CE as Radeon X1300 CE and clock the core at 350MHz. that way ATI can keep it passively cooled and make the low-profile cards. The best thing is that this card should be able to run Aero glass just fine and we are talking about a sub-$50 card.

The faster revision of RV505 can work up to 600MHz and let's not forget that 80 nanometre chips are about seventeen per cent smaller than the current 90 nanometre RV 515 / 516 chips. The RV 516 chips are made by UMC and both RV515 and RV 516 are under the hood of many Radeon X1300 on the market.

A Vista-capable card for around $/€50 is not a bad deal at all. In the UK, the Radeon X1300 Turbo Cache sells for around £41 or more. µ

See Also
ATI AMD finally releases Catalyst 6.10