To call companies skeptical of the new roadmap is being overly kind. No one believed it, but what can they do? Easy, put plan C into place, and for ATI, that is called Southern Islands.
Southern Islands (SI) is a 40nm family, and from early information, it looks to be a hybrid between Evergreen and Northern Islands. The architectural details are quite slim now, but it looks like ATI took the uncore from NI and put the shaders from Evergreen on it. Think of it as taking the parts that were done and available, and putting them together.
Because it is the only option at this point, SI will be built on TSMC's 40nm process. This is good because it is known, and ready, pulling in the timetables. Low risk means low chance of problems and quick time to market. Expect SI sometime this fall. Rumors abound that some family members have already taped out, but that is far from confirmed.
ATI 40nm Southern Islands slated for Fall?
Posted on Wednesday, March 31 2010 @ 19:33 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck