ATI Radeon X1950 XTX (paper)launched for $449

ATI today officially announced the Radeon X1950 series which includes the new Radeon X1950 XTX and Radeon X1950 CrossFire.

On September 14th, both the Radeon X1950 XTX and Radeon X1950 CrossFire Edition will ship from retailers, system integrators, with an estimated street price of US$449 or EUR399 (VAT included) for each card. The Radeon X1950 family will also be available shortly from leading OEM vendors, including Dell.

Along with high frame rates, the Radeon X1950 family delivers uncompromised image quality. Only ATI's graphics processors provide the ability to combine FP16 High Dynamic Range effects with anti-aliasing to render the most realistic game environments possible. Sharp texture filtering capabilities also ensure that every detail in every scene is rendered. This combination of high performance and image quality results in the most immersive experience available today.

The Radeon X1950 employs the latest memory technology of GDDR4 to deliver blazing performance. With an effective data rate of 2 GHz, the new cards are easily capable of rendering fast frame rates at high resolutions, or maximizing image quality settings for gamers running at more mainstream resolutions. Accompanying the addition of GDDR4, the Radeon X1950 also introduces a new fansink that results in cooler, quieter operation.

The Radeon X1950 provides comprehensive compatibility for the latest technologies:

For games: Get what you pay for - single-slot cards that make use of two GPUs rely on driver profiles to ensure gamers get the best performance from the card. Like any dual-GPU solution, scaling can vary wildly between games, resulting in gamers making use of only a fraction of the hardware paid for. A single Radeon X1950 XTX delivers 100 percent performance, 100 percent of the time in single-card mode without the need to rely on driver profiles, so gamers can push the card to its limits in every game, delivering the best value for their money. The Radeon X1950 series are also supported by ATI's Catalyst suite of software for CrossFire gaming, ensuring gamers have easy ongoing access to software updates for performance, stability and added features.

For multimedia: Making use of ATI's Avivo technology, the Radeon X1950 family delivers ATI's highest performing video decode of the latest high-definition video formats. The Radeon X1950 family is also capable of displaying one billion colors, or 10-bit throughout the graphics pipeline. Lastly, the Radeon X1950 is also HDCP-compliant, including a built-in EEPROM and HDCP key.

For Windows Vista: The Radeon X1950 family is ready to deliver the premium Windows Vista experience with exceptional driver stability and performance.