ATI RV360 ; Thunderhead, Thunder Storm and Rainbow

Posted on Tuesday, August 19 2003 @ 11:38 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
X-bit Labs reports about the ATI RV360. It is not sure how cards based on this chipset will be called, but things like RADEON 9650 and RADEON 9800XT are possible.

Initially there are three different types of the ATI RV360 : The standard recenference board is called Thunderhead while the more powerful solution is called Thunder Storm and the slower version is codenamed Rainbow. Mass production of the RV360 is planned in early September.

  The Thunderhead will have 128MB of 128-bit DDR SDRAM memory in BGA form-factor clocked at 700MHz or higher. As expected, the RV360 architecture is in generally similar to that of the RV350 aka RADEON 9600-series. Besides some possible tweaks, we should expect the core-clock to increase towards 450MHz or more. The graphics card should score some 3800 scores in 3DMark03.

RV360 “Thunder Storm” reference design is intended for hardware enthusiasts, who do not want to spend much, but still would like to have a speedy and feature-rich solution. The VPU on Thunder Storm will function at 450MHz or above, the 128-bit DDR memory will work at 800MHz. Sources close to ATI even claim that the Thunder Storm will even feature GDDR2-M memory, what is quite likely, but is a bit strange given that there are few GDDR2-M memory chips on the market. Estimated performance of the RV360 “Thunder Storm” is 4000 3DMark03 scores.

The third reference design of the RV360 is called “Rainbow”. It will feature 450MHz or higher core and 256MB of DDR SDRAM memory at 550MHz. The part will score 3500 points in 3DMark03 benchmark and will be the slowest in the family.

All three cards will be equipped with D-Sub, DVI-I and TV-Out connectors, the “Thunder Storm” and “Rainbow” will boast with VIVO capabilities as well. Pricing of the parts and actual brand-names are to be determined in future.




I'm just wondering if those 3DMark scores are with or without benchmark optimizations..

Source : X-bit Labs


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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