ATI R520 to be launched by end of Q3 at 700+MHz?

The Inquirer claims ATI's R520 has been taped out and in acceptably good shape. The company still hasn't decided the final clock speed and appears to go for 700MHz or higher.

They still seem to have some time because the R520 won't ship in August as ATI will introduce them by the end of Q3.

We reported a while back that R520 chips are aimed to work at 600+ MHz but it seems that this number might finish closer to 700+ MHz if the numbers are good, and after the third re-spin, the numbers are good. Some chips will work at even higher frequencies, much more than 700 MHz.

Two of the Inq's sources claim the R520 may actually only have 16 pipelines instead of the rumoured 24 or more.

We previously suggested that R520 will end up with 24 or even more pipelines but we are advised that companies are counting pipelines differently and that now it's all programmable.