There's nothing like the nervous anticipation before a NDA expires. We've got a preview of the R420 over here at Neoseeker. The rumors were true- ATi has a 12 pipeline part, the X800 Pro to compete against the NV40 and wait. They also have a 16 pipe part, the X800 XT Platinum Edition. What kind of performance does this new beast have? In many cases, a doubling of framerates over the 9800XT.

"ATi took a route that was a lot less riskier than Nvidia- they banked on proven technology with 0.15 micron parts for their high end and went for the riskier venture with their mainstream parts, the 9600 Pro and 9600XT. The 9600 Pro validated ATi's 0.13 micron architecture, while the 9600XT improved upon the Pro with the inclusion of a low-k dilelectric which reduced signal crosstalk and allowed ATi to ramp up speeds even higher. Fast forward 6 months to the present day - ATi's current high end parts are now using the 0.13 micron low-k dielectric process. ATi claims that low-k has enabled them to improve clock speeds by roughly 10%. Both the X800 Pro and the X800 XT have high clockspeeds comparable to the 9600XT. Besides the increase in raw clockspeed, the X800 XT and the X800 Pro have 8 and 4 more pipelines than the 9800XT respectively."



Link: Neoseeker