And I think the architecture is only going to better with the generations in that respect. Since AA is done in the shaders it takes up X shading power. Let's do a bold speculation based on performance hit when AA is enabled and say it takes up 80 SP on the HD3870 at a said resolution (25% of power, please it's just to give an example) . At the same resolution the HD4 series are going to need the same power, 80 SPs, but the difference is:
480 - 80 = 400
320 - 80 = 240
We have 50% more shaders, but that translates to 66% more free shaders, and this will go up as we add shaders. IMO dedicated hardware (more ROPs) is still better, but Ati is going to improve, that's for sure. 66% more shaders clocked 35% higher (1050Mhz / 775 Mhz) translates to 125% more performance:
P x 1,66 x 1,35 = 2,249 P
Interestingly, we have more or less the same improvement in the texture mapping area, double the units clocked a bit higher:
Texture fillrate -> TFR x 2 x 850/775 = 2,19 TFR
I guess they are aiming at ~2,20X the performance of HD3 series.
And I really hope we are correct and Ati's new generation comes with a 100% improvement or greater, since according to leaked specs Nvidia's chip IS going to be double as fast as G92, since it's double everything.
We need Ati back on the high-end market.