While we already reported that the X2900 got a name change to the HD 2900 series, The Inquirer sought to find out what happened to the rest of the Radeon line-up. Here are the latest R6x0 rumors, along with their new names.

• RV610LE will be called the HD 2400 Pro. This can support HD playback in 720P (1280x720) resolutions, and comes with up to 256MB of 64-bit DDR2 RAM clocked at 800MHz.
• RV610PRO will be known as the HD 2400 XT. It should come with 128-bit GDDR3 RAM, and support full 1080P (1920x1080) HD playback.
• RV630PRO will be known as the HD 2600 Pro. It is basically an RV610LE with a fancy memory controller, higher clock speeds, and the ability to play 1080P HD content.
• RV630XT will be known as the HD 2600 XT. It is a higher-clocked version of the RV630PRO, with the ability to support higher-clocked and more memory.

All of these cards should come with a native HDMI port, can be ported to AGP, and have HD audio codecs.

AMD/ATI has released its latest version of the Catalyst drivers, which are used by the Radeon 9500 series and higher. There are 32-bit and 64-bit releases for both Windows XP and Windows Vista, and it is recommended that you upgrade to the latest version to solve any potential problems you may experience. You can download the drivers here. Please note that all versions of Windows require you to download a different driver.

Building on the success of its midrange families of graphics accelerators, leading graphics supplier Sapphire Technology has just added several new members to the X1650 series.

The new X1650 series is an enhancement of the successful X1600 series and has been designed to deliver high efficiency, high performance in Shader Model 3.0 and enhanced image quality. The architecture also supports ATI AvivoTM technology delivering vibrant high fidelity images and video playback to the latest High Definition (HD) video standards. The AGP version delivers new affordable levels of display quality and performance over this industry standard graphics interface.

ATI has listed some of its first DirectX 10 offerings with specs and prices. Topping the list is the X2800XTX, with a 750 MHz core clock and a Gigabyte of GDDR4 running at 2.2 GHz on a 512 bit bus. Like Nvidia's new cards, it features 128 shaders and an 80nm architecture. The card will initially be going for 600 USD. A dual card christened the X2800XTX2 has also been announced, and is said to be running two 575MHz cores and a Gigabyte of GDDR4 at 2GHz. However, due to the nature of the design, the memory bus has been cut back to 256 bits, rather than 512, and it will only feature 96 shaders. A 512 Megabyte version of the single XTX running the same clocks will also be available for 550 USD.

The next card in line is the X2800XT. Unfortunately this card is slated to run GDDR3 and sports less impressive speeds. The core will run at 600 MHz, and the 512 MBs of memory at 1.8 GHz. It will also only run on a 256 bit bus, with 96 shaders. However, the card will sell for 500 USD, one hundred less than the flagship XTX.

Also unveiled was the X2800XL, listed at 400 USD with 512 Megabytes of GDDR3 and 96 shaders. And last but not least is the X2800GTO, selling for 300 USD and sporting 256MB of 256-bit GDDR3 with 96 shaders as well. All in all, its a formidable lineup, and hopefully one that will help to bring the price of DirectX 10 gameplay down to a reasonable level for most gamers.

AMD/ATI seems to be planning twelve different cards in the R600 series to be released during 2007. The chart above lists the different models, and although it is in Chinese/ Japanese (sorry, not sure what each looks like) the columns have been translated to mean (from left to right) GPU model name, GPU clock/ memory Clock, memory type, memory width, memory size, number of pipelines, manufacturing process and recommended price (presumably in US $). One interesting thing to note is the X2800XTX2, which could be a dual GPU card.

With AMD/ATI's flagship for the start of the DirectX10 era, the R600, expected during March, the two mainstream cards in the series are expected to launch sometime during April. It will probably be about a month after the R600 is released, with mass availability sometime in May. The R630 is the mid-range model, whilst the R610 will be the entry level card. These cards will be going head to head with NVIDIA's G86 and G84 to win the DirectX 10 low and mid end battles, hopefully bringing DX10 under $100 and making it available to more people.

A new introduction by Sapphire Technology now reduces the cost of entry to its highly successful X1950 Series. The SAPPHIRE X1950GT is scheduled to ship from retailers and system integrators worldwide from January 29th 2007. Featuring ATI RADEON X1950GT core(500MHz), 256MB GDDR3 (1200MHz), 36 pixel shader units and CrossFire support, the SAPPHIRE X1950GT is fully compatible with the Windows Vista 3D environment, DirectX 9.0 - Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL graphics. The SAPPHIRE X1950GT series of video cards natively support HDCP and feature the ATI Avivo technology. Two Dual-link DVI outputs are also provided, as well as TV out.

ATI/AMD has released its latest Windows XP Catalyst driver, version 7.1, for the newer Radeon cards (9600 and newer). There have been quite a few minor fixes, official download available here.

ATI, the graphics manufacturing division of AMD, has announced that it plans to allow third party manufacturers to design and produce their own graphics card boards to their own capacities for certain chips. Until now, ATI and NVIDIA have not sold their high-end chips directly to other manufacturers, instead choosing to make the cards under their own supervision using a contract manufacturer first. This, in theory, ensures that the quality of all their graphics cards is high for end consumers. Graphics board manufacturers should now have more freedom in how they build the cards, with the X1950XT being one of the GPUs they will be allowed to do this with. Although ATI will still supervise the board manufacturing process, their partners should have more breathing space to customise the cards.

ATI Vice President and Managing Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Pete Edinger, has left the company after 11 years of service. He wishes the firm all the best and feels that the merger between AMD and ATI makes sense, saying "the new AMD will enable a lot of opportunities for our industry to drive the market". Edinger was respected by the press because he was nearly always available for a chat and he is likely to stay in IT. Alberto Macchi, president of AMD Europe, will take over his position.

ATI has teamed up with laptop-maker Asus to introduce a series of 'Ready for Vista' notebook graphics processors. There are three processors in the Mobility Radeon X1K family: the X1700, X1450 and X1350. Each of the processors has been designed to play high-definition(HD) video formats such as HD-DVD/H.264 and Blu-ray and support Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. ATI's deal with Asus follows a similar deal with NVIDIA in recent weeks to use the GeForce Go 7700 chips in its ultra-portable AJ8 notebook series. Asus will use the ATI chips in its forthcoming Mobile TV, Mobility, Multimedia and Entertainment laptops. Longer battery life is a key component of the new processors, despite running faster than previous graphics processors. They will use the Powerplay 6.0 power management technology, which allows the chips to automatically adjust the balance between performance and power consumption based on the workload.

Next year (2007) will start with an booming start for the VGA market, in 2007 lots of things will happen in this market, new architectures will be presented where performance will be outstanding and leading. Jetway will start in 2007 with bringing their ATI cards back to the European market with aggressive prices. Performance is leading but price for the market is just as important.

Probably all of us are eagerly awaiting the R600 from ATI. The news floating on the internet is mixed - some report that the chip runs cool and doesn't draw a lot of power, while others tell us the contrary.

Hexus.net managed to find out some information about how ATI plans to cool the chip. Apparently, NanoFoil technology will be used. The technology works by having ultra-thin nanolayers of aluminium and nickel that can be controlled by heat, electricity or mechanical or optical stimulation, causing a reaction that gives off heat in a controlled fashion. The technology has been around since 2003, but hasn't yet been used to cool computer components.

Apparently AMD have chosen United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) to produce its 80nm ATI RS690 chipset. When ATI was independent from AMD it worked with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for 80nm production, so this could well be a result of the merger.

According to the Inquirer, NVIDIA, ATI and AMD could be in trouble for apparently conspiring to keep prices high. Allegedly executives of the companies have met to discuss the price of graphics processor units and therefore have received a summons by the Department of Justice, being asked to present data going back into the 1990s.

AMD has cut prices on four ATI products earlier this week. The products affected by the price cut include AMD ATI Radeon X1950 XTX, ATI Radeon X1950 CrossFire Edition, ATI Radeon 9550 and TV Wonder 200 PCI. Under the new pricing AMD ATI Radeon X1950 XTX and ATI Radeon X1950 CrossFire Edition will drop to $429 from the previous $449 while the ATI Radeon 9550 will drop to $79. AMD TV Wonder 200 PCI will drop down to $49. This is distributor pricing and only affects built by ATI products. It is unknown how the price cuts will affect retail pricing from local and online resellers. Other ATI products such as the Radeon X1950 Pro, X1650 Pro, TV Wonder 650 are unaffected.

ATI is about to introduce new entry-level graphics accelerator dubbed X1050 later this month. The new chip is set to replace the X300 and X550 cards from the market. It will be clocked at 400MHz core and 666MHz memory. It will support both 64- and 128- bit memory interfaces.

It was only a matter of time before ATI starts losing market share after the AMD acquisition. According to Jon Peddie Research, ATI's share of the computer-oriented graphics market dropped from 28 per cent in Q2 to 23 per cent in Q3. Market leader Intel's share remained at 40 per cent, but NVIDIA, VIA and SiS all recorded rises, reaching 22 per cent, ten per cent and five per cent, respectively. NVIDIA's market share rose two percentage points. NVIDIA also grew its share of the desktop graphics market, to 25 per cent, JPR said. ATI still holds leader position in the mobile market. Its share fell to 24 per cent, while NVIDIA reached 19 per cent in the quarter.

According to Hexus, ATI (AMD) has unveiled a new, slightly softer logo for its Radeon family. As you can see, it is very similar to their old logo but with more curved edges and a slightly modified layout. I'm not certain it's genuine because I can't actually find any trace of it on ATI's website but if it's real that could suggest that the ATI brand name is here to stay, at least for the time being. The new logo is on the right.