Comparison of ATI graphics processing units

This page contains general information about ATI's GPUs and video cards based on official ATI specifications in table form.

DirectX version note

DirectX version indicates which graphics acceleration operations the card supports.
* DirectX 6.0 - Multitexturing
* DirectX 7.0 - Hardware Transformation, Clipping and Lighting (TCL/T&L)
* DirectX 8.0 - Pixel Shader 1.3 & Vertex Shader 1.1
* DirectX 8.1 - Pixel Shader 1.4 & Vertex Shader 1.1
* DirectX 9.0 - Shader Model 2.0
* DirectX 9.0b - Pixel Shader 2.0b & Vertex Shader 2.0
* DirectX 9.0c - Shader Model 3.0, GPGPU
* DirectX 9.0L - Windows Vista only, Vista version of DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 3.0, Windows Graphic Foundation 1.0, DXVA 1.0, GPGPU
* Direct3D 10 - Windows Vista only, Shader Model 4.0, Windows Graphic Foundation 2.0, DXVA 2.0, GPGPU
* Direct3D 10.1 - Windows Vista only, Shader Model 4.1, Windows Graphic Foundation 2.1, DXVA 2.1, GPGPU

OpenGL version note

OpenGL version indicates which graphics acceleration operations the card supports.
* OpenGL 1.1 - Texture objects
* OpenGL 1.2 - 3D textures, BGRA and packed pixel formats cite news | first=Dave | last=Astle | coauthors= | title=Moving Beyond OpenGL 1.1 for Windows | date=2003-04-01 | publisher= | url =http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1929.asp | work =gamedev.net | pages = | accessdate = 2007-11-15 | language = ]
* OpenGL 1.3 - Multitexturing, multisampling, texture compression
* OpenGL 1.4 - Depth textures
* OpenGL 1.5 - Vertex Buffer Object (VBO), Occlusion Querys [http://www.opengl.org/documentation/specs/version2.1/glspec21.pdf OpenGL 2.1 specification]
* OpenGL 2.0 - GLSL 1.1, MRT, Non Power of Two textures, Point Sprites, Two-sided stencil
* OpenGL 2.1 - GLSL 1.2, Pixel Buffer Object (PBO), sRGB Textures
* OpenGL 3.0 - GLSL 1.3, Texture Arrays, Conditional rendering, Frame Buffer Object (FBO) http://www.opengl.org/registry/doc/glspec30.20080811.pdf OpenGL 3.0 specification, retrieved August 12, 2008]

Field explanations

The fields in the table listed below describe the following:

* Model - The Marketing name for the processor assigned by ATi
* Year - Year of release for the processor.
* Model number - Mobility Series VPUs are based on technology from several technology families. ATi assigns codenames based on an "MXX" model string, which does not relate to the actual technological base of the processor (represented by the R-number). Additionally, ATi is the sole supplier for all Mobility Radeon parts. For this reason, except for the Mobility Radeon 2000 series, all mobility processors are listed on the same table.
* Code name - The internal engineering codename for the processor (typically designated by an RNXX name where N is the series number and XX is the market segment for which the product is designed. Additionally, a codename may follow the RVNXX format where "V" typically signifies a processor intended for a mainstream or value market segment).
* Fab - Fabrication Process. Average feature size of components of the processor.
* Bus interface - Bus by which the Graphics processor is attached to the system (typically an expansion slot, such as PCI, AGP, or PCIe).
* Memory max - The maximum amount of memory used by the processor.
* Core clock max - The maximum factory core clock frequency (used as some manufacturers adjust clocks lower and higher, this number will always be that listed by ATi).
* Memory clock max - The maximum factory memory clock frequency (used as some manufacturers adjust clocks lower and higher, this number will always be that listed by ATi).
* Config Core - The layout of the graphics pipeline, in terms of functional units. Over time the number, type and variety of functional units in the GPU core has changed significantly; before each section in the list there is an explanation as to what functional units are present in each generation of processors.
* Fillrate - Maximum theoretical fillrate in Textured Pixels per second. This number is generally used as a "maximum throughput number" for the GPU and generally, a higher fillrate corresponds to a more powerful (and faster) GPU.
* Memory Subsection
** Bandwidth Max - Maximum theoretical bandwidth for the processor at factory clock with factory bus width. GB=10^9 bytes.
** Bus Type - Type of memory bus or buses utilized.
** Bus Width - Maximum Bit width of the memory bus or buses utilized. This will always be a factory bus width.
* Graphics Library Support Section
** Direct X - Highest version of DirectX with which the hardware is compliant and fully supported.
** Open GL - Highest version of OpenGL with which the hardware is compliant and fully supported.
* Features - Additional features that are not standard as a part of the two Graphics libraries.

Comparison table

Rage series

*¹ Vertex shader : Pixel shader : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit

Radeon R300 (9xxx, X10xx) series

*¹ Vertex shader : Pixel shader : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit
*² The F-Buffer is a small amount of memory, located in each pixel pipeline, whose target is to override the architectural limit of R300 to handle pixel shader programs with only 64 instructions length per pass.

Radeon R400 PCIe (X7xx, X8xx) series

*¹ Vertex shader : Pixel shader : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit

Radeon R600 (HD 2xxx, HD 3xxx) series

*¹ Unified Shaders (Vertex shader/Geometry shader/Pixel shader) : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit
*² The Radeon HD 2900 XT runs at different clock frequencies in each of its two operating modes, 2D and 3D, while for Radeon HD 3000 series, as implemented the ATI PowerPlay technology, the clock frequencies may vary in different usage scenarios, the clock frequencies listed here refer to the officially announced clock specifications.

Mobility Radeon Series

*¹ Vertex shader : Pixel shader : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit.

*² Unified Shaders (Vertex shader/Geometry shader/Pixel shader) : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit

FireMV series

*¹ Vertex shader : Pixel shader : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit
*² Unified Shaders (Vertex shader/Geometry shader/Pixel shader) : Texture mapping unit : Render Output unit

References

ee also

*ATI CrossFire
*ATI Video Card Suffixes
*Comparison of NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units
*Comparison of AMD Processors
*Comparison of Intel processors
*Comparison of ATI chipsets
*Comparison of AMD chipsets
*List of Intel chipsets

External links

* [http://ati.amd.com/ ATI Homepage]
* [http://www.beyond3d.com/resources/ Beyond3D 3D GPU data & resources]
* [http://www.gpureview.com/videocards.php?manufacturer=ati GPUReview ATI GPU database]
* [http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html Notebookcheck Mobile Graphics Cards database]
* [http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/ TechPowerUP! GPU database]
* [http://www.tomshardware.com/site/vgacharts/index.html Tom's Hardware VGA Charts]
* [http://ati.amd.com/products/mobilityradeonhd3800/index.html Mobility Radeon HD 3800 Series]
* [http://www.x.org/docs/AMD/ Public AMD GPU specifications on X.org website]