The safer, more incremental improvements were incorporated into the GPU code-named Barts, which became the Radeon HD 68.

At that time, AMD had a choice: to push ahead with an ambitious new graphics architecture, re-targeting the chips for 40 nanometers, or to play it safe and settle for smaller, incremental changes while waiting for TSMC to work out its production issues. Both AMD and Nvidia had to scramble to rebuild their plans for next-generation chips, which were intended for 32-nm. “Isn’t this just another rehashed version of AMD’s existing GPU architecture, like the Radeon HD 6800 series?” Oh, but the answer to your question, so cynically posed, is: “Nope.”Īs you may recall, TSMC, the chip fabrication firm that produces GPUs for both of the major players, upset the apple cart last year by unexpectedly canceling its 32-nanometer fabrication process. “What’s all the fuss?” you might be asking. We’re gonna have to cut some corners, leave out a few vowels and consonants, and pare back some of the lame jokes in order to get you a review before these graphics cards go on sale. Consequently, our task of getting a handle on these things and relaying our sense of it to you… isn’t easy. Today’s GPUs are incredibly complex beasts, and the companies that produce them don’t waste any time in shoving ’em out the door once they’re ready.

The second is the number of days we’ve had to spend with it prior to its release. The first figure is the number of transistors in AMD’s new Cayman graphics processor.

Amd radeon hd 6800 specs bench