ATI announces X1900 series

by: John - posted: 1/24/2006 9:08:00 AM

Well the NDA has lifted and ATI has officially announced the X1900 series of graphics cards. This isn't a paper launch as you can grab the cards from the retailers now.  For example, Monarch Computers has the cards in stock right now. You can grab the Crossfire edition, X1900 XTX edition, or the X1900 XT edition. Congratulations on ATI for a successful release of cards for a true launch day. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a few cards to test in here someday soon. For now, plenty of the usual hardware sites have some write up on them so check them out!

ATI Launches and Ships New Radeon® X1900 Graphics Processor For Advanced
Multimedia and Gaming

Radeon® X1900, All-In-Wonder® X1900 and Radeon® X1900 CrossFire™ products
will engage and entertain customers while they breakthrough performance and
quality barriers

MARKHAM, ON – January 24, 2006 – Gamers and multimedia enthusiasts alike
will be delighted by the launch and immediate availability of the Radeon®
X1900 graphics processor from ATI (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT). With the most
advanced and complete set of features, PCI Express® add-in-cards based on
the Radeon X1900 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) will, without question, be
the cards of choice for gamers looking for the best performance and for
multimedia enthusiasts looking for a high-performance, high-quality digital
media experience.

The Radeon® X1900 XT and Radeon® X1900 XTX are must-have cards for gamers.
They deliver the best performance, with three times the shader performance
than the previous generation. The parallel architecture -- with 48 pixel
shader processors -- generates rich, vibrant scenes, bringing games to
life. Combined with the cards’ high clock frequencies, the architecture is
capable of more than half a TeraFLOP of shader computations. In real-life
gaming that can mean games run up to 60 percent faster on the Radeon X1900
XTX than the nearest competing product.

But the architecture isn’t just about brute force performance, it also
delivers the industry’s best image quality including the ability to apply
advanced features such as antialiasing and high dynamic range lighting
simultaneously – capabilities exclusive to ATI. The Radeon X1900 also
features ATI’s Avivo™ technologies which ensure optimal image quality,
connectivity and HD video capabilities.

“The desktop graphics market was worth $1.39 billion in Q3’04, and ATI is
clearly going after it with the launch of the Radeon X1900 products,” said
Dr. Jon Peddie, president, Jon Peddie Associates, the market research in
Tiburon, CA, that tracks the PC graphics chip market. “Not only have they
delivered the fastest graphics card, they have made it available
immediately at launch and in good quantities around the world. We expect
this new board to be very well received.”

For gamers who want the ultimate in gaming, ATI is also introducing the
Radeon® X1900 CrossFire™ for multi-GPU systems. Combined with either the
Radeon X1900 XT or Radeon X1900 XTX, the Radeon X1900 CrossFire gives
gamers access to even more performance and image quality.

The Radeon X1900 XT, Radeon X1900 XTX and Radeon X1900 CrossFire are
shipping immediately from ATI and its board partners around the world. The
Radeon X1900 XT has a suggested retail price of USD$549 and the Radeon
X1900 XTX has a suggested retail price of USD$649. These prices are well
below that of competing products.  The Radeon X1900 CrossFire has a
suggested retail price of USD$599. ATI has already shipped many thousands
of Radeon X1900 GPUs to partners and into the channel.

Also launching today is the All-In-Wonder® X1900, which joins ATI's
multimedia product family that spans nearly 10 years of market leadership.
ATI's fastest multimedia video card delivers outstanding graphics
performance while enabling Avivoâ„¢ technologies for the best possible video
and image quality. All-In-Wonder X1900 comes bundled with Adobe® Photoshop®
Elements 4.0 Plus Adobe® Premiere® Elements 2.0 software -- award-winning
photo and video editing recognized for exceptional photo and video
features.

All-In-Wonder X1900 also includes ATI's award winning software application
Multimedia Centerâ„¢, Remote Wonder Plusâ„¢ (for wireless computer control,
Gemstar GuidePlus+ program scheduling in North America, European program
guide for DVB-T broadcasts, input and output cables, support for Windows
XP® Media Center and more.

All-In-Wonder X1900 has a manufacturers suggested retail price of USD$499
and is available now from ATI.com in North America and by mid-February in
Europe from major online stores.

“All of the Radeon X1900 products raise the bar in so many ways. They
deliver the best performance, they offer image quality features unavailable
from any other company and they are widely available,” said Rick Bergman,
Senior Vice President and General Manager, PC Business, ATI Technologies
Inc. "ATI committed to delivering the best products with this launch and
has definitely followed through."

All of the Radeon X1900 products are supported by ATI’s Catalyst suite of
software, ensuring customers have easy and ongoing access to software
updates for performance, stability and added features. The Radeon X1900
products will also help customers prepare for the upcoming Microsoft
Windows Vista operating system.