AMD and NVIDIA to Launch New GPU Models Soon

When AMD launched its Radeon HD 5800 series of graphics cards last fall, it beat NVIDIA to the DirectX 11 punch by over half a year, and though NVIDIA struck back with cards that out-performed AMD’s best this past spring, AMD sure doesn’t want that fact to remain for much longer.

Though it’s still considered a rumor, since nothing official has been said, it seems likely that AMD will launch its Radeon HD 6000 series next month, called “Northern Islands”. In a different-from-the-usual move, the company won’t release the highest-end models at the get-go, but rather focus on the HD 6700 series, such as the HD 6750 and HD 6770.

That decision is an interesting one, and it’s causing a bit of speculation. For the most part, it makes sense that AMD would cater to the largest market first, but to differ from previous launches like this is a bit strange. Could AMD’s silicon not be quite prepped for its high-end models, or has it decided from the start to do things a bit differently? Whatever the reason, it has no hate from me, since it generally sucks for those who have to wait for months after the initial launch to get mainstream parts.

On the NVIDIA side, the GeForce GTS 450 should be released soon enough, taking the place of the GTS 250, and for the lower-end market, the GT 430 is set to launch next month, settling in between the GT 240 and GT 220. There was no such thing as a GT 230, so the naming of that chip is interesting, since it’s hard to gauge how NVIDIA plans to fill up the rest of its line-up.

Talking about these cards makes me realize just how overdue we are with benchmarking our revised gaming suite, but we’re still readily working on it and hope it to be completed soon, with a GPU review of some sort to quickly follow. Stay tuned for that.

Nvidia is prepared to launch its latest GeForce 400-series GPU, the GeForce GT 430 codenamed GF108, around the middle of October and the GPU will feature a performance in between its GeForce GT 240 and GT 220; meanwhile, AMD is also set to launch its Radeon HD 6000-series around the same time, according to sources from graphics card makers.