AMD Aims to Deliver "Perfect Graphics Cards" for Gamers With New AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6800 Series

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Next-Generation Graphics Cards Introduce Unprecedented Levels of Game Performance, Best-in-Class Energy Efficiency, and an Unmatched Feature Set Starting at $179(1)

SUNNYVALE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 10/21/10 -- AMD (NYSE: AMD) today introduced the next generation of PC gaming, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series, designed to be "perfect graphics cards" for gamers by delivering unprecedented game performance starting at $179 SEP.(2) The new AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards provide more than 30 percent greater game performance than competing products, harnessing AMD's second-generation Microsoft DirectX® 11-capable architecture, best-in-class energy efficiency, and an unmatched feature set, including AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology. The AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series is available immediately from etailers worldwide.

"AMD is the market share leader by a landslide in DirectX® 11 graphics," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, GPU Division, AMD. "Through our sweet spot strategy and our open, industry standards approach, we've worked to deliver the best possible experience for gamers. Today, our laser focus on gamers continues with the introduction of what we think is far and away the best graphics card series today, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series. With exceptional game performance, an unrivaled feature set including breathtaking DirectX® 11 gaming, AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing, and more, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series will have all gamers wanting to get Radeon™ in their systems."

"One of the great advantages of PC gaming is the rapid pace at which the experiences evolve and improve, and the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series delivers on the promise of DirectX® 11 gaming with significantly improved visuals and enhanced performance," said Craig Owens, marketing director, EA. "With Medal of Honor, EA is pushing the boundaries of gaming technology to deliver a whole new online experience, and it only makes sense that we leverage the latest DirectX® 11 technology supported by AMD Radeon™ graphics cards to deliver an amazing experience for gamers."

Leading DirectX® 11 Performance and Eye-Definition Graphics

  • Ultimate efficiency for ultimate performance: With the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series, AMD aims to recreate the same incredible value proposition of the original "sweet spot" products, the ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series graphics cards. Taking full advantage of AMD's experience with DirectX® 11, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series is AMD's second-generation DirectX® 11-enabled chip designed to deliver more than 30 percent greater game performance over the closest competing products in their class and even faster tessellation for a more realistic gaming experience.(1,3) The AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series' architectural efficiency and advances in power management technology deliver best-in-class energy efficiency.(1)

  • New and improved image quality features: AMD Radeon™ 6800 series graphics cards feature improved image quality, including all-new morphological anti-aliasing compatible with DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, or DirectX® 11 applications, and improved anisotropic filtering.

  • Built for DirectX®11 games and more: DirectX®11 has quickly become the new standard for PC games. The majority of game developers chose AMD Radeon™ graphics cards as their development platform of choice for their DirectX® 11 games, and today AMD continues to enjoy strong relationships with those developers and many more. Beyond DirectX® 11 games, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series also delivers an exceptional game play experience in DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, DirectX® 10.1 and OpenGL titles in single card or multi-card AMD CrossFireX™ configurations.(4)

Expand Your Experience with AMD Eyefinity Technology and Leading Display Technologies

  • Continued industry leadership in multi-display computing: The AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards are the first in the industry to offer support for both DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a, providing PC users with expanded options for multi-monitor configurations, display selection, and new DisplayPort audio features.

  • Simple, flexible, affordable multi-display computing with AMD Eyefinity: AMD Eyefinity technology continues to be the most affordable multi-display solution available, offering incredible choice in display compatibility and configurations.(5) More than 45 game titles have been AMD Eyefinity-validated or are AMD Eyefinity-ready titles, and there are hundreds more games that are AMD Eyefinity-compatible. Additionally, continuing improvements to AMD Catalyst™ graphics drivers may unlock new functionality and flexibility in AMD Eyefinity features and configurations.

  • AMD HD3D technology for even more choice in 3D entertainment: With the AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards, AMD is introducing AMD HD3D technology, the result of our open 3D initiative for stereo 3D gaming and movies. AMD HD3D technology supports over 400 titles through its partners, and AMD's open 3D ecosystem approach encourages the broadest selection of 3D solutions, available at the most affordable cost.(6)

Live Life at EyeSpeed with AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing

  • Do more, faster with AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology: Enjoy new features, functionality and improved performance in top media, entertainment and productivity applications made possible by AMD APP technology.(7)

  • Enhanced video quality features: The AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards features Unified Video Decoder 3 (UVD), a dedicated video playback accelerator that enables users to get the most out of Blu-ray™ 3D movies, other HD video formats, and online video, while enjoying video quality improvements such as advanced post-processing and scaling, dynamic contrast enhancement, color correction and more.

  • Extensive support of industry standards: The AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards fully support both DirectCompute and OpenCL™, ensuring broad application support.

Partner Support

  • The AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards is supported by a dozen add-in-board companies, including ASUS, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, GIGABYTE, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), MSI, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE Technology, VisionTek and XFX.

Supporting Resources

About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

1. In games including Aliens vs. Predator™, Metro 2033™, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.™: Call of Pripyat, Lord of the Rings Online™, and Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 delivers more than 30% higher frames per second over the Nvidia GTX 460 1GB. Test systems specifications: AMD Phenom™ II X6 1090T Black Edition (3.2GHz) processor, Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 (F4 BIOS) motherboard, Corsair Dominator 8GB (4x2GB) DDR2-1600 memory (9-9-9-24 timings), AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 graphics card, running Windows® 7 64-bit with the latest critical updates, and AMD Radeon™ 6800 Series Press Driver (8.782.2) vs. AMD Phenom™ II X6 1090t Black Edition (3.2GHz) processor, NF980-G65 (v1.4 BIOS) motherboard, Corsair Dominator 8GB (4x2GB) DDR2-1600 memory (9-9-9-24 timings), Nvidia GTX 460 1GB, running Windows® 7 64-bit with the latest critical updates, and NVIDIA ForceWare 258.96 WHQL. Based on AMD internal testing, AMD Radeon™ HD 6800 series graphics cards consume equivalent or less power than competing Nvidia GTX 460 graphics cards and per the above, deliver more than 30% more performance measured in frames per second demonstrating the AMD Radeon HD 6800 series has the most energy-efficient design in its class. Feature set includes AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, support for DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a, support for new DisplayPort audio formats, and Unified Video Decoder 3. The AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 will have a SEP of $239 and the AMD Radeon™ HD 6850 will have a SEP of $179.

2. See performance data in footnote #1.

3. Based on AMD internal synthetic testing that demonstrates the AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 achieves up to 2x the tessellation rate of the ATI Radeon™ HD 5870.

4. AMD CrossFireX™ technology requires an AMD CrossFireX Ready motherboard, an AMD CrossFireX™ Bridge Interconnect (for each additional graphics card) and may require a specialized power supply.

5. AMD Eyefinity technology works with games that support non-standard aspect ratios, which is required for panning across multiple displays. To enable more than two displays, additional panels with native DisplayPort™ connectors, and/or DisplayPort™ compliant active adapters to convert your monitor's native input to your card's DisplayPort™ or Mini-DisplayPort™ connector(s), are required. AMD Eyefinity technology can support up to 6 displays using a single enabled AMD Radeon™ graphics card with Windows Vista® or Windows® 7 operating systems -- the number of displays may vary by board design and you should confirm exact specifications with the applicable manufacturer before purchase. SLS ("Single Large Surface") functionality requires an identical display resolution on all configured displays.

6. AMD HD3D is a technology designed to enable stereo 3D support in games, movies and/or photos. Game support made possible through partners including iZ3D and DDD.

7. Requires application support for AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology. AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing technology works with applications designed to take advantage of its GPU acceleration capabilities.

©2010, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, ATI, the ATI logo, Catalyst, CrossFireX, Radeon and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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<b>Contact:
Dave Erskine
AMD Public Relations
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Released October 21, 2010