ATI's R580 has 16 pipelines but 48 Pixel Shader units

[Gamer X]

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[lifeguard1999]

It will be interesting, if true. But remember that these are the same people who said the X1800XT would have 32 pipes, then 24 pipes, then 16 pipes.

 

[Genx87]

Doesnt the current 7800 have 48 units? 2 units per pixel pipeline?

 

[nRollo]

Nvidia spends more money in its TWIMTBP, The Way Its Meant To Be Played so it might win more of these battles. µ

When ATI introduced the Radeon, it had three TMUs per pipe, which was considered to be a potential advantage if software had three textures per pixel. None did. (IIRC)

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Creig]

We finally confirmed that ATI's upcoming R580 GPU will again have sixteen pipelines only but this time it will have 48 Pixel Shader units.

I'm sorry, but I don't think the Inquirer should be allowed to use the word "confirmed".

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Creig

We finally confirmed that ATI's upcoming R580 GPU will again have sixteen pipelines only but this time it will have 48 Pixel Shader units.

I'm sorry, but I don't think the Inquirer should be allowed to use the word "confirmed".

Hahahahaha

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: Creig

We finally confirmed that ATI's upcoming R580 GPU will again have sixteen pipelines only but this time it will have 48 Pixel Shader units.

I'm sorry, but I don't think the Inquirer should be allowed to use the word "confirmed".

QFT, I trusted them on R520 which they botched so miserably. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Doesnt the current 7800 have 48 units? 2 units per pixel pipeline?

no

 

[Regs]

There's is only so much you can do with pixel pipes today except talk about them and go "awwww" when you see them listed on the box. Programmability should be every one's top priority.

 

[Cooler]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Originally posted by: Creig

We finally confirmed that ATI's upcoming R580 GPU will again have sixteen pipelines only but this time it will have 48 Pixel Shader units.

I'm sorry, but I don't think the Inquirer should be allowed to use the word "confirmed".

Hahahahaha

Agreed

 

[kamranziadar]

Interesting, but we will see when it will be available

 

[Stoneburner]

Why do people think this card will be that great? Just because it's the same team that did the r300?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Stoneburner
Why do people think this card will be that great? Just because it's the same team that did the r300?

that and ATi has apparently been sitting on it for months. if reports are to be believed, it taped out successfully before R520 did.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Stoneburner
Why do people think this card will be that great? Just because it's the same team that did the r300?

that and ATi has apparently been sitting on it for months. if reports are to be believed, it taped out successfully before R520 did.

I heard this as well. All I'm saying is, it had better be spectacular if it wants to make its way into my puter. And I mean in every game, in every way. They have had a LOT of time to work on the drivers, so the word "beta" should never be anywhere near any review. Drivers should be mature and kickin! They better be.

 

[Munky]

Well, nice to see the Inq posting the same thing I posted a few months ago - 16 pipes, 3 shaders per pipe. Of course people cried BS back then too, but you can go ahead and quote me on this - the r580 will have 16 pipes and 48 pixel shaders. Anyone who knows anything about hardware already suspected this info many months before, and all the doubters - get ready to eat those hats...

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Doesnt the current 7800 have 48 units? 2 units per pixel pipeline?

The 7800 has 48 ALU's, but each pixel shader has 2 ALU's working together, so no.

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Nvidia spends more money in its TWIMTBP, The Way Its Meant To Be Played so it might win more of these battles. µ

When ATI introduced the Radeon, it had three TMUs per pipe, which was considered to be a potential advantage if software had three textures per pixel. None did. (IIRC)

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

your right. Dare i say it, that card was a little ahead of its time. The (custome made) demos that i saw with that card were really something back then. yet it got beaten in sheer speed.
I would think that ATI would not leave it to the software companies this time round. Rather go the had way round (pun intended..hahahahaha)
As they already have unified hardware that dosoent need to be coded for specifically in the Xbox i dont see why they wouldent allow this to work with the pixel shaders so the software dosoent have a choice of wether to take advantage of this or not.
I hope this is the case otherwise it will end up only being as fast as the X1800XT. That would not be the leap we are really looking for.
I hope they put in some more effective quieter cooling as a standard....coz to be honest the GTX 512 has some really nice looking coolers.........something along those lines that only exhausts from the case.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Nvidia spends more money in its TWIMTBP, The Way Its Meant To Be Played so it might win more of these battles. µ

When ATI introduced the Radeon, it had three TMUs per pipe, which was considered to be a potential advantage if software had three textures per pixel. None did. (IIRC)

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Actually I think games ultimately did take advantage of the three TMU's per pipeline after the first year and the original Radeon (7200 series) became a competitive product once drivers improved from crap to less crap (although Nvidia never lost the lead in performance in that era).

Nvidia still had them beat with the brute force; ATI had 2X3 (2 pipes with 3 TMU's per pipe) and Nvidia went with 4X2 on the GF2 GTS. I think the GF1 was 4X2 also, IIRC.

Nvidia would then, of course, go on to add the first programmable pixel shaders (DirectX 8.0 baby!) on their GF3 while sticking to the 4X2 design, and ATI switched over to 4X2 w/ DirectX 8.1 with the 8500 series.

Oh, the good old days!

-------------

Regarding R580, isn't 16 pipes/48 pixel shader units exactly the same configuration that the Xenos GPU in Xbox360 is using?

 

[John Reynolds]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Nvidia spends more money in its TWIMTBP, The Way Its Meant To Be Played so it might win more of these battles. µ

When ATI introduced the Radeon, it had three TMUs per pipe, which was considered to be a potential advantage if software had three textures per pixel. None did. (IIRC)

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

And that is completely unrelated to the # of ALUs per fragment pipe of these designs today.

I'm more interested in whether or not these ALUs are co-equal in functionality like the 7800 series or if one or two will have full capability and the other somewhat limited in what it can process (a la R520's design).

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: John Reynolds

Originally posted by: Rollo

Nvidia spends more money in its TWIMTBP, The Way Its Meant To Be Played so it might win more of these battles. µ

When ATI introduced the Radeon, it had three TMUs per pipe, which was considered to be a potential advantage if software had three textures per pixel. None did. (IIRC)

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

And that is completely unrelated to the # of ALUs per fragment pipe of these designs today.

I'm more interested in whether or not these ALUs are co-equal in functionality like the 7800 series or if one or two will have full capability and the other somewhat limited in what it can process (a la R520's design).

The point had nothing to do with old Radeons John, I was merely commenting it will be interesting to see which company developers code to the strengths of. Traditionally, even when ATI introduces tech that is arguably better, developers don't code to take advantage.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: Rollo

The point had nothing to do with old Radeons John, I was merely commenting it will be interesting to see which company developers code to the strengths of. Traditionally, even when ATI introduces tech that is arguably better, developers don't code to take advantage.

Hmm, kind of like the 6800 series and SM3.0 huh? Sorry Rollo, had to say it.



All right back on topic. Can someone explain what exactly the ALU's do? I know that's a dumb question but I've never gotten into the nitty gritty of video card technology.

 

[nts]

Originally posted by: Elfear
All right back on topic. Can someone explain what exactly the ALU's do? I know that's a dumb question but I've never gotten into the nitty gritty of video card technology.

ALU = Arithmetic Logic Unit, it is responsible for all the math.

Anybody know the ALU configuration in the R580? Still the full and simple ALU, are there simply more ALUs or are the current ones extra wide?

Can't wait to see what this chip can do

 

[Munky]

My guess is they're still sticking with one full ALU and one mini-ALU, simply because switching to 2 full ALU's will require a significant rewrite of the drivers, and no rumors have mentioned anything about redesigned ALU's. Of course, at this point your guess is as good as mine since we havent heard anything official.