2012-12-21-80

[Rumour] ATI next generation codenames

Although we have only seen one series released from ATI's Evergreengeneration, the rumour mill is floating various codenames for ATI's nextgeneration products, releasing in H2 2010.

Fudzilla claims thatthe generation will be codename "Hecatonchires", as the successor toEvergreen. Apparently, there will be three desktop chips and three notebook chips, thus six more codenames to appear soon.

Meanwhile, Nordichardware had reported three island names as codenames - Cozumel, Ibiza and Kauai, although it is not clear where these rumours originated from. Radeon 100 has also been circulating. Interestingly, Hecatonchires are a group of three giants in Greek mythology, each with a hundred hands and fifty heads. If Hecatonchires were really the codename of the family, then it would make sense for each of the three chips to be named after the three giants - Briareus, Cottus and Gyges. As the story goes, the three Hecatonchires overwhelmed the mighty Titans, throwing hundreds of massive rocks (as big as mountains) at them, at a time.

Greek mythology aside, it does seem strange that a chip designer would refer to their products as "Hecantochires" internally. Just try pronouncing those a few times in a row. Needless to say, these are sketchy rumours which might easily have been conjured from thin air.

Unlike Evergreen, which is an evolution of R700 (which is an evolution of R600), ATI's next gen (let's just call it R900 for now) is rumoured to be a brand new architecture, the first since R600. It is expected to be fabricated at a 32nm process sometime in H2 2010, most probably Q3, although it is not clear if GlobalFoundries or TSMC will be contracted.

Reference: Fudzilla, Nordichardware