ATI plans to introduce three varieties of its R520 core, when it's released next month. We now also have the official names for these cards and ATI has surprised by not going for the anticipated 900 number. Apparently during a brainstorming session the marketing think-tank responsible for naming cards, decided that 1800 is twice the figure that 900 is and therefore better suited to describe the new ATI product.
The top variety (X1800XT), as reported earlier, will have a core running at 600 MHz and memory at 1400MHz and will feature 16 pipelines but its availability will be restricted early on.
The PRO version (X1800PRO) of the core will feature a 550MHz core and 1250MHz memory, also with 16 pipelines, while the budget version will be the (X1800XL) which will have a 500MHz core and memory running at 1000MHz but will also have 16 pipelines making it a rather attractive budget option.
Considering that the PRO and XL versions are expected to be widely available, it seems that ATI has shown a preference for the cards that are expected to sell well and we have to admit that both the PRO and XL (provided their prices are reasonable) sound like good boards.
Finally a website claims to have the first images of the R520 cards, one of which you can see to your right. Follow the download tab above to view the rest of the images.
