Sunnyvale (CA) – Discrete graphics are advancing deeper into the mainstream segment with AMD’s new Radeon HD 3000 series, offering DirectX 10.1 and DisplayPort functionality as well as the ability to handle 1080p high definition video for prices starting at about $50.

The new HD 3400 and HD 3600 extend ATI’s recently announced high 55 nm 3800 cards to the lower end and deliver, according to AMD, “unmatched value” to the consumer. That claim is mainly based on the integration of DisplayPort support into the GPU, support for DirectX 10.1 and the promise that the performance of these cards is sufficient to playback high-definition videos in 1920x1080p resolution.  

AMD will offer four new reference cards initially, two 3400 series and two 3600 series models. The 3450 runs at a 600 MHz core and a 500 MHz DDR2 memory clock. The 3470 has an 800 MHz core and a 950 MHz GDDR3 memory clock. The pricier 3650 will come in two versions with 725 MHz core and 500 MHz DDR2 or 800 MHz GDDR3 memory clock. All cards will be equipped with 256 MB memory by default, but the higher-end 3650 will also be manufactured in 512 MB and 1024 MB versions. The power consumption is rated at below 75 watts.

While there isn’t anything particularly exciting in this announcement for the enthusiasts, consumers looking to playback HD DVD or Blu-ray may be interested in the cards, which will sell for between $80 and $100 (3600) and $50 and $65 (3400).

In fact, the cheaper 3400 series may be the more interesting choice in this portfolio, as this series will support AMD’s hybrid graphics technology – which allows a system to take advantage of the combined performance of an integrated graphics chipset or shut the discrete card down to save power and cut down the noise level by turning off a fan (the 3450 version which only come with passive cooling).

Reviews of the new cards are virtually non-existent on the Internet and hardware sites have been careful to make any predictions on how well these new cards perform. Anandtech, for example, said that it did not receive hardware to test, but stated that the hardware “isn’t revolutionary”.

The 3450 runs at a 6000 MHz core and a 500 MHz DDR2...

Jan 23, 2008 11:48     

The 3450 runs at a 6000 MHz core and a 500 MHz DDR2 memory clock. 6000 MHz huh... Hmmm.
P report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

If it works with eCS?

Jan 23, 2008 14:17     

If it works with eCS, then I would be very interested in it. http://www.ecomstation.com It will be good for low priced computers.
TomLeeM/BigWarpGuy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

low profile?

Jan 23, 2008 21:06     

a $50 card that can do full HD over diplayport (not that many TVs support this yet) would be amazing for a cheap HTPC... but my case will only do low profile.
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Folding@Home has ATI GPU Programs

Jan 24, 2008 11:10     

One advantage of using ATI GPU's is the Folding@Home project has programs which use these GPU's. When GPU's are used instead of CPU's, you can process work units much faster. Folding@Home claims work units are processed a minimum 5 times faster. The Folding@Home project has no programs which use nVidia GPU's. They say the ATI GPU's are better suited for number crunching. I understand Folding@Home will also be releasing program code where users can create their own programs which utilize the ATI GPU for number crunching. So if you want to do more than just viewing movies and gaming, if you want to help find the cure to cancer or other diseases or experiment with some major MFLOP number crunching, an ATI card is what you want. ;^)

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low pro

Jan 25, 2008 19:20     

There is a low profile version available of the cheaper one.
Daniel report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Folding@home is great!

Jan 26, 2008 14:04     

The Folding@home project is awesome. But, I believe that the Stanford group had only enough money to develop a version for the 1000 series of cards. It doesn't work on any 2000 or 3000 series. Fortunately I think you can still get x1950 based cards though. Check out more at http://folding.stanford.edu They wanted to make an nVidia version, but nVidia offered absolutely no help at all. nVidia is really getting bad about support of their hardware any more. They are even threatening lawsuits against people to try to "tweak" their drivers. I'm glad I only use ATI these days.

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sub $100 ?

Jan 31, 2008 11:47     

These are mass market cards. The lower series is just better than onboard vga, and the other is quasi low end, low resolution gaming. Their launch with big brother 3800 series has only the 3400 series at below $100. Retailers rarely respect MSRP.
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