AMD Outs First FirePro Card with Graphics Core Next Support

There has been a lot of news coverage for the Radeon graphics card line from Advanced Micro Devices, but the FirePro series wants some attention too, so AMD arranged for some.

The company has launched a new product, one described as the first AMD professional graphics adapter that utilizes the Graphics Core Next architecture and 28nm production technology. It is the sort of item that will let system integrators and display installation builders upgrade their display output solutions. Buying new displays is easy enough, but not all graphics cards can connect to more of them at once. Likewise, video boards may not necessarily be able to cope with high-resolution panels. AMD's FirePro W600 has no problem with LED-backlit LCDs, nor with plasma panels or any other technologies that can spawn large, high-resolution screens.

In fact, it can drive up to six of them at once, via mini DislayPort connectors. The number jumps to 12 when two W600 are set up in CrossFire. 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM are present, along with the AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD), for two HD video streams. What's more, the company implemented projection overlap capability (for creating one, seamless image), AMD PowerTune (optimizes power draw, dynamically) and ZeroCore power (cuts power usage during idle periods). That said, buyers will get to set up video feeds at 4096 x 2304 pixels resolution, at 30 bits per pixel and 60Hz refresh rate.

Strangely, AMD did not give all the specifications of the product in its press release, but we were able to find out, after some web snooping, that FirePro W600 is a variation of the Radeon HD 7750, powered by Cape Verde. The stream processor count is probably at 512, while the power consumption is of 75W (no PCI Express connectors are needed). The price is $599 / 477 Euro. No clue on the frequencies, though.

Posted in: Hardware, Preview