backtop

Hardware ATI RD550 Details Emerge, HDCP Inside RS690
Tuan Nguyen (Blog) - February 25, 2006 12:57 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 26 comment(s) - last by Zoomer.. on Feb 28 at 8:41 PM
Dongle-less CrossFire, full HDCP support on both desktop and mobile platforms, and more

We've come across some ATI documents that reveal ATI's next generation CrossFire enabled chipset which will be positioned as a mainstream part. RD550 has not yet received an official name at this time but details include support for 1x16 + 1x8 PCIe slots. RD550 will also enable dongle-less CrossFire support which will be a welcomed feature by enthusiasts.

RD550 is an AMD based chipset and will have support for AMD's upcoming AM2 platform. Support for AM2 will also be included with RD580. Boards using RD550 are expected to be announced sometime in March of this year. Interestingly, during the same time frame, no new chipsets for Intel processors will be introduced but Intel users can expect to see RD600 products to emerge in June. RD600 is slated to support 2x8 PCIe slots and DDR3 memory.

Also coming in June will be ATI's RS600 and RS690 parts which are both positioned as mainstream parts. A key feature of RS600 and RS690 is that ATI will implement full HDCP support on chip. According to the documents ATI indicates that the chipset will hold the necessary HDCP keys as well as support an integrated HDCP-DVI TMDS transmitter. HD audio will also be another key feature for RS600 series. Interestingly, details are noted that a mobile version of the same chipset will also have HDCP keys integrated on chip. Both chipsets will include the ability to output full HD content and come equiped with HDMI connections.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
HDCP and New Monitors
By AggressorPrime on 2/25/2006 1:12:44 PM , Rating: 2
What really makes me mad about HDCP is that everyone will have to buy new monitors. This will really hurt those people who just bought the ultra fast and ultra expensive 3ms, 2ms, and 1ms LCD monitors and those who bought the ultra big monitors as well.




RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By sircuit on 2/25/2006 2:56:43 PM , Rating: 2
Which is why DVDs will continue to sell as good as it has.


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By Griswold on 2/27/2006 1:15:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Which is why DVDs will continue to sell as good as it has.


QFT


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By jkresh on 2/25/2006 3:40:01 PM , Rating: 2
I can not see buying any discs (blueray/hddvd) that require hdcp for the moment a I am quite happy with my 2405fpw and dont see replacing it in the short term. I think i wouldneed someone to release a 2500x1600 24inch display with 10-14 ms reponse times at below $1500 for me to consider replacing it, and I dont see that happening in the near future. Now for those who release blueray/hddvd discs that ignore hdcp (its up to the content providers to decide how it reacts) I will probably be happy to buy them (as long as good movies are released).


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By dgingeri on 2/25/2006 5:44:27 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, for me, I'd say they'd have to release a 24" 2500X1600 HDCP monitor for under $300 for me to be interested. I will not pay more than $500 for a monitor, to me it's just not worth it, and having to deal with HDCP along with it had better come at a discount, not a premium.

The movie and music industries have gone way too far already in making my life miserable just to watch movies and listen to music at home. To allow them to go further would be nuts.


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By gersson on 2/25/2006 6:12:35 PM , Rating: 2
heh good luck with that :-)

BTW, Daily Tech mods hate me. Stop changing all my posts or better yet ban my account so I know I'm not welcomed here...


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 2/25/2006 6:37:27 PM , Rating: 2
You're not going to like this -- but anyone can mod on DailyTech. Only I can ban you though :-P

Kristopher


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By kilkennycat on 2/25/2006 6:59:27 PM , Rating: 2
I must be banned then.... The last couple of attempted posts have earned me a notice that there was a problem with my posting and the (Daily Tech) webmaster has been informed. Of course, as usual with such things.... total silence from the webmaster, no followup emails, nothing. Please can we go back to the original Anandtech news system and not this Daily Tech nonsense ? Now let's see whether Daily Tech drops this posting.....


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 2/25/2006 7:11:51 PM , Rating: 2
No one banned you. If you use Tor or some other anonymizer that changes your IP, you might have problems as your cookie gets tied to the IP.

Kristopher


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By DigitalFreak on 2/25/2006 7:14:45 PM , Rating: 2
Ban him anyway


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By kilkennycat on 2/25/2006 10:18:08 PM , Rating: 2
Er, grumpy ? Got an itch you can't scratch ?


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By kilkennycat on 2/25/2006 10:16:55 PM , Rating: 2
Seems to have worked this time....thanks for thr extra info. I don't use Tor or anything similar...


By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 2/26/2006 4:03:07 AM , Rating: 2
Did you login on a laptop and change connections? I noticed your IP changed between accounts. That happens to me sometimes on my PDA and I have to logout and log back in. I'll see if I can get my web guys to fix it.


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By Zoomer on 2/28/2006 8:39:35 PM , Rating: 2
I see. No wonder I can't log in from work.

Or did you get money from my employer to ban all such logins? It isn't going to work, there's still /. ;)


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By stephenbrooks on 2/26/2006 4:48:53 PM , Rating: 2
What's *really* weird is that your post appears to be a reply to one of mine from a day or two ago, which has now vanished. Even if I set the threshold to -1 and also click 'show all' it still doesn't turn up, but it seems that you saw it! Unless my post got to -1 and then somehow when it's -1 there is an option to delete, something's a bit kinky with this message posting server.


RE: HDCP and New Monitors
By stephenbrooks on 2/26/2006 4:50:16 PM , Rating: 2
Or... maybe that was a post I thought of writing but eventually decided against, or the request didn't go through. I'm confused. Anyway, the gist of the post was "maybe HDCP would be more popular if people were given free monitor upgrades to it".


ATI furthering content control
By TiberiusKane on 2/25/2006 1:02:39 PM , Rating: 2
I really wish these guys would sort of rebel and not support controlled digital content. If HDCP fails to be supported, then it fails as a standard, which would be good for consumers and their rights. However, it looks like nobody cares about our rights.




RE: ATI furthering content control
By Ecmaster76 on 2/25/2006 1:07:28 PM , Rating: 2
Actually they have failed to implement HDCP in any video card . So pretty much all the board makers have done us a 'favor'


RE: ATI furthering content control
By Zoomer on 2/28/2006 8:35:39 PM , Rating: 2
You have to thank Tom's, and later Anandtech, for that.

Oh yes, did I forget to mention this very glorious site? Dailytech!

Who cares about HDCP. If no one implements it, some enteprising swede would undoubtly hack it. But now...



By threEchelon on 2/25/2006 7:51:10 PM , Rating: 2
Good point. Though when it comes down to it, nVidia and ATI are just greedy comepanys like any other and they'll see HDCP as an opportunity to get people to ugrade sooner, and thus, buy their products. It'd be great though if ATI and nVidia could combine their efforts stand up for the consumer. Intel and S3 aren't that much of a threat to ATI and nVidia to usurp them over the HDCP issue.


RE: ATI furthering content control
By RobFDB on 2/25/2006 10:26:29 PM , Rating: 2
I'm sure all the OEMs would love that. Their shiney new BD or HD ROM drives not able to actually work as advertised. Oh look, here's Intel who doesn't care about consumers with their intergrated GPU that does everything the system builders wants. Say buh bye to ATis and NVidias orders for graphics cards.

Who would you rather piss off? Dell and your shareholders, or a small group of consumers who will buy your cards [b]anyway[/b]?

Remember these companies are out there to make money. Face it, all this DRM crap was set in stone years ago. It's not like it really matters in the long term, everything gets cracked eventually.


RE: ATI furthering content control
By Zoomer on 2/28/2006 8:37:00 PM , Rating: 2
I doubt dell gives a shit about HDCP. If their computers sell, they don't care if its sand or silicon inside.


RD550 & no dongle Crossfire
By DigitalFreak on 2/25/2006 7:17:09 PM , Rating: 2
If RD550 supports dongleless Crossfire, shouldn't RD580 as well? Will dongleless support be for the 1900XT, or just the low end cards? Would be nice to skip the crossfire edition cards.




RE: RD550 & no dongle Crossfire
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 2/25/2006 7:58:00 PM , Rating: 2
All new cards (from RV560 onward) will have Crossfire on the card (essentially making all cards Master Cards) or will not need a dongle for Crossfire support. However, the roadmap says specifically that RD550 will not enable dongle-less Crossfire.

Technically X1800, X1900 and X850/800 can support dongle-less Crossfire, but they take a performance hit.

Kristopher


RE: RD550 & no dongle Crossfire
By Zoomer on 2/28/2006 8:41:56 PM , Rating: 2
Hmm, I see driver hacks. :D

Hope ati didn't think of that/saves costs by using differnt pcb/laser cut on die switches.


"If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." -- Scientology founder L. Ron. Hubbard

DailyTech Poll
Which web browser do you use on your primary personal machine? 






44 Comments







botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki