AMD HD34X0 and HD3650

Today AMD is revealing the successors to the successful HD2400 and HD2600 cards, the HD34x0 and the HD36x0. While we have not yet been able to test one of these puppies we in this brief article will go over the specifications and the new features of the cards.

INTRODUCTION

A few months ago AMD released their first 55nm GPU’s, the HD3850 and the HD3870, both targeted at the Performance segment of the market. Today AMD is revealing the successors to the successful HD2400 and HD2600 cards, the HD34x0 and the HD3650, aimed at the Value and Mainstream segment of the market. While we have not yet been able to test one of these puppies we in this brief article will go over the specifications and the new features of the cards. 

Those of you waiting for official information about the next top of the line AMD card, the 3870X2 which we briefly looked at in our article from the Warsaw event, will have to wait a few days more.

THE FEATURES

As expected the HD34x0 and the HD3650 inherit the same feature set as the HD3850 and the HD3870.

• They are both built on the 55 nm process giving them very low power consumption and keeping them cool.
• They also support DirectX10.1. Whether this will be important or not in the future is debatable but the support is at least there.
• Both cards have UVD (Unified Video Decoder) built in.
• PCI Express 2.0
• Native support for CrossFire technology

One of the cool features of the HD2400 and HD2600, a feature which made them very popular amongst HTPC-builders, was the native HDMI-support which included sound. With the 3xx0 GPU’s AMD continues to innovate and this time they introduce full integrated DisplayPort support. It is of course, just as with HDMI, up to the OEM’s and board partners to use the support but the support is now there. In fact AMD told us that they already have sent out boards with DisplayPort to selected press that were testing the Dell 30” monitor that has a DisplayPort.

THE HD34X0

Let us start looking a bit closer at the entry level GPU in the series, the HD3400. This of course is not a hardcore gamers card but instead a card that will offer good 3D-performance at a very low price (sub-$50). Where it shines though is of course on the media playback capability:

• Full HD (1080p) playback
• Can upscale beyond 1080p (1440p)

Together with HDMI and DisplayPort support it will be a worthy successor to the HD2400 in a HTPC.

ATI Hybrid Graphics

The HD3400 (and indeed the HD2400) will have support for a new technology from ATI/AMD: Hybrid graphics. The idea behind this is that if you have a motherboard with an AMD integrated graphics solution (RS780) then you can add either a HD2400 or a HD3400 and run them together in a hybrid Crossfire mode. When we have a RS780 and a HD3400 card we will of course test this to see if it is working or not.

The HD3400 will be available in two configurations:

The HD3450 will have a recommended street price around $49-$55 while the HD3470 will retail around $59-$65. The cards are being released today so you should be able to get hold of them right away.

HD3650

The HD3650 is the successor to the HD2600XT and the HD2600 Pro. It has the same features as all the other cards including the DisplayPort support.

The HD3650 will retail around $79-$99 and should also be available now.

A COMPLETE LINE-UP

With the HD34x0 and the HD3650 AMD now has an almost complete line-up of its new 55 nm GPU’s from bottom to top. All that now is missing is the new enthusiast card but as I said in the beginning, that info will not be released today but instead in a very near future. Hopefully by then I will be able to show you results run on my own machine.

On paper the new cards look very interesting for the markets they are targeting. AMD is pricing all the cards in the HD3xx0 series very aggressively trying to always beat the NVIDIa card that are priced the same and so far it seems to work pretty well.