The number 40 gets a bad rap.  We’ve all heard the age-related jokes about being “over the hill” or “on the way” out when someone turns 40, but in the world of graphics processors, there’s nothing better.  In fact, if you’re not 40, you wish you were.  Of course I’m referring to 40 nanometer process technology -- the latest, greatest process node for graphics processors, and one that AMD is once again first to bring to market in the form of the new ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 graphics card launched this week. 

The launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4770 card marks the first use of a 40nm processor on the desktop, and the fifth consecutive time that AMD has been first to launch graphics processors based on a new process node. Considering this track record, you would think getting to 40nm was a cakewalk, but that was not quite the case.  Being the first to 40nm was the result of some incredibly talented AMD people not settling for the status quo, but instead working tirelessly to deliver to you the best product they could. 

As a gamer, you may ask how this impacts you. The reality is that 40nm delivers a number of benefits, including:

More performance and better energy efficiency: AMD was able to improve performance-per-watt by more than 30% and lowered power consumption by 30 watts-a tremendous feat for our engineering team, thanks in large part to their tremendous experience in bringing high-performance graphics parts to market.¹

High performance gaming at incredibly affordable prices: Harnessing 40nm technology has helped AMD reduce prices and deliver advanced gaming and HD multimedia technologies at previously unheard of prices for the desktop market.  The ATI Radeon HD 4770 card launched this week with a suggested retail price of only $109 USD, with some add-in-board partners adding a limited-time $10 mail-in rebate -- resulting in launch prices as low as $99. As you can see, gamers are excited about the idea of ATI Radeon HD 4770 graphics.

Future products: Looking forward, 40nm processors are a big deal for both AMD and gamers.  We anticipate that the knowledge we’ve gained from our experience with the ATI Radeon HD 4770 product will enable AMD to generate even better yields and performance from our 2nd generation 40 nm parts.  For gamers, we expect this to result in widespread availability and good prices for these products.  When you combine that with the fact that the ATI Radeon HD 4000 series is the only top-to-bottom line of DirectX® 10.1 hardware available, and that all DirectX 10.1 features will be fully supported in Microsoft’s forthcoming DirectX® 11 API, it bodes well for AMD and our ability to continue to introduce leading technologies that help enable an excellent gaming experience.

Choosing to be first to deliver new technology before the competition has its challenges. In fact, the entire semiconductor industry has learned from experience that major architectural changes and process node transitions are best undertaken separately. There have been stories reporting 40nm manufacturing challenges and the reality is that 40nm was initially a difficult process technology, even more so because AMD was the first to try it. We mitigated our risks by strategically choosing the ATI Radeon HD 4770 as the first desktop product to make use of this new technology.  Not only is it a real product, with real-world dynamics, but it is based on the proven, stable and refined RV7xx graphics processor architecture. That fact helped us deliver an exceptional performer at an incredible price.

For AMD, working in the demanding and always changing semiconductor space, innovation is core to keeping our company and our industry moving forward to help us provide better products at greater value to businesses and consumers alike.  Between DirectX® 10.1 gaming support, high-performance GDDR5 memory and now 40 nm processors, I can’t remember another time in our industry where we could say we delivered so many industry firsts at such affordable prices.  As a gamer, that gets me excited.  Hopefully you are too, and like me, you’re excited to have reached 40.

¹ Comparing the ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 GPU to the ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPU

Simon Vivera is the product manager for the ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 GPU. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.