2004-Q1 ATI R400 New ATI graphics high end core succeeding the R300/R350 (Radeon 9700/9800). The R400 has been delayed until 2004 due to: 3GIO, DDR-3 and DX9 pixel shader 3.0. It is renamed to R500, while the less ambitious R420 takes over in the short term.
2004-04-14 Nvidia GeForce 6800 New high-end graphics processor, succeeding NV35 (GeForce 5900). Includes Pixel Shader 3.0 and Vertex Shader 3.0 to support DirectX 9.0c (previously known as 9.1) and to include 16 "real" pipelines instead of the 4x2 architecture used previously.
Named GeForce 6800 and was to be shown at CeBIT or GDC with availability in April or May, but unveiled on April 14th.
Draws a massive 110W from two power cables. Previously known as NV40.
- 6800LE: 8 pipes, 4 shaders
- 6800: 12 pipes, 5 shaders
- 6800GT: 16 pipes, 6 shaders
- 6800 Ultra: 16 pipes, 6 shaders
2006-H1 ATI R500 High end ATI graphics chip for XBox2 built in a 90 nm process. Part of a new generation, comparable to R600 for the PC.
Early on reported to "have 10 times higher geometry and 4 times higher pixel performance compared to the RADEON X800 XT" (believe it if you want to).
May support WGF and Pixel and Vertex shaders 3.0 with 128 bit precision. Also known as Xenos.