On the next few pages we'll show you some photos. The images were taken at 2560x1920 pixels and then scaled down. The camera used was a Sony DCS-F707 5.1 MegaPixel.

Snazzy. We start off with the reference model from AMD. That is one massive cooler isn't it?, don't be scared by it though... it's pretty silent. The card is launching at a 249 USD suggested retail price. Rest assured, it'll sell in e-tail for roughly 225 USD pretty soon. That's a lot of horsepower for a card in this price-range. Very obvious it has a two slot cooling solution. And can I just say that I love the Ruby stickers on there ?

The cooling has been updated from the 2900 XT model and while it still could make a lot of noise, it doesn't. When you startup your PC you'll hear a blowdryer like sound for a couple of seconds, but after a couple of seconds everything goes silent, scouts honour.

Here we can see the two DVI connectors, which both have dual-link support (HDCP capable). You might think "hmm, is that needed?" Yes it is. High-Def screens and high-resolution monitors are the key issues here. Dual link DVI pins effectively double the power of transmission and provide an increase of speed and signal quality; i.e. a DVI single link 60-Hz LCD can display a resolution of 1920 x 1080, while a DVI dual link can display a resolution up-to 2560x1200 and I believe this to can go even higher.

With the help of the supplied DVI to HDMI adapter you can connect the card towards a HDMI HD Ready television or monitor for good picture quality and as explained, sound over HDMI. Right, let's flip the card around.

Aah yes, much better. Here we have the external power connectors. You connect your power supply to this 6-pin power connector. The previous 2900 model consumed wahaaay more power and needed a 6-pin power connectors and then another 8-pin power connector. A thing of the past as this cards TDP is at roughly 105 Watts maximum. See, power consumption has been cut in half.

Now if you decide to go the guru path of righteousness (read: Crossfire) then please understand you'll need to connect both the CF bridges. The Crossfire connectors will be supplied with the graphics cards, by the way. One per card. As stated, we are awaiting a new test system (AMD Phenom based) and then will have a close look at the new Crossfire options and obviously, performance.