VR-Zone

ATI's next generation GPUs, codenamed Southern Islands and expected to be branded HD 6000, is set to release between 15th and 29th October 2010, according to Heise online's sources. A time frame of September/October has been widely rumoured, and the late October time fits in well with expectations.

Despite long term speculations and rumours, ATI's next generation GPUs were confirmed in AMD's Q2 financial conference call. Still, details about S. Islands remain sparse. Rumours suggest S. Islands is a hybrid between Evergreen and previously planned 32nm N. Islands.

ATI's first S. Islands products are not the first major release though. Next in line is the Geforce GTS 450. Heise online suggests the GTS 450 performs similarly to the HD 5770, as expected. It will release in late August. It will be followed by GF108 entry level Geforce 400 products in September, and just as Nvidia round up the HD 5000 competing line-up, ATI will start introducing its next-generation products.

Reference: Heise Online