Normally companies like to keep their upcoming plans pretty quiet. After all, you don�t want to tip off your competitor(s) about your future products. Divulging these details could also affect sales of your existing products.

Apparently someone forgot to pass that tip along to ATI � the company has made no secret of their graphics plans for this generation, particularly at the high-end of the market, where the development of the Radeon HD 4870 X2 was openly acknowledged before, during, and after the Radeon 4850 and 4870 launch.

Today�s arrival of the 4870 X2 is the latest piece in ATI�s new strategy of focusing on smaller, more efficient midrange GPU designs, and then scaling that technology up and down the rest of their graphics lineup. This new strategy was a direct result of lessons learned during the launch of their previous two next generation architectures (R520 and R600), which suffered through numerous delays. The Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 were the midrange parts, while today�s Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the high-end derivative based on the Radeon 4870. ATI is also putting the finishing touches on a Radeon HD 4850 X2 GPU that will be launching sometime later this month.

• http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/AMD_ati_RADEON_4870_x2_performance_review/