Radeon HD 2600/2400 Series

ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series
	ATI Radeon HD 2400	ATI Radeon HD 2600	ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT
Stream Processing Units	40	120	320
Clock Speed	525-700MHz	600-800MHz	740MHz
Math Processing Rate (Multiply-Add)	42-56 GigaFLOPS	144-192 GigaFLOPS	475 GigaFLOPS
Pixel Processing Rate	4.2-5.6 Gigapixels/sec	14.4-19.2 Gigapixels/sec	47.5 Gigapixels/sec
Triangle Processing Rate	262-350M triangles/sec	600-800M triangles/sec	742M triangles/sec
Texture Units	4	8	16
Render Back-Ends	4	4	16
Memory Frame Buffer Size	256MB GDDR3, 128MB/256MB DDR2	256MB GDDR4, 256MB GDDR3, 256MB DDR2	512MB GDDR3
Memory Interface Width	64-bit	128-bit	512-bit
Memory Clock	400-800MHz	400-1100MHz	825MHz
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)	6.4-12.8 GB/sec	12.8-35.2 GB/sec	106 GB/sec
Transistors	180M	390M	700M
Technology	65G+	65G+	80HS
Price	<$99	$99-$199	$399
Outputs	SVGA+DDVI+VO (HDMI adapter)	D+DL+DVI (HDMI adaptor)	D+DL+DVI w/HDCP (HDMI adaptor)

Launching alongside the Radeon HD 2900 XT today are two additional product lines, the Radeon HD 2600 and Radeon HD 2400. As we mentioned earlier, while Radeon HD 2900 XT cards are shipping today, the 2600 and 2400 series won’t be available until the end of next month.

Both GPUs are built largely on the same architecture found in R600, only features have been removed to cut costs. As you can see in the chart above, these mainstream and value GPUs are endowed with fewer functional units and narrower memory interfaces. The following block diagrams summarize the changes nicely:

Radeon HD 2600 Series

Taking on the GeForce 8600 line is AMD’s Radeon HD 2600 series. The Radeon HD 2600 is built on AMD’s RV630 GPU and thanks to its fewer shaders and 65-nm manufacturing process, it consumes significantly less power than R600. According to AMD, TDP is just 45-watts for RV630. As a result, RV630 doesn’t need an external PCIe power connection in order to operate.

Two SKUs are currently planned for the Radeon HD 2600 series: the Radeon HD 2600 Pro and the Radeon HD 2600 XT. While clock speeds aren’t final yet, we’ve been told they’ll be in the neighborhood of 600-800MHz.


The Radeon HD 2600 series will support AMD’s built-in CrossFire technology, allowing enthusiasts to pair two cards together for double the performance. As you can see in the board shots, both RV630 boards will ship with single-slot coolers and include an HDMI adaptor, just like the 2900 XT. Unlike the Radeon HD 2900 XT however, these cards won’t ship with the Half-Life 2 Black Box.

Radeon HD 2400 Series

The Radeon HD 2400 series is AMD’s entry-level DX10 solution aimed at the value market. AMD’s been pretty adamant that board prices will definitely be below $99. This low pricing, and AMD’s use of the 65-nm process, could make these cards ideal for use in a HTPC, particularly if you’re looking for a low-cost video card for handling HD video. Like the Radeon HD 2600 series, two SKUs are planned: the Radeon HD 2400 Pro, and the Radeon HD 2400 XT.

Once again clock speeds haven’t been finalized and we won’t know more about the performance of these cards for another month, but considering the compromises that have been made to the graphics core and memory subsystem, you’ll probably want to step up to a Radeon HD 2600 series or better for serious gaming. These cards would likely make a nice upgrade over an integrated graphics solution however.


The Radeon HD 2400 series is based on AMD’s RV615 GPU and boasts a TDP of just 25 watts.