ATI Demonstrates “The Future” DirectX 11 Graphics Cards at Quakecon.

ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, may be demonstrating its next-generation DirectX 11 graphics processing units at Quakecon, a video game convention held yearly in Dallas, Texas. The company claims that it has exclusive Area64 room at the show and that it shows next-gen technologies there.

“Area64 will be exclusive access only, meaning, you can try to find it, but its hidden and being kept secret. AMD will be showcasing what we lovingly refer to as ‘The Future’,” said Ian McNaughton, a senior manager of advanced marketing at AMD.

Even though AMD now has a rather broad portfolio of products, it is doubtful that the company demos its 32nm central processing units or next-generation core-logic at a computer game convention. A logical assumption would be demonstration of the next-generation ATI Radeon graphics processing units (GPUs) that support DirectX 11 application programming interface (API) and belong to Evergreen family of GPUs. Mr. McNaughton marked his statement with "DirectX 11" tag, which indirectly confirms that the claim refers to the forthcoming graphics cards.

Back in the days, ATI used Quakecon to show the power of the now legendary ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (R300), the world’s first DirectX 9 graphics processor. In 2002, the company equipped several PCs with the novelty and allowed gamers to try the latest technology and enjoy the unrivalled (back then) performance themselves at Quakecon.

The alleged demonstration of the next-generation graphics cards means that the new boards are in production and that the company is gearing up for the launch of the graphics cards. Another claim in AMD’s official blogs earlier this month says that ATI’s DirectX 11-supporting graphics boards will be available when Microsoft ships its Windows 7, which may mean that the launch is scheduled to take place before the 22nd of October.

“AMD has been working hard to support DirectX 11, so there are plans to make native DirectX 11 hardware from AMD in its ATI Radeon GPUs available when Windows 7 is released,” the statement reads.

ATI demonstrated its first DirectX 11 graphics processors at Computex Taipei 2009 in early June, however, it did not outline any actual timeframes for introduction. The general expectation is that ATI plans to release its chip known under “RV870” and “Evergreen” code-names that is produced using 40nm process technology this Fall.

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