ATI Radeon Xpress to support HDMI

CES ATI didn't say much about the future of its Radeon Xpress chipset line at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it did indicate that the next generation of the product will support the HDMI interface.

As our photo of the relevant part of ATI's CES stand shows, the company also suggested the part will offer "reliability, stability and performance", though it's not clear whether that's what the HDMI connector will bring, or it means the product as a whole.

ATI is expected to ship its RS485 and RS490 chipsets shortly, if it hasn't begun to do so already. The RS485 is said to be a tweaked version of the already-shipping RS482. Both parts incorporate a Radeon X300 graphics core, but the RS485's is clocked higher than the RS482's. The RS485 is said to be pin-compatible with the RS482, ensuring a relatively smooth upgrade path for motherboard makers.

ATI is also believed to be gearing up to launch the RD580 - its CrossFire-supporting Radeon Xpress part that extends the current product line by adding support for twin 16x PCI Express slots. ®