January 7, 2008 3:39 PM PST

ATI releases new laptop graphics

Posted by Matthew Elliott

Laptop graphics: the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3600.

(Credit: AMD)

While AMD has been quiet on the CPU front at this year's show (unless you count the introduction of a logo as news), its graphics division has something of substance with the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series. This new laptop graphics lineup comprises two models, the HD 3400 and the HD 3600, and is optimized for AMD's next-generation mobile platform (codename Puma) due out next quarter. The new GPUs support DirectX 10.1 and PCI Express 2.0, and can display Blu-ray and HD DVD movies at full 1080p resolution. They also come equipped with ATI's Avivo HD technology, which lightens the CPU's load during intensive video decoding tasks. The Radeon HD 3000 series will also be the cause for the arrival of DisplayPort video connections on laptops.

Asus is mentioned as the only launch partner; other laptops vendors are expected to add the Radeon HD 3000 series later in the first half of 2008.