XFX jumps into bed with AMD

Author: Tim Smalley
Published: 16th December 2008
Comments (24) Stumble
XFX jumps into bed with AMD

XFX is now an official AMD partner and will produce ATI graphics cards starting from early 2009.

AMD has announced that XFX, one of Nvidia's top partners across the world, is now an official AMD technology partner.

XFX said that it plans to provide new products based on the Radeon HD 4000 series GPUs beginning in early 2009 – expect to see some early products at CES, I guess.

"In the world of PC gaming, XFX is synonymous with the extreme performance that enthusiasts crave,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. "Their decision to partner with AMD and launch AMD GPU-based XFX graphics cards, including the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2, widely regarded as the world’s fastest graphics card by technology enthusiasts around the world, speaks to the level of excellence achieved by the ATI Radeon HD 4000 series."

"With the launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4000 series, AMD redefined the graphics market and delivered graphics cards for gamers in every segment," said Michael Chiu, Chairman and CEO, Pine Technologies Holdings, makers of XFX graphics cards.

" It wasn’t just AMD gaming prowess that caught our attention; the company’s technology leadership in multimedia performance, including video transcoding, HD content playback and surround sound audio, made it clear that AMD was and continues to be a great fit for users everywhere," continued Chiu. "We are excited by this partnership as it allows us to incorporate current and future ATI graphics technology into our graphics card designs, enabling our R&D teams to develop an even wider range of XFX graphics products for consumers in every region and every segment."

It'll be interesting to see what happens to XFX's support from Nvidia over time, but so far we've heard that nothing will change. We see this move as a good one for AMD and gamers in particular, as XFX is never afraid to spice things up.

What do you think to this announcement? Tell us in the forums.
Quote 500mph 16th December 2008, 15:58
So is EVGA the only partner for just nVidia?
Quote C-Sniper 16th December 2008, 16:10
Awesome! Love the XFX cards and i can't wait to see their versions of AMD/ATI video cards/
Quote E.E.L. Ambiense 16th December 2008, 16:16
I'll come out and say I generally go to XFX first and foremost for cards. I like their support, the double transferable warranty, and the modification-friendly outlook on their products. And, not to forget the black PCBs. ;)

I'm interested in seeing what they have up their sleeves for ATI, considering they seem to steer away from reference designs. I may even defect 'graphics camps' too! :)
Quote 1ad7 16th December 2008, 16:30
SWEET!! finally ati has a board partner other than sapphire(who loves blue too much for me...) with a good rep and some amazing previous designs, I cant wait to see what they will do.
Quote Xtrafresh 16th December 2008, 16:50
black PCB with a 4780 inbound? \o/

Now all we need is a company that starts making white editions again :D

I do think their marketing lines are a bit too studied. I'll care when they say it like they mean it :p
Quote mrb_no1 16th December 2008, 17:03
hmmm, kinda makes sense seen as xfx crave the edge on performance, and seeing the the 280 isnt quite as good as the x2 and that nvidia does look to be taking the crown back any time soon, or more that ati has sorted itself out since the merger that it will now be regularly competitive. nice to see another partner though
Quote Lepermessiah 16th December 2008, 17:13
I likes me some XFX.
Quote Bindibadgi 16th December 2008, 18:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by 500mph
So is EVGA the only partner for just nVidia?

BFG (and Zotac to some degree) too.

I think this can be huge for XFX providing ATI keeps its pace, and potentially it'll give Sapphire a kick up the backside too.
Quote Goty 16th December 2008, 18:29
You could probably say the EVGA is the only BIG exclusive partner NVIDIA has left. BFG isn't quite as prolific, and Zotac definitely doesn't fall into the "major partner" category, either.
Quote Drexial 16th December 2008, 18:31
ATi really needs to think ahead right now. I can only hope they aren't becoming complacent. This position for them is only temporary as nVidea sits back while it has time to develop its next round, ATi I feel is sitting back and thinking its on top of the world with the 4XXX series. They need to be sure they have the next step ready. Much like the mistake AMD made with the Athlons. It thought it was going to be top dog as it kept pushing the same chips as Intel quietly developed the Core 2 models.
Quote Bindibadgi 16th December 2008, 18:45
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goty
You could probably say the EVGA is the only BIG exclusive partner NVIDIA has left. BFG isn't quite as prolific, and Zotac definitely doesn't fall into the "major partner" category, either.

BFG is pretty ****ing massive too :p Especially in the States. It's just the EVGA team is mostly US and gives it tons of attention and marketing.

Zotac is very large in Europe, not so much the US.
Quote perplekks45 16th December 2008, 19:16
Hmm... makes me pray even more my XFX 8800GTS/640 lives a bit longer... at least until they release their 4850/4870 models. :)
Quote metarinka 16th December 2008, 19:29
I've got an xfx 7950 gts love the card to bits, very silent. I would purchase xfx again
Quote Sathy 16th December 2008, 19:30
So in other words, what they really are saying is that XFX WAS "..synonymous with the extreme performance that enthusiasts crave,”. :)
ATI/AMD are doing more optimizing to their drivers than their PR department slanderers can keep up with, which is rather worrying.

I hope XFX hasn't jumped in the deep end with this, and that the consumers don't get to feel it.
Quote Omnituens 16th December 2008, 20:54
After the fuss I had when my XFX 6600 keeled over, I will always by BFG, expert returns and friendly.

Might have to send back a 8800 GTX soon though, seems it keeps artifacting randomly. Hope they are still as good as last time I used them to RMA card after OcUK said they wouldn't take it.
Quote Goty 16th December 2008, 21:03
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drexial
ATi really needs to think ahead right now. I can only hope they aren't becoming complacent. This position for them is only temporary as nVidea sits back while it has time to develop its next round, ATi I feel is sitting back and thinking its on top of the world with the 4XXX series. They need to be sure they have the next step ready. Much like the mistake AMD made with the Athlons. It thought it was going to be top dog as it kept pushing the same chips as Intel quietly developed the Core 2 models.

I don't really think they're getting complacent, they're probably just readying RV775 for the round of refreshes coming next year.
Quote HourBeforeDawn 16th December 2008, 21:50
this shall be very interesting.
Quote crompers 17th December 2008, 01:15
whats that you say? a 4870 1GB Alpha Dog? yes please :D
Quote Gremlin 17th December 2008, 04:13
This was posted yesterday by the xfx rep on overclock.net since everyone was badgering him about it from the moment the news started to leak out
Quote:
As so many of you have been asking i can share some early info with you, I can tell you that the first round of Cards will be launched in Early January 2009.
There will 4 - 6 SKUS at first, Exact specs I am unsure of at present ( Will let you know more on this when it becomes available), but I can tell you that the 4870 is in there, the 4850 will be most likely also, down to 4350 and possibly 4650, although unsure as yet on this one.

The PCB will be BLACK, as many of you wanted, but the DVI connectors will be RED, very cool. These cards will be the first to be launched with a NEW style Driver CD - It checks your model and then checks our system to see if any new updates are there for you - You can register from it also, in 3 Easy steps, just need to give Email, Password, Serial and region, and its all done from the Driver CD, alot of work has gone into this, to try and make it easier for you guys.

Well thats all i have for now, but any new updates i will be sure to pass your way.......

Take care guys
regards

XFX
Quote Yemerich 17th December 2008, 10:22
Looks like the times are getting better for AMD an ATI after all.
I really hope they get better and better and leave the red in stock market
Quote Teq 17th December 2008, 14:01
We all need them to remain competitive with NVidia and Intel if we are to see prices remain keen. Its nice to see that XFX (and black PCBs) are coming the ATI way and let us modders have a little more freedom of choice when it comes to hardware/colour combinations..
Quote Horizon 17th December 2008, 20:13
All I have to say is banzai!!!

Zotac isn't nVidia exclusive technically, it's owned by a company that also owns another one that produces ATi cards.
Quote E.E.L. Ambiense 18th December 2008, 00:59
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teq
Its nice to see that XFX (and black PCBs) are coming the ATI way and let us modders have a little more freedom of choice when it comes to hardware/colour combinations..

QFT! I'm seriously considering doing in CF build now...
Quote Horizon 18th December 2008, 11:17
Are they going to be doing both nvidia/ati or just ati?
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