DX10.1 and DisplayPort
ATI's mainstream and entry-level 55nm chips were quite a compromise. ATI wanted to get DirectX 10.1 support, including Shader model 4.1 and DisplayPort support for its 55nm shrink.
It managed to make a much more power efficient and cooler versions of the previous 65nm-based RV630 and RV615 chips, but it didn't have much space to put more transistors in or to increase the performance.
These 55nm chips at ridiculously low prices really put a lot of pressure on Nvidia, forcing the company to rename its Geforce 8 chips to Geforce 9, but it failed to take the performance crown from Nvidia.
The Radeon 7×0 series will actually get more performance to mainstream and entry-level offerings from ATI, but this comes later this year. For the time being the Radeon 3650 sells for as little as €50, while the ultra cheap Radeon 3450 sells for €30. The funny thing is that both will let you play some games at a bargain price.
The Radeon 7×0 parts are likely to branded as the Radeon 740 and 710 and will be much faster than what we're used to in the entry level market.
