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AMD Says Its New Chip Beats Rival Nvidia's
By DON CLARK
Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) is claiming for the first time in several years that its upcoming line of graphics chips surpass that of rival Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)

AMD, which has been going head-to-head with Nvidia since acquiring graphics-chip maker ATI Technologies several years ago, said during a demonstration Thursday that its next-generation of graphics chips -- which are used to simulate three-dimensional environments in videogames and other applications -- will offer speeds 2.5 times faster than models AMD introduced last year.

"Without dispute, AMD will be the graphics leader in the world," said Rick Bergman, who heads AMD's products group.

Nvidia officials disputed the claim. Drew Henry, the general manager of its graphics chip operations, said the company's current chips -- because they have special circuitry that accelerates physical actions in games -- are still faster than AMD's. He said Nvidia is also planning a next generation of chips with even greater performance, but didn't say when they will be released.

Though AMD has long tried to leapfrog Nvidia, lately it has stressed lower prices more than processing speed, choosing to package two chips together for high-end offerings rather than offer the fastest single chip.

AMD Thursday also disclosed a new technology, enabled by the new chips, that can drive up to six computer displays so that they act like one massive monitor. Such chips ordinarily can only manage one or two displays at a time.

The multi-display technology, called Eyefinity, is designed to allow consumers to play videogames or run other software with the action moving among the six displays-typically arrayed with three displays on top and three right beneath.

Though customers could opt to purchase a single large display, that option is typically much more expensive than yoking multiple inexpensive displays together. The technology also offers image quality that is much more precise than current high-definition displays.

AMD didn't disclose pricing of the new products, which are typically sold in graphics cards, but said those details will be available when the chips are formally launched later this month.

The technology announcements coincide with a new branding effort designed to stress what PCs are used for, rather than technical specifications-particularly for the microprocessors that AMD sells in competition with Intel Corp. (INTC)

Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at the market-research firm Insight 64, said that while AMD is clearly behind Intel in the performance of its microprocessor chips, it might be able to gain ground if it can convince consumers to focus on the visual aspects of the computing experience, where AMD graphics chips excel.

--By Don Clark, The Wall Street Journal; 415-765-6115; don.clark@wsj.com