ATI Avivo HD

The ATI RV670 uses the same Avivo HD technology as the R600 GPU in the Radeon HD 2900 XT. This comes in the form of the Unified Video Decoder (UVD), which is a dedicated video decode processor in the GPU. It handles the entire video decoding process, offloading it from both GPU and CPU. As it decodes the video data internally, it also removes all passes to memory, further reducing the impact of video decoding on the memory subsystem.

The UVD supports full decoding for both VC-1 and H.264/AVC at bitrates of up to 40Mbps. It also comes with an integrated audio controller. This allows ATI to provide a cable-free HDMI solution for both Radeon HD 3870 and 3850. Of course, this should come as no surprise since this feature was already available with the Radeon HD 2000 series of graphics cards.

DirectX 10.1

This will be a contentious subject for many gamers and computer enthusiasts, especially NVIDIA and ATI fanboys. For one thing, ATI is able to lay claim as the first and only company to offer DirectX 10.1 support. That has to put a dent, if only a small one, in NVIDIA's claims of technical superiority.

Of course, DirectX 10.1 will only be shipped with Windows Vista Service Pack 1 sometime during H1, 2008. Even then, there is unlikely to be a game that will support DirectX 10.1 for at least half a year. Therefore, DirectX 10.1 is unlikely to be a major factor, even by the end of 2008. By then, both NVIDIA and ATI would have released a new range of graphics cards.