Graphics card maker Sapphire are gloating today after announcing that they will be the first to bring out a PC graphics card with a HDMI output, which is the preferred output for HD media. The card is based on ATI"s Radeon X1600 GPU. The Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI"s graphics core has 12 pixel pipelines and is connected across a 128-bit bus to 256MB of GDDR 3 clocked to 800MHz. The GPU runs at 500MHz. The board supports ATI"s Avivo picture enhancement system.
As well as having an onboard VGA connection for backwards compatibility the card is linked to a HDCP chip on board allowing it to transmit copy-protected content. Sapphire have said the board will go on sale next week at around $155 (£85).