AMD announced the introduction and availability of the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, the leading-edge entry-level and mainstream graphics processors (GPU) in the ATI Radeon HD 3000 series.

The new graphics solutions have price ranging from USD $49-$65 suggested e-tail pricing (SEP) for the ATI Radeon HD 3400 series and USD $79-$99 SEP for the ATI Radeon HD 3600 series. Both series deliver display connectivity through DisplayPort integrated into the GPU.

Blu-ray or HD DVD disc playback can be enjoyed in full HD glory (1080p) thanks to AMD’s proprietary unified video decoder (UVD) technology found on the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, ensuring movies play back smoothly. Immersive home theater environments can be created using the built-in support for six channel (5.1) Dolby Digital surround audio transmission through HDMI. In addition, the ATI Radeon HD 3450 will support fully silent (passive) cooling, delivering the ideal solution for home theater PCs.

“With the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series, AMD is delivering outstanding graphics performance to the mainstream,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Graphics Products Group. “AMD is leading the industry by delivering top-to-bottom DirectX® 10.1 support with modular graphics capabilities for easy upgradeability. It’s part of our commitment to deliver The Ultimate Visual Experience™ to more users than ever before.”

Both series feature the world’s first GPUs with integrated DisplayPort support. DisplayPort offers twice the bandwidth of DVI, and is poised to deliver low-cost high resolution and bit-depth panels.

“Dell and AMD have been leaders in driving the DisplayPort standard since its inception”, said Bruce Montag, office of the CTO, Dell. “AMD is demonstrating its technology leadership with the introduction of dual integrated DisplayPort capability in the ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series graphics.”

Gamers looking for graphics processors that allow for further scalability will find that both series boast ATI CrossFireX, which delivers the option of multi-GPU upgradability. ATI Hybrid Graphics allows users to combine an ATI Radeon HD 3400 GPU with a compatible AMD 7-Series chipset to provide improved 3D performance. With support for Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support, gamers can play the top HD games with life-like 3D graphics, stunning realism, and great shading effects. Full support for PCI Express 2.0 technology allows for twice the throughput of current PCI Express cards, which means gamers will be ready for demanding graphic applications.