Following leaks and delays, AMD today released its new flagship video card. The ATI-labeled Radeon HD 3870 X2 almost literally doubles the performance of the stock 3870 by including dual GPUs on a single card; as the first AMD graphics card to use 55 nanometer technology, the X2 can run both chipsets at 825MHz -- faster than a single 3870, AMD says. The boost not only allows some of the fastest gaming in a single card but can also accelerate HD video playback above 1080p, including routing surround audio through any version of the card with HDMI output.

The X2 continues to support DirectX 10.1 and newer OpenGL 2 visual effects, and supports AMD's CrossFire X technology to merge the performance of two cards, or four full graphics chipsets, into a single display for very demanding games. However, the card does not require CrossFire support from a mainboard and is treated as a single graphics chipset by its operating system, according to the company. Several video card manufacturers, including AMD itself, are said to be shipping Radeon HD 3870 X2 cards today and will sell a typical version of the card for $449.