Roughly six months ago, ATI unveiled what was to be the foundation of their product line-up for the next year, codenamed R300. ATI had hidden a sleeping giant under their secret laboratories, which they finally showed to the world at a grand media launch in San Francisco. No one imagined such a great success, except maybe the quiet hockey-loving workers up in the Great North.

Note: These are generalizations, of course; ATI is a multinational organization and I’m sure all their workers around the world were very excited. It’s also rumoured that not all Canadians like hockey, which should be kept on the down low as it is a blasphemous thing to utter. And quiet…? Maybe that’s true.

Fast forward to the present, and the Radeon 9700 has been a raging success in a number of areas. Its high-end position has been left unchallenged ever since its announcement, allowing it to keep its prestigious position as the fastest card out on the market. It has sold a significant quantity, which has infused large revenue into ATI. Finally it has left a strong and lasting impression on the video graphics community. Around the net, you can view discussions about it being the best 3D-graphics chipset ever, even being compared to the almighty Voodoo. The R300 has raised ATI’s brand name a notch, which in my belief is the most important contribution.

The boys and girls over at ATI haven’t been resting and bathing in their success, though. They have been hard at work preparing the company’s first ever six-month refresher. ATI continues to focus on their strategy of gaining technology leadership and continually driving their high-end parts into lower segments. Going back to their hockey heritage, ATI has made an industry first "hat trick". Scoring for them are the Radeon 9800, Radeon 9600 and Radeon 9200, an all around contribution from the team.

Let’s find out a little more about these scorers.