Compared to the cut-throat hardware race that defines the PC market, console gaming is a casual hand-in-hand walk in the park – and this has been once again demonstrated today with the unveiling of AMD’s latest power-mad graphics card.

The ATi Radeon HD 4870 X2 builds on the existing 4800 model, using two ATi GPUs and an advanced PCIe 2.0 cross GPU connection and 2GB of on-board memory. Altogether this is said to produce a massive 2.4 teraflops of processing power. The 55nm chipset will support DirectX 10.1 out of the box.

The card is currently available in the UK for around £380 - some retailers even have it available right now.

“The ATI Radeon HD 4800 X2 series is proof that our graphics strategy is working,” AMD‘s senior vice president and general manager of the Graphics Products Group Rick Bergman stated,

“The response from OEMs, system integrators, game developers, press, and most importantly, from gamers regarding the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series products has been incredibly positive. Now, only a few short weeks after the launch of those products, AMD reclaims the ultimate performance crown and continues to deliver winning products to market in the ATI Radeon HD 4800 X2 series.

“The ATI Radeon HD 4800 X2 series continues AMD technology leadership with support for DirectX 10.1, tessellation, and now 2GB of frame buffer. The new products join a line-up of stellar offerings, all of which are designed to give gamers experiences that approach eye-definition computing.”

Also announced was the slightly lower spec ATi Radeon HD 4850 X2.