Radeon HD 4750 tested pre-release, to cost $99?
updated 02:10 pm EST, Thu February 26, 2009
Radeon HD 4750 Leak Test
AMD's RV740 graphics chipset has been tested today by Guru3D and will potentially upturn performance expectations. Informally titled the Radeon HD 4750, the card will use a much smaller 40 nanometer chipmaking process to double the number of stream (effects) processing units to 640 versus today's Radeon HD 4670 and would carry much more memory bandwidth, moving from 2GHz GDDR3 to 3.2GHz GDDR5. The net effect should be nearly twice as many calculations per second at 900 gigaflops versus the earlier 480.
As a result, benchmarks show the in-development card not only significantly outperforming the 4670 but competing with considerably higher-end cards; performance in most games puts the card between the Radeon HD 4830 and the 4850. However, the anonymous board maker supplying the 4750 sample suggests that shipping cards would cost at or below $99 US and would therefore have the performance of present-day cards that are twice as expensive while also catering to budget gaming.
A finished version of the card should be available through multiple manufacturers in April, though whether or not it will be given a launch at next month's CeBIT show ahead of this isn't mentioned.
