Introduction

A few weeks ago AMD launched their Radeon HD 7700 Series. The cards use the all-new Cape Verde graphics processor which is based on AMD's new GCN Graphics Core Next architecture that promises increased performance and lower power draw.

Cape Verde is a downscale from the "Tahiti" silicon, on which higher Radeon HD 7900 series parts are based. There are fewer number of redundant components, so Cape Verde is left functionally-identical to Tahiti, but is smaller, built for more affordable graphics cards. Cape Verde also retains the basic hierarchy of the architecture as implemented in Tahiti.



The HIS HD 7770 iCooler features a custom cooler design, but relies on the reference PCB otherwise. Clock speeds are also not increased, but the card is currently the cheapest HD 7770 on the market with a price of $130.