# AMD Readying Radeon HD 4790 Based on RV790



## btarunr (Jun 15, 2009)

AMD is preparing yet another performance-mainstream Radeon HD 4000 series SKU. The Radeon HD 4790 finds lineage from the Radeon HD 4890, currently AMD's fastest GPU. The RV790 GPU will be given a new set of specifications and memory configuration, to yield an SKU that performs better than the Radeon HD 4770, and slightly better than HD 4850. It beats us as to why it is positioned in the HD 4700 series, and not say "Radeon HD 4860", but we are too late to comment on that. 

Specifications-wise, the RV790 core runs at 600 MHz, slightly lower than the RV770 in Radeon HD 4850 (625 MHz), but its performance increment over it comes from the use of GDDR5 memory. The GPU makes use of a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. It handles 512 MB of memory clocked at 800 MHz (3200 MHz effective). Being based on the RV790, it is pin-compatible with any existing HD 4890 PCB. Price-wise, it is expected to sit between the HD 4850 and HD 4870. 





*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Odin Eidolon (Jun 15, 2009)

so its 55nm?


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jun 15, 2009)

ati is just dumping out cards


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## WhiteLotus (Jun 15, 2009)

swamping the market, one way to make sure you get cards sold!


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## btarunr (Jun 15, 2009)

Odin Eidolon said:


> so its 55nm?



Yes, 55 nm.


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## Odin Eidolon (Jun 15, 2009)

btarunr said:


> Yes, 55 nm.



bah. i dont see much sense in this card other than that of selling out stocked chips. ATI's lineup is becoming too crowded


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## Cheeseball (Jun 15, 2009)

So are they phasing out the HD 48xx series cards now? The performance is supposed to be between the HD 4850 and HD 4870.


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## cdawall (Jun 15, 2009)

this card really makes no sense...


is it xfireable with a 4890?


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## lemonadesoda (Jun 15, 2009)

Hmm. ATi is struggling with getting 40nm fabbed.  It is having to create another 55nm SKU to fill the "consumer gap" in the 4770 space. The "hope"? So people think they are buying into the 47xx range of price, low power, silent, and one step quicker than a 4770. But actually, they are getting an "underperforming" 4870/4890 with similar power consumption levels.

While it might still be a good card and a good price/performance ratio, it isnt a step forward, just yet another SKU-confusion to price gouge in the retail channels where the typical consumer doesnt know sh1t.


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## Odin Eidolon (Jun 15, 2009)

cdawall said:


> this card really makes no sense...
> 
> 
> is it xfireable with a 4890?



uhm... i think so? but not sure


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## KainXS (Jun 15, 2009)

this is more than likely just to get rid of the cores that are low binned and can't run at the stock freq's of the 4890

its just a 4890 with a low core clock thats it

as a matter of fact that card is exactly the same as the Powercolor HD4890 from the looks, the PCB even has the same model number on it.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 15, 2009)

I really don't get ATi here, it seems they are trying to flood the market to make up for their failure to successfully get 40nm out in reasonable quantities.

This card just adds more confusion to the mix.  It seems to me like ATi wanted to use 40nm for the HD4770 series, but because they couldn't get enough 40nm chips, they have instead used their other higher end chips to make the cards.  That doesn't make sense to me really, why not keep the RV790/770 chips named HD4800, and forget about HD4770.

We still don't even know what the HD4730 can be used with in Crossfire...



KainXS said:


> this is more than likely just to get rid of the cores that are low binned and can't run at the stock freq's of the 4890
> 
> its just a 4890 with a low core clock thats it
> 
> as a matter of fact that card is exactly the same as the Powercolor HD4890 from the looks, the PCB even has the same model number on it.



Why not use those cores in the HD4870s then?


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## Kitkat (Jun 15, 2009)

*k so im officialy ready to admit this is too many cards. gettin silly. I also dont think it has anything to do with consummer gaps lol just alot of cards.*


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## btarunr (Jun 15, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> Hmm. ATi is struggling with getting 40nm fabbed.



TSMC, not specifically AMD. They've got some serious fab issues, and both AMD and NVIDIA are looking for potential alternatives if TSMC gives them a hand when it's time for their 40 nm GPUs.


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## KainXS (Jun 15, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Why not use those cores in the HD4870s then?



they probably don't want to get it all mixed up and cause confusion, but then again those cores might not even clock to 4870 frequencies either efficiently

Its not that many cards I mean theres only gonna be 12 HD4XXX cards with this, but including nvidia's nearly 20 current cards now I still say not really


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## scope54 (Jun 15, 2009)

imo this is stupid, and i call shens....until i see a real press release.


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## leonard_222003 (Jun 15, 2009)

Strange  card with a strange number , overclocked can be just as good as a 4870 , the next generation must be very good if they dump the old stock so quickly , they make me curios how fast the new generation will be to dump the 4800 series so cheap.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 15, 2009)

KainXS said:


> they probably don't want to get it all mixed up and cause confusion, but then again those cores might not even clock to 4870 frequencies either efficiently
> 
> Its not that many cards I mean theres only gonna be 12 HD4XXX cards with this, but including nvidia's nearly 20 current cards now I still say not really



Using the RV790/770 in HD4700 cards adds way more confusion than simply using RV790 cores in HD4870 cards.  The general user wouldn't know the difference, and the RV770 and RV790 are virtually identical.  They certainly are a lot closer to eachother than they are to RV740.  And if they don't clock to HD4870 speeds, put them in HD4850's then.  I find it hard to believe that an RV790 couldn't at least do 625MHz.  Why release a whole new card to take the place of the HD4850 instead of just using the RV790 cores in the HD4850s?

As for who has more cards in production:



ATi: 13 | nVidia: 11
HD4350 | 9300GS
HD4550 | 9400GT
HD4650 | 9500GT
HD4670 | 9600GT
HD4730 | 9600GSO
HD4770 | 9800GT
HD4790 | GTS250
HD4830 | GTX260 216
HD4850 | GTX275
HD4870 | GTX285
HD4890 | GTX295
HD4850x2 | 
HD4870x2 | 
I don't see where you are getting 20...


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## djisas (Jun 15, 2009)

I bet these will sell well and ppl will try to oc the living shit out of them...
If some finds a way to oc it to 800+ i bet the stock's will be sold out...


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## erocker (Jun 15, 2009)

4870 replacement.


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## kn00tcn (Jun 15, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> ATi: 13 | nVidia: 11
> HD4350 | 9300GS
> HD4550 | 9400GT
> HD4650 | 9500GT
> ...



where did 9800gtx, 9800gtx+, gtx280, gtx260 original go?


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## erocker (Jun 15, 2009)

kn00tcn said:


> where did 9800gtx, 9800gtx+, gtx280, gtx260 original go?



Though completely off topic:
9800GTX = No longer in production/replaced by 9800GTX+
9800GTX+ = Renamed to GTS 250
GTX260 = No longer in production/replaced by 55nm 216 shader GTX 260
GTX280 = No longer in production/replaced by GTX 285


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## Easo (Jun 15, 2009)

SOOOOO.... IT has happened, card with lower "number" beats mine 4850... QQQQ :/


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## KainXS (Jun 15, 2009)

naa i was tryin to say about 20 altogether but forgot to put it in a understandable manner

sry for the confusing post

but I wouldn't include the 4830, or 4850x2 since ati is replacing the 4830 and they never truly supported the 4850x2 anyway


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## Initialised (Jun 15, 2009)

So this is the 4890 512MB


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## Paintface (Jun 16, 2009)

Initialised said:


> So this is the 4890 512MB




and having that said.... what price are we looking at.... and since its the exact same core , could we update the bios with a high voltage and maybe reach at least stock 4890 speeds?


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## Nick89 (Jun 16, 2009)

this will be perfect for my friends build!

Aw wait its not 40nm?


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## tvdang7 (Jun 16, 2009)

ati is trying to beat nvidia's 8800 line up lol


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## LittleLizard (Jun 16, 2009)

IS THAT NO ONE SEE THE POTENTIAL ON THESE CARD? If it has the same pcb as a 4890, uses the same chip and runs at 600 = You can oc the hell out of them to 850mhz without trouble and to 1000 with volt mod!.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 16, 2009)

KainXS said:


> naa i was tryin to say about 20 altogether but forgot to put it in a understandable manner
> 
> sry for the confusing post
> 
> but I wouldn't include the 4830, or 4850x2 since ati is replacing the 4830 and they never truly supported the 4850x2 anyway



ATi will be replacing the HD4830, however it is still in productions, AFAIK.

And the HD4850x2 was an official ATi SKU, them providing utter crap support is another discussion all together.  I guess we should drop the HD4670 since it has pretty terrible support also, I mean it took them over 3 months after the HD4670's release to get a driver out for it...



LittleLizard said:


> IS THAT NO ONE SEE THE POTENTIAL ON THESE CARD? If it has the same pcb as a 4890, uses the same chip and runs at 600 = You can oc the hell out of them to 850mhz without trouble and to 1000 with volt mod!.



These are going to be binned RV790s, 800MHz _might_ be possible, maybe 850MHz with lots of voltage, but you aren't going to see 1000MHz.  Most don't even see 1000MHz on the good cores that actually make it into HD4890s.


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## eidairaman1 (Jun 16, 2009)

so the 4790, is it proving to outperform the 4830 and perhaps the 4850?


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## From_Nowhere (Jun 16, 2009)

Yes the 4790 is going to outperform the 4830, and the 4850 if the 4790 is overclocked slightly (if it needs it). The HD 4770 already outperforms the 4830 and offers near 4850 performance at stock clocks.

Unfortunately I'm guessing the overclocking headroom on these slower RV790 chips is going to be limited, but I think 4870 level frequency/performance is possible.


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## enaher (Jun 16, 2009)

mmm... there must be a lot of 790 cores under Ati's bed or the de 5000 are really near, well the card makes no sense to me but hey priced right might be a good thing.


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## Pyeti (Jun 16, 2009)

i wonder if these would crossfire with a 4830?


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## Scrizz (Jun 16, 2009)

lame, who wants to buy my 4850s


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## swaaye (Jun 16, 2009)

I think NV and ATI do this to keep mind share rolling by reminding you they exist every month or so with a "new" release. It has been like this since the X800/6800 eras. Getting worse and worse with each new generation though. They seem to be scared to death about being seen as "stale" or some such. They compete with each other with these goofy releases.

Regardless of what their little PR guy figureheads spout out, it's obvious that neither company gives a shit about not confusing the marketplace.

NVIDIA is way worse in the notebook market though. They really screw with your head with regards to what the model numbers mean there compared to desktop and they keep dumping out new models there too.


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## tkpenalty (Jun 16, 2009)

I'm utterly confused by AMD's current lineup... they've realised how effective swamping the market is because a lot of the less knowlegeable consumers will be more likely to buy.


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## Drac (Jun 16, 2009)

i was going to buy it because i thought it was new and it had 40 nm but now i see its 55nm and its a bad copy of 4890, bah


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## jessicafae (Jun 17, 2009)

I am guessing that the 47xx series was supposed to be the 40nm shrink of the 48xx series requiring lower power and generating less heat (like the 46xx is the shrink of the 38xx series).  The 4770 is this.  But according to the rumors/news TSMC is having issues with yields at 40nm.  This might mean that AMD/ATI might start with 55nm parts for this SKU and then replace the 55nm part with the 40nm part later (like Nvidia has done in the past with many products shipping with either 65nm or 55nm chips - I have a GTS250 with a 65nm chip for example).  It does make it confusing, but lets hope it is a 40nm shrink of the RV790.

But according to the original chinese article
http://publish.it168.com/2009/0611/20090611067001.shtml
The 4790 is going to be 800 shaders, probably core clock of 625-650mhz, 256bit GDDR5 512MB memory and priced at 800-900 yuan ($117-$130).  It is going to be priced just below the 4870 (1000yuan $150) and be just a bit slower.  It should replace the 512MB 4870 (just like the 4770 is designed to replace the 4830 and 4850, and like the 46xx series replaced the 38xx series).

This will be a great product (even if it is still using the 55nm RV790 chip). I hope we get official news on this soon, and I hope they can get enough out to customers.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 17, 2009)

jessicafae said:


> I am guessing that the 47xx series was supposed to be the 40nm shrink of the 48xx series requiring lower power and generating less heat (like the 46xx is the shrink of the 38xx series).  The 4770 is this.  But according to the rumors/news TSMC is having issues with yields at 40nm.  This might mean that AMD/ATI might start with 55nm parts for this SKU and then replace the 55nm part with the 40nm part later (like Nvidia has done in the past with many products shipping with either 65nm or 55nm chips - I have a GTS250 with a 65nm chip for example).  It does make it confusing, but lets hope it is a 40nm shrink of the RV790.
> 
> But according to the original chinese article
> http://publish.it168.com/2009/0611/20090611067001.shtml
> ...



I believe you are correct, however I think ATi has done it in a far sloppier way than nVidia has.  Causing confusion over Crossfire support, and performance based on the model numbers.  They should have just left the current line-up the way it was, and waited for the 40nm supply to be sufficient enough to release these SKUs properly.

And I guarantee you don't have a 65nm GTS250.


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## jessicafae (Jun 17, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> I believe you are correct, however I think ATi has done it in a far sloppier way than nVidia has.  Causing confusion over Crossfire support, and performance based on the model numbers.  They should have just left the current line-up the way it was, and waited for the 40nm supply to be sufficient enough to release these SKUs properly.


I agree with you completely.  They should just keep dropping the prices on the 48xx series rather than create these premature 47xx SKUs.



> And I guarantee you don't have a 65nm GTS250.



I don't really want to clutter this 4790 thread, but according to GPU-Z I do have a 65nm GTS250.  I have a Sparkle 512MB GTS250.  I guess GPU-Z could be reporting incorrectly...


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## newtekie1 (Jun 17, 2009)

jessicafae said:


> I don't really want to clutter this 4790 thread, but according to GPU-Z I do have a 65nm GTS250.  I have a Sparkle 512MB GTS250.  I guess GPU-Z could be reporting incorrectly...
> 
> http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz195/jessica_fae/gpuz-grab.png



It is, there are several threads on the issue floating around the forums.  Here is just one.

Software can not tell the difference between the 65nm and 55nm core, due to nVidia not changing the GPUID code when they made the new revision.  So the only way to know for sure is to take the heatsink off and look for yourself.


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## eidairaman1 (Jun 19, 2009)

look at die size, transistor count and if there are any SP count.


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## tastegw (Jun 19, 2009)

if this card costs less than $110,  then it would be a nice deal.

but its a shame its not 40nm.


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## Flyordie (Jun 19, 2009)

jessicafae said:


> I agree with you completely.  They should just keep dropping the prices on the 48xx series rather than create these premature 47xx SKUs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



A girl who likes somewhat powerful hardware... hmmmmm rare sight indeed. 
In the meantime- You more than likely have the A2 version (I think thats the # for the 55nm one)  anyway... Enjoy the card Jessica.


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## SonDa5 (Jun 19, 2009)

tastegw said:


> if this card costs less than $110,  then it would be a nice deal.



I agree. This is where this card needs to be to make it a winner.


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