ATI surprised us last month, when sections of the Chinese media leaked information about Radeon HD 4860, a new SKU that intends to succeed Radeon HD 4850 in the $120~$130 segment. Fresh information suggests that the SKU indeed will see the light of the day, even outside China. Slated to ship from around August 18, the HD 4860 will substitute the HD 4850, which is handling the lower price segment of $90~$110. This only gives you an idea of how intense competition has become in the sub $150 graphics market.

Another bit of information surfacing is about the Radeon HD 4750. Even as the Radeon HD 4770 is suffering stock shortages around the world, ATI seems to be going ahead with the HD 4750, a graphics card based on the 40 nm RV740 GPU. The HD 4750 has similar specifications to the HD 4770. It even sports GDDR5 memory. The RV740 core runs at 730 MHz, and its memory at 800 MHz (3200 MHz effective). While the memory clock speed is identical to that of the HD 4770, the core is clocked slightly lower. Overall, the card won't have as much overclocking headroom as the HD 4770, because it will not draw power from a 6-pin power connector. The design ensures existing low-performing raw materials are utilized more effectively. The HD 4750 is expected to be priced at $88 initially. The first batch of these cards will be very small, quantity-wise.