AMD is dressing up a new ATI Radeon SKU to go to office soon. The Radeon HD 4730 beats our guesswork, and wits both in one shot. The new SKU is not based on a scaled-down 40 nm RV740 GPU the HD 4770 is based on, but rather on a new RV770 variant, dubbed the RV770CE. This GPU is physically identical to the RV770, and has part of its configuration identical to the RV770LE (Radeon HD 4830), while its memory interface is 128-bit GDDR5 instead of 256-bit GDDR3.

The only explanation we have in store is that perhaps AMD is looking to save on using lesser number of memory chips per board (while not crippling the memory interface), and that RV770 is in healthier stock than the RV740. Pictured below is the PowerColor Radeon HD 4730 PCS, one of the first cards based on the GPU. Other important specifications, such as stream processor count, and clock-speeds are yet to surface. Ideally it should cash-in on a price-segment below that of the Radeon HD 4770.

An unexpected visitor to Guru3D.com's offices was a pre-release sample of a yet to be released 40 nm RV740-based Radeon HD 4750 graphics accelerator. Not bound by any NDAs with AMD, the website went ahead with a little (p)review of the card. The HD 4750 is the RV740XT model, and features GDDR5 memory. The name contradicts an earlier report suggesting HD 4770 to be the shelf-name for the RV740XT, and HD 4750 for the GDDR3-based RV740Pro. It features 640 stream processors, core clock speeds between 650~700 MHz and GDDR5 memory clocked at 800 MHz (3.20 GHz effective), across a 128-bit wide memory bus. The RV740XT comes with a rated shader compute power of 900 GFLOPs, as against 740 GFLOPs the RV770LE-based HD 4830 is rated at, while having similar specifications. It comes with 32 TMUs and 16 ROPs.

The findings of the preview show it to be somewhere between the performance levels of the Radeon HD 4830 and HD 4850. Interestingly, Guru3D omitted GeForce 8800 GT/9800 GT from the comparison, though GeForce 9600 GT was left to face the onslaught from stronger ATI GPUs. The Radeon HD 4750 is expected to be priced below the $100 mark and is expected to outperform most competitive accelerators in its price-range. To read the review, head over to Guru3D here.

The RV740 graphics processor by AMD could well be the first GPU in production, to be built on the newer 40nm manufacturing process, giving its makers something to brag about. The RV740 design and specifications are largely derived from the RV770LE (covered here), while bringing the GDDR5 memory standard to the mainstream.

Chinese industrial journals tell DigiTimes that the company has completed taping-out the RV740, and that the GPU is awaiting mass-production by AMD's foundry partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Mass production of products based on this GPU could commence by the end of Q1 2009.

RV740, the first GPU built by AMD on the 40nm silicon fabrication process, seems to be gaining attention. While earlier reports suggested this core to be simply a miniaturized RV730, a fresh report emerging from VR-Zone says otherwise.

The RV740 is supposed to be largely derived from the RV770, as in its RV770LE avatar which went into making the ATI Radeon HD 4830. There are some interesting specifications attached to it. To begin with, the core physically holds only 640 stream processors, in comparison to the 800(+) on the RV770. The core continues to have 32 texture memory units (TMUs) and 16 render back-ends. Interestingly, there is a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory bus instead of 256-bit wide GDDR3 (for the RV770LE). With this, the RV740 has a rated memory bandwidth identical to that of the RV770LE, 57.6 GB/s, though the bus width would warrant the use of lesser number of memory chips, and effectively reduce manufacturing costs. Graphics cards based on this GPU are expected to emerge in early 2009. You can also expect derivatives based on this core with GDDR4, GDDR3 or even DDR2 memory. In any case, the products are expected to cost below US $100.

The ATI Radeon HD 4830, the newest foot-soldier from the red-camp, is AMD's answer to the GeForce 9800 GT, a gap left by the company, that may have been eating into its profits for months now. As usual, TechPowerUp received its review samples from TUL (PowerColor), AMD's long-standing partner, and AMD itself. We reviewed both of them, as soon as the product became official today. During the course of reviewing them, with the card from AMD in particular, our reviewer, W1zzard noticed an anomaly: the sample from AMD was showing an abnormal stream processor count of 560.

W1zzard also authors the GPU-Z diagnostic utility, and it is his routine chore to program the utility to detect a new GPU. The newest build of GPU-Z detected the card from AMD to have as many as 80 stream processors disabled from the original specifications for the Radeon HD 4830. In his article, W1zzard attempts to explain this anomaly.

AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners are ready with graphics cards based on the company's newest GPU, the ATI Radeon HD 4830. Sapphire, on its part, is ready with a card based on its own PCB/cooler design. The company has already released a Radeon HD 4850 based card on the PCB and cooler. Identical pin layout of the GPU (RV770LE) and memory wiring, makes this possible. Features are listed below:

• ATI RV770 LE graphics processor, made on 55nm silicon process(by TSMC)
• 256-bit GDDR3 memory bus
• 575 MHz GPU core, 1800 MHz (900 MHz actual) memory
• 512 MB memory
• 640 Stream Processors, DirectX 10.1
• Supports ATI Crossfire X
• Supports UVD 2.0 hardware video acceleration

Performance projections for the upcoming Radeon HD 4830, made news yesterday, where it is projected to outperform the GeForce 9800 GT. Two new slides published by VR-Zone shed light on how the RV770LE graphics processor manages to do that, and there's a surprise: It was earlier known that the RV770LE comes equipped with 480 stream processors, and one of the earliest reports even suggested that it could have a narrower 192-bit memory bus. The slides published, show that the new GPU could carry as many as 640 stream processors, double that of the RV670. It comes with a proper 256-bit wide GDDR3 memory bus. Also included, is hardware support for 24x custom filter anti-aliasing (CFAA).

It is also known that the new card is gearing up for an October 21 launch and would be priced below US $150. AIBs would be able to sell custom designed cards right upon launch. While the new GPU does look "tougher" and more equipped than expected, here's something to ponder: with twice the amount of stream processors as the Radeon HD 3870, as projections suggest, is it going to be only 10% faster than the 9800 GT?

As reported earlier, AMD is preparing a scaled-down version of the RV770 graphics processor, called RV770LE. The new graphics core would go into making the Radeon HD 4830 SKU. The new graphics core was created to compete with the GeForce 8800/9800 GT, which seem to be in a comfortable market position owing to their price and price/performance. They are comfortably placed between the GeForce 9600 seties and the 8800 GTS 512M/9800 GTX/GTX+.

AMD has already started projecting the HD 4830 to outperform the the G92GT, in essence, the GeForce 9800 GT. In a slide titled "Best Graphics Card for <$150", the company puts up figures where the new card is projected 10% faster in most games tested. The only glitch, is that most of AMD's own increment projections are based around that 10% mark, which means it could be a very tight contest between the HD 4830 and 9800 GT. A prelude could be that for the 9800 GT, its CUDA and PhysX processing capabilities could bail it out, if it does fall into a tight spot, as in, if the two end up in a neck and neck contest. The new Radeon accelerator comes out sometime next month.

At this point, ATI has a product to counter NVIDIA in every segment barring some gaps, such as the GeForce GTX 260 (216 SP) at $299 and the GTX 280 itself at its low price, GeForce 8800/9800 GT in their price ranges and the GeForce 9600 GSO.

The entry of Radeon HD 4850 X2 aims to disturb the market position of the GeForce GTX 280. To compete with the 8800/9800 GT and 9600 GSO, ATI is preparing a new down-scale graphics processor called RV770LE. The GPU has 480 stream processors and carries the brand name Radeon HD 4830. It will sport 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. Upon launch, ATI's partners would be free to launch it at speeds that suit their product lines. This GPU launches sometime in October.

Earlier this year, the unthinkable happened when ATI brought in stiff competition with NVIDIA in almost all segments to snatch the performance crown. All NVIDIA could do as a retaliation was to hurry up with a transition to the 55nm silicon fabrication technology and price cuts among all its segments. The latter is of more importance since price cuts for NVIDIA's products have been huge, in many cases, as much as 40%. While Radeon HD 4850 in its 512 MB and 1 GB avatars took on GeForce 9800 GTX/GTX+, the GeForce 9800 GT slipped in from nowhere. Technically at launch the GeForce 9800 GT isn't much more than 8800 GT except a few features that only nForce chipset users could benefit from, among other changes. Indications are that this product isn't faring bad in the market and to retaliate ATI is devising a new graphics core, the RV770LE.

Simply put, the RV770LE is a toned down variant of the RV770 core that will position below the RV770 Pro (Radeon HD 4850). It features lower clock speeds than the RV770 Pro and more importantly, a 192 bit memory bus and 480 Stream Processors. This also affects the TMU and ROP counts with the new core having 12 ROPs and 24 TMUs. Memory configurations would be affected as well. While some sources indicate that it would be branded as Radeon HD 4830, others say it's likely to be branded as the Radeon HD 4750 and is slated for release in October.