Sapphire's addition to the rather secretive Radeon HD 4750 lineup has been spotted in mainland China. This comes weeks after PowerColor's offering hit the scene. Based on the 40 nm RV740 GPU, Sapphire's platinum is "overclocked" from its default specs, while actually using the clock speeds of HD 4770: 750/800 MHz (core/memory). It features a simple cooler with radially-projecting aluminum fins, covered by a plastic shroud. The stream processor configuration however is modified, with the GPU being able to use only 480 stream processors from its kitty. The 128-bit GDDR5 memory interface remains unchanged. On the connectivity front, are one each of DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI. The card is CrossfireX capable, and we understand it's able to pair with other RV740 accelerators. It is priced at RMB 699 (US $100).

PowerColor is going to be one of the first to be out with a Radeon HD 4750 accelerator. Based on the same 40 nm RV740 graphics processor as the Radeon HD 4770, the HD 4750 features lower clock-speeds, and overclocking headroom, that lets it do away with the six-pin auxiliary power input, relying entirely on the PCI-Express slot. PowerColor's offering is based on its own PCB design, and sports an aluminum fan-heatsink made by Arctic Cooling. The same PCB,with the 6-pin power connector in place, went into making the recently announced PowerColor HD 4770 PCS, which sports the same cooler. The card makes use of a 3+1 phase power design, and loads 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit memory interface. From previous bits of information we gathered, the HD 4750 features clock speeds of 730 MHz (core), and memory at 800 MHz. Expect it to be priced in the $80 range.

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.

With all the attention the RV790 (Radeon HD 4890) is grabbing as it heads for launch, we almost seem to forget its smaller sibling, the RV740 (Radeon HD 4750) is also in the works. What makes the special, is the fact that it is the industry's first GPU to be built on the 40 nm silicon fabrication process.

A preview of this desktop card surfaced late last month, which showed its performance to sit somewhere between those of the Radeon HD 4830, and HD 4850. With this the company plans to step up the heat against NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT, and is adequately equipped to bear the brunt of a price-war, thanks to the lower manufacturing costs this card brings. German retailer Hardware Schottenland.de has added the first listing of the card, which shows its price set at 129.90 €.

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.

ATI, as part of its initial plans with the 40 nm manufacturing technology is preparing the RV740 graphics processor, the company's next mid-range workhorse graphics processor. The new manufacturing process lets AMD respect the price-constraints of that market segment, and accordingly price its SKUs. VR-Zone sourced a few more details about the GPU.

While it is already known that the RV740 goes into making the Radeon HD 4700 series, it is now rumored that its two variants will be termed HD 4770 and HD 4750, and not HD 4750 and HD 4730, as reported earlier. The HD 4770 SKU will be distinct in being the first mainstream graphics card with GDDR5 memory. It will use its 128-bit wide bus to accommodate 512 MB of memory. The HD 4750 on the other hand, will stick to GDDR3. The reference model may have 1GB of it. HD 4770 is expected to be priced around the US $120 mark, making it a head-on competitor to the GeForce GTS 240, which is known to be a re-badged GeForce 8800/9800GT with higher reference clock-speeds. The HD 4750 has GeForce 9600 GT in its sights, with its expected initial pricing ranging around the $100 mark. The two are expected to follow the RV790 launch, and will arrive in May, close to two months after the GeForce GTS 240 comes to be.

AMD is on course of releasing the industry's first GPU built on the 40nm silicon process: the RV740. Its specifications make it a cheap yet powerful GPU for the segment it is about to cater to. With the earliest pointers hinting at 640 stream processors and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The GPU also marks the industry's first mainstream implementation of the GDDR5 standard.

Fresh details emerging out of the inspection of the driver information files of ATI Catalyst version 9.1, as German website ATI Forum finds out, hints at the possibility of the RV740 being implemented in two SKUs: the Radeon HD 4730 and Radeon HD 4750. While in the driver file, the device string lists with "RV630", it can be seen throughout the file that several strings are assigned to the same RV630, and is merely a means to identifying a whole class or generation of graphics processors to the driver. Additionally, the string bears the device ID of the RV670, again, that's not relevant. The strings are what matter. The RV740 is not very far away from large scale production. It should become a reality by the upcoming CeBIT event, in March. From the view of being a mere postulation, RV740 being the GPU that goes into making the new SKUs, does end up sounding plausible. When released, these cards are intended to further strengthen AMD's market position in the sub-US $150 market.