Radeon HD 4770: New Graphics Chip from ATI
With a new, powerful chip generation, ATI is challenging Nvidia at the low end.
The new chip generation is called RV740, which ATI hopes to serve as a kind of test balloon for the next high-end RV870 chip. It's somewhat unusual to launch a new chip generation with a low-end model, which is not least of all why ATI describes its HD 4770 as "recession-proof." Technically the chip is a 40 nanometer RV770 chip (of the Radeon HD 48.0 generation) that AMD/ATI stresses is the first commercial chip of that size that its manufacturing partner TSMC has produced.
Because ATI raised the clock of the 128-bit memory bus to 1.6 GHz to get to to a reasonable 51.2 Gbytes/second memory bandwidth, no significant power savings should be expected. However, the Radeon HD 4700 can fall back to a 512-MByte GDDR5 RAM, GDDR5 being rather a novelty in the low-end market. Running at 750 MHz and with 128 unified shader units and 15 raster units, the 826 MIO transistor chip delivers a 12-Gpixels/second fill rate (24 Gpixels/second texture rate). It can also theoretically deliver, with 960 Gflops, twice the processing power of its direct competitor in the low-end market, the Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT. The HD 4770 is available now on graphics cards from numerous manufacturers at around $109 street price.
Issue 255/2022
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Linux Mint Edge Is Ready for the Newest Hardware
With the release of Linux Mint 20.03 comes a new version geared for newer hardware.
-
Linux Mint 20.3 Now Available
That latest release of Linux Mint is now available for general use and offers a polished, but less Mint-y theme.
-
Linux is Getting an Exciting New Firmware Feature
Intel is bringing a new driver to the 5.17 kernel that will make it possible to update firmware without a reboot.
-
Elementary OS 6.1 Has Been Released
The .1 version of the sixth iteration of elementary OS (named Odin) is now available for download and takes the distribution to new heights of refinement.
-
Linux Mint 20.3 Beta is Now Available
The developers of Linux Mint have made the beta of their latest release available for download and installation.
-
EndeavorOS 21.4 Has Arrived
Arch-based EndeavorOS 21.4 is finally available for download with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
NixOS 21.11 Now Available for Download
NixOS “Porcupine” has been made available for installation and includes numerous improvements.
-
KDE Plasma Developers Introduce a GNOME-Like Overview
A new overview effect makes it easier for users to interact with both Plasma Activities and Virtual Desktops.
-
Rocky Linux 8.5 Now Available with Secure Boot Support
The latest iteration of CentOS alternative, Rocky Linux has arrived and includes numerous updates as well as support for Secure Boot.
-
System76 Developing a New Desktop Environment
The makers of Pop!_OS are currently in the early stages of creating a brand new, non-GNOME, desktop environment.