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.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.