Radeon HD 4890 is just weeks from taking over the shelves and all major graphics card manufacturers are currently tweaking their versions of AMD’s latest graphics circuit. Those who have been following our reports on Radeon HD 4890 (RV790) are aware of the minor updates it brings over the current Radeon HD 4870 graphics card. But just because the reference cards are similar the retail products don’t have to be that similar. We have been handed some exclusive information on ASUS’ coming Radeon HD 4890 cards that really shows that overclocking is a big part of it.
Radeon HD 4890 is more or less an overclocked Radeon HD 4870 graphics card, but even if AMD has specified the clock frequency to already high 850MHz it is nothing compared to what we can expect from overclockers, especially with ASUS’ card.
According to an anonymous source, ASUS has continued down AMD’s path with overclocking when it developed its Radeon HD 4890 and it has been designed from the base and up to allow us consumers to push the cards to new heights.
ASUS has most importantly revised the power circuitry and simply installed a more powerful solution that can handle higher voltages and clock frequencies than the reference design. To be able to use the more powerful power circuitry, ASUS will allow users to change the voltage through software, which means that the card is ready to play from factory.
First picture of ASUS Radeon HD 4890
A naked picture of the same card
With little alteration of the operating voltage ASUS Radeon HD 4890 will be capable of reaching 1000MHz GPU frequency, which is anything but poor. That Radeon HD 4890 will be a good overclocker overall is no secret, but ASUS has really outdone itself to make its version stand out. The memory department seems to be unchanged, but it is very much possible that the more powerful power circuitry will have a positive effect here as well.
Our source also revealed that we will see factory overclocked Radeon HD 4890 cards with GPU clock frequencies beyond 900MHz, but whether it was talking about the renowned “Extreme” edition of HD 4890 was not made clear. We hope to offer more information and pictures very soon.
