ASUS Preparing High-End Non-Reference HD 4890 Accelerator

As we inch closer to the early-April launch of AMD’s newest graphics card, the Radeon HD 4890, pictures of the said card by various AMD partners are piling up. Among all the usual reference-design cards we have seen so far, that virtually every partner is working on, we have learned that ASUS is working on something bigger. The company already has a reference-design card in the works, and another one that is set to eye the top-spot in the range of HD 4890 cards that will hit the market.

The company is designing a non-reference design accelerator that concentrates on a superior power design, and higher clock-speeds. We do not know what the company plans to call it, whether it joins the elite MATRIX series, or a “TOP” model under its general lineup, but the odds are tilting in favour of it featuring in the MATRIX lineup, the reasons you will soon know. Pictured below is its PCB, a list of some of the most notable features follows:

• 100% digital PWM design – something the reference PCB features too, but enhanced by a small design change by ASUS
• The 6+2 phase power circuit is controlled by two independent VRM controller chips, the vGPU can be controlled by software, and can be set up to 1.4 V with the included software
• An 8-pin PCI-E power input replaces one of two 6-pin inputs on the reference model. This is said to add electrical stability and increase overclocking headroom
• ASUS added the industry’s highest-quality voltage regulation thanks to the Fujitsu high-density ML capacitor, that facilitates the lowest ESR, and is best suited for digital PWM circuits (the cleanest power makes it to the GPU)
• The GPU is expected to be clocked above 900 MHz, with the GDDR5 memory at 1000 MHz (4.00 GHz effective)
• It will feature a non-reference high-performance cooler, which doesn’t want to be pictured yet

With this on offer, the card could be one of the more expensive ones in its series. The reference-design card is expected to be priced at US $249.99, for the know.

Source: techpowerup