When ASUS released its version of the AMD Radeon HD 7770 graphics adapter, it also launched its interpretation of the Radeon DH 7750 video board.

ASUS managed to become one of the first companies that launched their modified Cape Verde-based video boards in official capacity.

For those unclear on the matter, Cape Verde is the codename of the graphics processing units (GPU) employed in the making of the two aforementioned cards.

It is also the first GPU to run at a frequency of 1 GHz by default, instead of needing OEM factory overclocking or consumer tweaks to do so.

Only the Radeon HD 7770 actually operates at that level, though, while the HD 7750 settles for about 200 MHz less (the GPU on the reference board works at 800 MHz).

That said, ASUS decided even 800 MHz wasn’t enough, so it gave the clock a little push, sending it to 820 MHz.

Meanwhile, the 1 GB of GDDR5 VRAM went from 1125 / 4.50 GHz to 1150 MHz / 4.60 GHz.

The modifications were safely implemented thanks to a custom PCB (printed circuit board) and a different cooler.

Said cooling mechanism is a fan-heatsink with aluminum fins arranged in a spiral, of sorts, and which rely on a copper core for heat conductivity.

Said core lies at the very center of the array and spreads the heat amongst the fins, which are then ventilated by the fan, which does not produce much noise.

Everything else was left more or less unchanged from the stock board: a 128-bit memory interface, 8 CU, 512 stream processors, 32 texture units and a total power draw of 75W, meaning that the product does not require a power plug (it gets its energy from the PCI Express slot).

Retailers should have this item up for order soon, if they don’t already, at a price of $109 / 83 Euro, give or take.

• Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 • Techno • RSS 2.0