Radeon HD 4770 has yield problems, in short supply

Author: Tim Smalley
Published: 28th May 2009
Comments (10) Stumble
Radeon HD 4770 has yield problems, in short supply

RV740 yields are apparently down the toilet and it’s causing headaches for all parties involved.

COMPUTEX 2009: In the last few weeks, a number of reports have surfaced which suggest that AMD is having serious problems with yields on its mid-range RV740 GPU and, after a bit of digging, we have managed to confirm that there is indeed a problem.

Speaking to a few sources close to AMD, we learned that the company shipped approximately 40,000 RV740 GPUs worldwide in readiness for the Radeon HD 4770’s hard launch last month. Sadly though, very few, if any, RV740 chips have shipped since that initial supply said one source.

Another source said that RV740 is “in very limited supply” and it’s meant that no partner has really been able to move away from the cut-down board design employed by most add-in-card partners. It’s also meant that most of the cards left in the channel still use the cheap, and rather noisy blower that looks nothing like the reference card AMD sent to us ahead of the launch.

This has created a problem for the channel, because since the Radeon HD 4770’s release, the Radeon HD 4830 and 4850 are no longer attractive options for the consumer. They were simply priced too high against the Radeon HD 4770 when it launched and because of that, sales for both the 4830 and 4850 have apparently dropped off a cliff.

Looking around a number of the UK’s top retailers tells a fairly sorry story – the Radeon HD 4770 is particularly difficult to get hold of at the moment with only one card in stock at the five retailers we checked. Moreover, our sources suggested that it’s unlikely to get better any time soon – Radeon HD 4770’s will continue to dribble onto etailer’s shelves in low quantities.

Obviously, AMD is trying to make up for the shortfall by lowering the 4830 and 4850's prices but, based on the conversations we've had, the sales don't appear to have picked up to the same levels that they were at before the 4770 turned up.

Discuss in the forums.
Quote perplekks45 28th May 2009, 15:47
Sad news for AMD, nVidia sits back smiling seeing its own sales grow I guess.
Quote xaser04 28th May 2009, 16:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by article
This has created a problem for the channel, because since the Radeon HD 4770’s release, the Radeon HD 4830 and 4850 are no longer attractive options for the consumer. They’re simply priced too high against the Radeon HD 4770

Sorry but I disagree here. You can pick up a HD4850 (with aftermarket cooler) right now for £78.99 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-135-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938). The HD4830 is even cheaper.... How exactly is this 'priced too high'?!
Quote Tim S 28th May 2009, 16:19
At the time of release, it was quite a bit higher and it's only recently that the prices have dropped. Because of that, the 4850/4830 sales haven't recovered to the levels they were at - I should perhaps clarify that.
Quote chrisb2e9 28th May 2009, 16:28
wow, I got my 4850 for about 200 and here it is for 120 (cdn). And the cdn dollar was stronger back then against the US when I got mine. Making this really cheap.
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=33156&vpn=GV%2DR485ZL%2D512H&manufacture=Gigabyte
Quote xaser04 28th May 2009, 16:36
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim S
At the time of release, it was quite a bit higher and it's only recently that the prices have dropped. Because of that, the 4850/4830 sales haven't recovered to the levels they were at - I should perhaps clarify that.

That makes sense, your edit makes it much clearer now. Thank you : )
Quote Goty 28th May 2009, 19:46
So can you clarify if this is an AMD issue or a TSMC issue? I've read a few stories saying that TSMC's poor 40nm process is to blame, but some "independent" confirmation would be great.
Quote HourBeforeDawn 28th May 2009, 20:08
ya the prices are way off, the 4850 still one of the better priced cards all considering.
Quote sheninat0r 28th May 2009, 20:09
Yeah, I was wondering where all the 4770s went. They were all (all!) out of stock at Newegg last time I checked.
Quote Elton 29th May 2009, 01:53
Well F*** since september I've seen my ICE-Q 4 HD4850($179) drop quite a bit..

Oddly it's still worth something after all this time.
Quote Ady6UK 5th June 2009, 10:23
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheninat0r
Yeah, I was wondering where all the 4770s went. They were all (all!) out of stock at Newegg last time I checked.

Ignore my post. Can someone from admin remove it please.
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