The card
We had a quick look at ASUS' Radeon HD 4890 Voltage Tweak Edition a couple of weeks ago and were intrigued enough to get a sample sent to the labs.
The outward appearance, save for the sticker on the heatsink, is identical to the majority of Radeon HD 4890s currently available.
And there's nothing special on the back, either. Indeed, it's about as reference as reference can be.
The card is one of two in the ASUS Radeon HD 4890 range. Known as EAH4890/HTDI/1GD5, it's clocked in at 850MHz engine and 3,900MHz GDDR5 memory, matching the various HD 4890 XTs currently plying the market. The other SKU, EAH4890 TOP/HTDI/1GD5, looks the same but is pre-overclocked to 900MHz core and 4,000MHz memory.
Arriving with an etail price a touch over £200 you may wonder what all the fuss is about.
ASUS, however, adds what it terms as Voltage Tweak Technology, whereby the user can, via the SmartDoctor software, increase card voltage from 1.312V to 1.45V. Interestingly, ASUS intimates that doing so allows you to boost clocks from the default speed (up) to 950MHz engine and 4,600MHz memory, although no concrete guarantee is given. Best of all, the warranty remains intact.
Other than ASUS-specific voltage increases via the SmartDoctor software there's nothing much going on with the card.
