It's inevitable: when a new an architecture is coming down the pipe, there will always be leaks; today's once again comes courtesy of China. The website Chiphell has leaked pre-release images of the HD 7770 graphics cards and benchmarks, which show the HD 7770 to be a strong competitor in the ~$150 market.
According to the site, when the HD 7770 is paired with an Ivy Bridge Core i5-3550K processor clocked at 3.3Ghz, it is able to achieve a score of 1077 marks, making it roughly 25% to 30% faster than its predecessor, the HD 6770. Additionally, the HD 7770 is rumored to have a 2GB frame buffer running on a 128-bit memory interface, and include internal specifications consisting of 896 stream processors, 56 texture units, and 16 ROPs. Sources say all of this should be packed into a chips measuring 245 square millimeters, and will be priced at $149.
If the whispers we have been hearing regarding this graphics card are true, look for it to hit the market sometime around February or March. Of course, as always, nothing is set in stone until the official word comes in. But if there is any truth to these rumors, rest assured we will have a full launch review when the new graphics cards are released.
Unfortunately, there is still no news on the HD 7800 series, but at the rate the Southern Islands leaks have been coming, we shouldn't have to wait much longer
Also, I will dig around and see if I can find anything regarding the HD 7750.