ATI Radeon HD 5770: specifications, photos and reviews

In the search for a decent video card in the initial game class, many buyers focus on cost in the first place. Therefore, AMD, the world-famous company, made a good present to all its fans, presenting them with a game graphics accelerator at an affordable price.

In the focus of the article, the HD 5770 video adapter. Specifications, photos and reviews of the owners will allow the reader to find out all the necessary information about an interesting representative of the initial game class. And the recommendations of experts and testing, conducted by enthusiasts, will provide an opportunity to assess first hand the performance of the novelty.

Features of the new chip

In the media, a lot of negative feedback from users who believe that the game graphics accelerator of the previous generation HD4890 was used to produce a new video adapter based on the AMD Radeon HD 5770 chip. If we compare technical characteristics, there are similarities with respect to the frequency of the nucleus and the number of physical elements.

However, the technology, the program part and the physical data of the kernel itself are in the cut. Hypothetically, the manufacturer could not use a morally obsolete crystal as the basis for a new video card. And the similarity of the parameters is explained simply - a successful configuration demonstrated excellent performance results, and AMD decided to repeat it with a new chip within the company's walls.

Basic technical specifications

The fact that the ATI Radeon HD 5770 belongs to the lower limit of the game segment is the clock speed of the graphics core, which does not exceed the psychological barrier at 1 GHz and is only 850 MHz. True, this indicator for many users is fictitious, because the chip splits superbly. But more on that later. As for the other technical characteristics, everything is simple:

• 800 stream processors;
• 40 texture blocks and 16 ROP elements;
• 128-bit bus with GDDR5 memory;
• A full memory capacity of 1024 MB.

Yes, the weak link in the device of the initial game class is the video memory bandwidth, which is equal to 76.8 gigabytes per second. No overclocking of the graphics core will not be able to improve this indicator, because the overall picture of the chip is corrupted by a 128-bit bus.

The program part of the device

The advantages of AMD Radeon HD 5770 graphics accelerator include support for DirecrX 11 libraries. This parameter allows the card owner to run almost all modern games on his computer. Do not forget about the new technology ATI Stream, which has recently been introduced by ATI in all its gaming solutions. The user has a great opportunity to use the graphics core of the video adapter for the needs of the computer (analogue CUDA from Nvidia). However, for the implementation of the project you will need to purchase the SimHD program.

Continuing to develop the topic of technology, it is worth mentioning the energy-saving mode, which is able to transfer the graphics core into a sleep mode (power consumption is reduced from 100 to 20 watts). And also the user will be useful to know about the Turbo mode, which performs automatic overclocking of the video card under heavy loads. As practice shows, the performance gain is small (2-3%), but it is quite enough for most games, where there are rare drops in the frame rate at the optimal settings of quality.

Gaming device class

Users already know how to navigate the computer components market and at first glance will be able to distinguish a video game adapter from a representative of a budget class. The Radeon HD 5770 is full-size and claims two slots in the system unit. The game properties of the adapter are hinted at by the cooling system, which is made in the form of a huge radiator with a protective casing and a turbofan located at the bottom of the printed circuit board.

Will please the future owners and a set of connectors, which is supplied with a graphics accelerator. The manufacturer installed two DVI video outputs and equipped the board with HDMI and DisplayPort interfaces. But to connect analog devices you will need a special adapter (DVI-VGA), which the buyer can always find bundled with the device.

PCB Features

Unlike video cards of an expensive game class with a chip area of 282 mm ² , the HD 5770 is equipped with a conventional graphics accelerator that has an effective area of 170 mm ² . It is this indicator that raises doubts among potential buyers regarding the game properties of the video adapter.

As for the factory desoldering, everything here is much more interesting than the budget representatives of the market. Memory modules are installed around the graphics accelerator and completely overlapped by its cooling system, made in the form of a copper core. The manufacturer assembled the batteries in one unit and placed it at the back of the video card, as it is implemented in more expensive devices.

The graphic core of the video adapter has a textolite frame and is protected from chips. And the installed memory modules will surely please all overclockers, because the manufacturer used Hynix chips, designed for efficient operation at a frequency of 5 GHz.

The game potential of a video card

Many potential buyers are trying to match the graphics accelerator Radeon HD 5770 with the characteristics of the processor, focusing on test stands that are used by enthusiasts. The approach is wrong, so the manufacturer took this task under its control and gave the world its own requirements for computer components that can maximize the full potential of this video adapter.

AMD recommends using only dual-core A4 processors for their graphics accelerator running at 3000 MHz or higher. As for RAM, then to run all the resource-intensive games supported by the video card, it will be enough to have a capacity of 8 gigabytes. In their responses, many owners note that from Intel processors, the potential of a video adapter is able to open any dual-core crystal with a frequency above 3 GHz.

Mobile platform

Interesting chip HD 5770 from the initial game class did not go unnoticed for notebook manufacturers. Virtually all Asian brands were interested in an inexpensive solution, however, to install the graphics accelerator in mobile devices, manufacturers had to globally change the technical specifications of the video adapter.

The core clock speed was lowered to 650 MHz, and the memory became slower by almost 20%. As practice shows, manufacturers at such a step pushed the need for a video card in the electric power. As a result of all the modifications, the graphics accelerator has become less demanding of resources - only 30 watts you need a chip to work at maximum performance settings.

It's easy to guess that the overall performance of the gaming adapter has decreased in proportion to power consumption, but it's still early for the customers to be upset. The fact is that many laptops along with the Radeon HD 5770 chip equip the mobile device with a similar integrated solution. As a result, the user receives a full CrossFire system with two game graphics cards of the initial game level.

Leader of sales

All users know that the manufacturing plant AMD does not retail its graphics accelerators, providing such an opportunity to other manufacturers of computer components. The best purchase in the domestic market is recognized video adapter Sapphire Radeon HD 5770.

The most interesting thing is that neither the technical characteristics nor the rich equipment has influenced the choice of the future owner. As practice shows, all the fault was the bonus that the manufacturer gave to his fans - the license for the game DIRT 2, which at the time of the presentation of the graphics accelerator only appeared on the US market.

The legendary ATI product line

Not all users know that in the world market there is a huge number of modifications of the graphics accelerator Sapphire HD 5770. The well-known manufacturer simply took all free niches with their products, eliminating all other competitors. Naturally, all models differ not only in terms of technical characteristics, but also in appearance. Therefore, it is not surprising that every second owner of a video card based on the Radeon HD 5770 chip flatteringly comments on the Sapphire brand.

In addition to the differences, there are similarities between all products of a well-known manufacturer, which are more concerned with the configuration of devices. In the box, in addition to the licensed game and the video adapter itself, the user will find the complete instruction, driver discs, many adapters for connecting video devices and power connection. Also in each box there is a proprietary label of the company Sapphire, which is recommended to be placed on the case of the system unit.

The Hidden Possibilities of a Sales Leader

Video adapter Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 - quite an interesting device. The fact is that on the basis of one printed circuit board the manufacturer managed to make several completely different devices. Naturally, many buyers and the question arises about the advisability of purchasing the most expensive copies of this graphics accelerator. After all, all components of the video card are no different from cheap products.

Yes, the whole thing in the cooling system, which allowed the technology company Sapphire to disperse in the factory the chip HD 5770, the characteristics of which had to be improved. As practice shows, along with the graphics processor, memory modules are also susceptible to heating, for which an additional cooling circuit must be installed, if acceleration is supposed.

Potential for overclocking

With decent air cooling, ATI Radeon HD 5770 under the Sapphire logo still achieves a psychological barrier at 1 GHz, but it demonstrates unstable performance in testing, so experts recommend limiting the core frequency to 960 MHz. As an evidence base for low-quality work at high frequencies, many enthusiasts apply to their testing photos of burnt video cards that worked at increased frequency.

But with the memory chips, things are simpler. The modules themselves are designed to work at a frequency of 5000 MHz, so it's easy to overclock the video adapter to these parameters. But the rest of the potential directly depends on a decent heat dissipation. Experts recommend limiting the frequency to 5600 MHz. It is at this rate that the graphics accelerator is able to demonstrate stable operation.

The game potential of the legend

Fans of the most popular game in the world of World of Tanks should not be worried. The Radeon HD 5770 video adapter at maximum quality settings, with the support of a dual-core processor, is capable of demonstrating 60-70 FPS. But with other resource-intensive games using DirectX version 11, there are often problems.

Fond of many users of the game Crysis 2 on average settings demonstrates about 30 frames per second. This is a low figure, especially given the fact that a new version of the toy has appeared on the market. But the games DIRT 2 and GTA 5 show the owner that the potential of the graphics accelerator is still available - 60 FPS on average settings, this is a worthy indicator.

HD 5770 performs well in all applications created for DirectX 10 libraries. So, with FarCry2, Resident Evel 5 and Need for Speed, there were no problems in the testing process. But if you just load a modern toy that requires DirectX 11 to work properly, then immediately the video card demonstrates low performance.

Analogues in the market

Interesting products based on the AMD HD 5770 chip include graphics accelerators under the ASUS logo. A well-known Taiwanese manufacturer drew attention to a new product and presented the world its own solution. True, many experts did not like one thing - in the company's laboratories, technologists changed only the cooling system, and left the motherboard in the factory.

It is this fact that created a lot of rumors about the ideality of the video adapter, which even well-known manufacturers do not want to improve, as it is a finished product. It's unclear just why the ASUS graphics accelerators lag far behind their analogues based on the HD 5770 chip.

The products of the companies HIS, MSI, Gigabyte and many other well-known manufacturers of computer components on the world market were subjected to the similar condemnation.

Problems and solutions

Potential buyers should pay attention to the fact that AMD is keen on promoting new products, constantly forgets about obsolete modifications. This attitude affects the creation of drivers for the updated Windows operating systems. The ATI HD 5770 is not an exception. The 5xxx series is not supported by the new Windows 10 system. At the hardware level, the controller is defined as a compatible AMD HD video device. The situation can be corrected by installing the original drivers from the disk, designed for the Vista platform.

Fans of overclocking need to be also on the alert. The fact is that unlike Nvidia products, in ATI video cards the parameters for overclocking the graphics accelerator and memory modules are written to the BIOS devices. If the video adapter fails to overheat and fails, the user will not be able to deliver the accelerator for repair under warranty. In fact, it's a one-way ticket - unsuccessful overclocking will destroy the video card.

Finally

It can not be said that the HD 5770 chip is recognized as the best purchase on the market of gaming devices of the initial class. This is more a decent choice for the "price-quality" ratio between the budget segment devices and the gaming class. This is a middle class for users who do not have enough finance to purchase products from a more expensive line.

Also, the video card is suitable for those customers who prefer to spend time for non-resource-intensive games that require an old version of DirectX 9 or 10 to run. All tankmen, aircraft pilots, commanders of ships and fans of racing on fast cars fall into this category. But with 3D-shooters from the first person this graphics accelerator will have problems at high and medium settings, so the potential buyer is recommended to reconsider their requirements for computer components and increase the budget for the purchase of a decent video card.