Crazy New Graphics Cards from PowerColor
Manufacturer:PowerColor
Last week out at Computex we saw plenty of graphics card makers, but one that particularly impressed us was PowerColor, who unveiled a new range of ATI Radeon HD 5770s unlike any we’ve seen before. While the HD 5770 might be seen as mid- to low-end cards by enthusiasts looking for maximum detail settings and the highest frame rates, its competitive price tag and strong availability has seen it emerge as arguably this generation’s most popular card. PowerColor has plenty of ideas to set its cards apart.
Click to enlarge — Would you like a Network card with your GPU?
First up is the PowerColor HD 5770 Sniper, the first card to combine a GPU and a network card – that’s right, it has a high-performance network card right there on the PCB. The design integrates a Bigfoot Networks Killer 2100 network processor and a PCI-E splitter onto the PCB, with the card’s bac plate sporting a Gigabit network port alongside two DVI and and an HDMI port.
The Killer 2100 looks to be a much more capable version of the Killer Xeno Pro and if the price is right the Sniper could be a very interesting offering. However, we worry that the mid-range graphics power of the HD 5770 GPU might not be enough for every pro gamer looking to minimise their ping.
PowerColor told us that this card would be targeting players of games such as Counter Strike, where graphical performance is secondary to reaction times. That said, we can’t see any reason why this sort of upgrade couldn’t be applied to more powerful cards such as the Radeon HD 5870 or HD 5850 if there’s enough interest in the Sniper.
Click to enlarge — The inclusion of an onboard Hydra chip could be revolutionary, while a 12 display HD 5970 is sure to please giant screen fans
Not content with cramming a network card onto an HD 5770, PowerColor was also showing a teeny-tiny half height HD 5770, perfect for a HTPC (home theatre PC) or a seriously small gaming build.
The dual slot card still packs in the 1GB of GDDR5 memory and is even pre-overclocked. Downsizing a full-size graphics card to such an extent is something we’ve never seen before, although we didn’t see the card running, so we can’t comment on whether the two 40mm cooling fans are quiet or not.
Click to enlarge — The half height HD 5770 was particularly nifty
If that wasn’t enough, PowerColor also had the HD 5770 Evolution, the first graphics card with Lucid Hydra on board, a potentially revolutionary addition to the graphics market. As it does on MSI’s (and soon Asus’) motherboards, the Hydra chip allows any graphics card to work in a multi-card setup with any other graphics card, regardless of make, model or SLI and CrossFire support on the motherboard, and all without any bridge connectors.
PowerColor said that the setup works best with comparably powered cards, making the Evolution a possibly ideal upgrade to all those who bought a GeForce GTX 260 (rev 2).
While we remain skeptical about the performance gains and practicality of the Hydra driver supporting every graphics card combination, it’s certainly an interesting concept and we can’t get wait to get one in and start testing [Well volunteered, Harry — Ed].
Topping things off, PowerColor also had the first Radeon HD 5970 4GB 12-display graphics card we’ve seen – ideal for when you want to add that entire wall of displays to your living room. While the card is obviously targeted towards businesses like stadium owners or TV stations rather than gamers (even a pair of HD 5970s could struggle to play games smoothly at 7,680 x 3,240) it’s an undeniably cool accomplishment, with the extra displays connecting via a daughterboard on the card’s rear.
Impressed by PowerColor’s technical wizardry? Excited about the arrival of a Hydra or low-ping network controller on a graphics card? Or do you crave a 12-display wall of gaming? Let us know in the forums.
Store — Bio Source Naturals
“Thank you so much for your amazing oils.
I am so happy with your products. I love every one of the essential oils that I bought from your store. I am wearing one right now, and it makes me feel high! Those scents are paradise. Much love from Oregon.”
Nicola Rhododendron
“Wonderful customer service…prompt and professional. Their professionalism and guarantee for customer satisfaction is second to none. Thank you! ”
Amanda Avila
“Your products have been an unprecedented blessing and are crafted with loving intention, in alignment with nature. A wonderful example of a business which focuses on quality and integrity—putting love first. Much gratitude, ”
Rachelle Webb
“We have ordered several things from Bio Source in the past. Everything has been excellent quality, shipped in perfect condition.”
Vanessa Trenner
“Best essential oil spray I’ve ever purchased, couldn’t have hoped for better! Great price, fast shipping! Thank you very much.”
Craig Hackman
“My husband & I love enjoy the energy lift that happens once you spray your space/body/aura with this essential oil blend.
We’re looking forward to trying the other blends. Amazing customer service.”
Sidjae Reid
“The quality of these essential oils are unlike any essential oils I have purchased. I used to buy my oils from various health stores and have bought big name brand oils. These are way better. The scents last longer on my skin and I get more for my money. I’m so happy. I’m hoping that for future needs I will only have to order from Biosource Naturals. I’m very happy with my purchase.”
-Rachel Ellis
“I love, love, love your tapping scripts. Thank you soooo very much for your products. I am so excited to begin using them. ? Also, I truly appreciate you for your love of helping people. It shows by the amount of free content you offer. I just wanted to acknowledge my appreciation and say again,Thank you. May God bless every employee and family member of your employees. You are ray of light in this world. Thank you!”
– Adrianne Harris
“Not only are the EO’s the most reliably potent, well sourced and packaged intelligently, the information is invaluable.
Customer service is impeccable and they totally stand by EVERYTHING they sell. You can even employ Reiki Charging of your order for a nominal fee! I haven’t purchased any other company’s EOs since discovering Bio-Source Naturals. I am so glad I found BioSource! Thoroughly and consistently reliable. They have my complete confidence, which is saying a lot. You won’t be sorry ever, using Bio Source for your EO supplies, carrier oils and valuable information (which they supply freely and abundantly!)”
– Marlene Altman
“Amazing customer service. I literally messaged around 3:20 am and received a super quick answer. I ordered a couple of oils but found one to be too strong for me. They offered to refund me or send me a new one. I am really pleased with the fastness it took. The super fast delivery is an amazing plus! Keep up the great work !!”
– Imane J. Errayes
“I’ve bought many essential oils, and I think these are the best ones. And yes I’ve used DoTERRA, and they’re [that] good.
”
– Julie K.
“Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you very much; I love these oils and EFT scripts. I can’t wait to start practicing and using them!”
– Gratefully, Christina S.
“This brand is super great!!! I use the essential oils daily!!!!!!!!”
– Amber Dolman
Review of PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 with 512 MB GDDR5 GECID.com. Page 1
::>Video cards
>2010
> PowerColor AX5770 512MD5-H
03-18-2010
Page 1
Page 2
One page
Today, video cards based on the latest generation of AMD 5800 series chips are an uncompromising choice for users who prefer to have at their disposal a modern product with support for all the latest technologies and at the same time a powerful graphics solution capable of providing the proper level of performance in all modern games. However, the positioning of ATI Radeon HD 5870/50 video cards imposes certain restrictions that transfer them to the upper price segment and only wealthy users can afford video cards of this level.
AMD’s strategy to release new generations of graphics accelerators, taken as a basis since the days of ATI Radeon HD 3870/50 video cards, is reflected in this case as well. After the maximum productive instances of the series, represented by the ATI Radeon HD 5870/50, enter the market, it is the turn of the mass segment, which includes video cards, as a rule, somewhat “cut down” in terms of technology compared to older solutions. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 is a two times lighter version of the single-chip flagship AMD Radeon HD 5870 with 800 shader processors, 16 ROPs, 40 textures and a 128-bit memory bus, which theoretically implies a fairly high level of performance comparable to the flagships of the previous line of video cards from the company AMD. The RV840 architecture, on which the ATI Radeon HD 5770 is based, has already been discussed in detail in previous articles and we will not focus on technical aspects, but will go directly to the video card in question.
The object of our review, the PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 512MB (AX5770 512MD5-H) accelerator, differs from the «reference» video cards based on ATI Radeon HD 5770 by a reduced amount of video memory and, accordingly, a lower cost, which will attract economical users to the product.
The purpose of this material is to study the performance drop due to halving the amount of video memory and to analyze the feasibility of such a move by PowerColor, in particular, a comparison of the ratio of performance reduction and price difference.
Below is a table of comparative characteristics of the ATI Radeon HD 5770 video card and solutions close to it in terms of architecture and performance.
|
Radeon HD 4870 |
Radeon HD 4890 |
Radeon HD 5750 |
Radeon HD 5 770 |
Radeon HD 5850 |
Radeon HD 5870 |
|
|
Codename |
RV770 |
RV790 |
RV840 |
RV840 |
RV870 |
RV870 |
|
Juniper |
Juniper |
Cypress |
Cypress |
|||
|
Chip area, sq. |
256 |
282 |
170 |
170 |
334 |
334 |
|
Technical process, nm |
55 |
55 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
|
Number of transistors, bln. |
0.956 |
0.959 |
1.04 |
1.04 |
2.15 |
2.15 |
|
Core frequency, MHz |
750 |
850 |
700 |
850 |
725 |
850 |
|
Memory frequency (effective QDR), MHz |
900 |
975 |
1150 |
1200 |
1000 |
1200 |
|
3600 |
3900 |
4600 |
4800 |
4000 |
4800 |
|
|
Texture blocks, pcs. |
40 |
40 |
36 |
40 |
72 |
80 |
|
Shader processors, pcs. |
800 |
800 |
720 |
800 |
1440 |
1600 |
|
ROPs, pcs. |
16 |
16 |
16 |
16 |
32 |
32 |
|
Video memory bus width, bit |
256 |
256 |
128 |
128 |
256 |
256 |
|
Memory size, MB |
512/1024 |
1024 |
512/1024 |
1024 /512 |
1024 |
1024 |
|
Supported APIs |
DirectX 10. |
DirectX 10.1 |
DirectX 11 |
DirectX 11 |
DirectX 11 |
DirectX 11 |
|
OpenGL 3.0 |
OpenGL 3.0 |
OpenGL 3.1 |
OpenGL 3.1 |
OpenGL 3.1 |
OpenGL 3.1 |
|
|
Eyefinity support |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
TDP, W |
150 |
160 |
86 |
108 |
151 |
188 |
mm. 
1 However, these characteristics are given only for general comparison, and the main task for us is to analyze the effect of the amount of video memory on the performance of ATI Radeon HD 5770.
Therefore, let’s proceed to the consideration of the PowerColor Radeon 5770 512MB directly.
Specification:
|
Model |
PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 512MB (AX5770 512MD5-H) |
|
Graphics core |
(AMD) ATI Radeon HD 5770 (RV840) |
|
Conveyors |
800 unified flow |
|
Supported APIs |
DirectX 11 (Shader Model 5.0) |
|
Core frequency, MHz |
850 |
|
Size (type) of memory, MB |
512 (GDDR5) |
|
Memory frequency (effective), MHz |
1200 (4800) |
|
Memory bus, bit |
128 |
|
Tire standard |
PCI Express X16 2. |
|
Maximum resolution |
Up to 2560×1600 Dual-link DVI or 1920×1200 Single-link DVI |
|
Outputs |
1x DVI-I |
|
HDCP support |
Yes |
|
Drivers |
Fresh drivers can be downloaded from: |
|
Manufacturer website |
http://www.powercolor.com/ru |
1 All prices for PowerColor AX5770 512MD5-H
Based on the specifications, we can conclude that this sample differs from the «reference» board by the presence of a VGA connector and the lack of a Display Port, as well as a second DVI output.
The video card comes in a medium-sized cardboard box in dark red. The front side depicts a medieval warrior in armor against the background of a lightning strike, displays the name of the video accelerator, the amount and type of memory used, as well as the PowerColor and ATI logos.
The back of the box shows more detailed specifications of the video card: it highlights support for ATI Stream hardware and software technologies, the ability to connect up to six displays thanks to ATI Eyefinity support, DirectX 11 compatibility, and support for the simultaneous use of two or more video cards in ATI CrossFireX mode.
Inside the box, in addition to the video card itself, you can find a rather meager package that includes only a driver disk and quick installation instructions.
In appearance PowerColor Radeon 5770 512MB differs from the reference sample in the presence of a modified cooling system, soldered VGA-connector instead of DVI on the rear panel and no Display Port.
The dimensions of the graphics accelerator are practically the same as the reference card, which will allow owners of average cases not to think about upgrading, but the location of the 6-pin power connector in the front can cause certain difficulties when using a small case.
The presence of two connectors for connecting CrossfireX bridges in the upper left part allows you to connect up to four such video adapters in one system.
The interface panel occupies one slot and has three video outputs: HDMI, DVI and VGA. The latter will be useful when connecting analog monitors, although we do not see any actual value in it due to the decrease in the prevalence of such devices. But the presence of a second DVI output would please the owners of multi-monitor configurations.
On the front of the PCB are: GPU, four video memory chips and other components. The graphics chip is powered by a three-phase scheme, controlled by the already familiar uP6201BQ PWM controller manufactured by uPI Semiconductor Corp.
Lack of heatsinks on video memory chips can cause them to heat up, which can then adversely affect their overclocking potential.
The frequency of the GPU and video memory on the PowerColor Radeon HD 5770 512MB (AX5770 512MD5-H) does not differ from those on the «reference» card and is 850 MHz and 1200 (4800) MHz, respectively.
The total amount of video memory is 512 MB and is based on four chips of the GDDR5 standard manufactured by Samsung (K4G10325FE-HC04) with an access time of 0.4 ns and the ability to operate at a frequency of up to 5000 MHz.
In idle, the GPU frequency is reduced to 157 MHz, and the video memory frequency to 500 MHz, which significantly reduces the power consumption and noise of the video card when idle, while maintaining optimal temperature performance.
Let’s move on to the consideration of the cooling system. The dual-slot design consists of a massive copper-based aluminum heatsink, which is blown by a 92mm 11-blade fan enclosed in a plastic shroud.