HD4770 review

[bgeh]

http://en.expreview.com/2009/0...d-4770-99-monster.html

Interesting tidbits:
It beats the 640SP HD4830 by about 9% on average (though the conclusion at the bottom says otherwise), performs very close to the 800SP HD4830, trails both the HD4850 and GTS250 by 5-7%

But the most interesting comparison IMO is its competitor in the 99$ bracket, the 9800GT/9800GT OC, where it handily beats/trashes the 9800GT non-OC, and edges out the 9800GT OC on average by about 5%, which I must say is impressive.

Can't wait for the prices to go below RRP

 

[AstroManLuca]

There's been a lot of discussion of this card lately and honestly I don't quite get the hype. Sure, it requires less power than the 4830, but it still needs a PCIe power connector. Its performance/price ratio is basically right in line with the 4830 and 4850... it costs more than the 4830 and performs better, and less than the 4850 and doesn't perform as well. We'll have to see what the actual selling price of the card is and what rebates are available, but you can already get a 4850, which performs better, for $99 AR.

Personally I would have liked to see a 4790 to replace the 4850 and 512MB 4870 in the $120-$150 price range.

 

[shangshang]

Yeah I don't get all the hype either. It's just another card to me.

 

[bgeh]

Agreed, but coming from another country, we don't tend to get rebates and prices tend to stick to the recommended retail price (e.g. the 4850 is going for $130-144, the GTS250 512mb goes for $144 - all non-OC editions)

So this is a pretty exciting development for me personally anyway

 

[solofly]

I'll be getting two of these for my HTPC...

 

[error8]

So now ATi plays with 40 nm to prepare the ground for 5870. They really started to move things faster this time. I guess all the profits brought by 48XX series pays off now.

 

[HurleyBird]

Quite a nice OC from that anemic looking cooler. Would be interesting to see max OC 4770 vs. max OC GTS 250. Probably pretty close.

 

[Stoneburner]

So the dual slot exhaust type cooler is NOT going to be the default? HOpefully one of the AIB partners will have one.

 

[hans007]

i would assume that the power connector is probably just barely needed though. they probably put it on there for just marginal power supplies or motherboards with crappy power circuitry.

some ATI x800XLs had power connectors, even though most did not. made no real difference.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: hans007
i would assume that the power connector is probably just barely needed though. they probably put it on there for just marginal power supplies or motherboards with crappy power circuitry.

some ATI x800XLs had power connectors, even though most did not. made no real difference.

Rumor is that this card will use 80 watts. 75 watts are delivered through the slot, so it would most likely run without the power connector, but this way there is no problems for sure.

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

There's been a lot of discussion of this card lately and honestly I don't quite get the hype.

It's faster than the 4830 at the same price-point ($99), and it also has a 128 bit memory bus along with using 40nm. This should make it cheaper for ATi to manufacture than the 4830, so profits should be better off each sale.

 

[BladeVenom]

This is a great card for those of us who have lots of computers and/or have friends with outdated graphic cards. $99 is the MSRP, but prices will start dropping after a few weeks. Isn't the MSRP on the 4830, $130? This is good for gaming in general since it represents such a good bang for that buck, the last couple of generations under $100 budget cards have been rather lame like the 8600, 3650, and 2600. This is also good for AMD since it will be significantly cheaper to make than the 4830s. Under a $100 cards are what sells the most. I think some people here seem to forget that.

 

[MrK6]

With such a low power part but still having the power connector, this thing is going to be a budget overclocking monster. They already got 900MHz without a volt mod, these things will sell like crazy. Nice work AMD/ATI.

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
This is a great card for those of us who have lots of computers and/or have friends with outdated graphic cards. $99 is the MSRP, but it will prices will start dropping after a few weeks. Isn't the MSRP on the 4830, $130? This is good for gaming in general since it represents such a good bang for that buck, the last couple of generations under $100 budget cards have been rather lame like the 8600, 3650, and 2600. This is also good for AMD since it will be significantly cheaper to make than the 4830s. Under a $100 cards are what sells the most. I think some people here seem to forget that.

If AMD can sell 4830s for $80.....then I am sure this card could easily drop below that price with time.

When Nvidia brings out their 40nm GT214s (or whatever) I think that is when the pricing will get even more competitive.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

It is just another card; but it is a solid, quality card.

I hope this sells well.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

For those that don't understand the hype surrounding this card, this is one of the best cards ever to debut at $99 MSRP (straight up, no rebate BS, etc) and seems to be part of an ever increasing trend from ATI to produce decent budget cards from the ground up as opposed to a trickle down of previous higher end cards depreciating into that price point.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: shangshang
Yeah I don't get all the hype either. It's just another card to me.

SFF PCs man.

Myself & a number of my friends have LAN mini-PCs we take around for gaming nights.

Big hot power hungry cards are not ideal, as often the PSU for these small cases is proprietary, & of limited wattage/amperage, making putting normal high end cards to use impossible...

Just one reason.

 

[waffleironhead]

This seems like a card aimed at the bigbox makers. They usually include anemic psu's so a nice low power usage gpu that they can offer as an upgrade option would be a high seller.

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
This seems like a card aimed at the bigbox makers. They usually include anemic psu's so a nice low power usage gpu that they can offer as an upgrade option would be a high seller.

That's a good point.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
This seems like a card aimed at the bigbox makers. They usually include anemic psu's so a nice low power usage gpu that they can offer as an upgrade option would be a high seller.

I think it's also aimed at protecting ATI's margins.
The HD4830 is already around this price, and the new card should (from the looks of it, and the theory) be much cheaper to make.
It's about pressing marketshare while protecting their own margins and offering a nice deal.
They should be able to get widespread use (in theory), while also making money from the cards they sell.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
This seems like a card aimed at the bigbox makers. They usually include anemic psu's so a nice low power usage gpu that they can offer as an upgrade option would be a high seller.

I think it's also aimed at protecting ATI's margins.
The HD4830 is already around this price, and the new card should (from the looks of it, and the theory) be much cheaper to make.
It's about pressing marketshare while protecting their own margins and offering a nice deal.
They should be able to get widespread use (in theory), while also making money from the cards they sell.

Its also about supply numbers. The 4830 has nearly identical specs (slightly higher memory bandwidth, lower core clock) but has no chance of reaching as many consumers because its essentially a stopgap solution seeing as how its essentially a crippled 4850. There are plenty of users who simply do not have access to (or are not even aware of) the 4830 whereas the 4700s should be much wider spread.

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
This seems like a card aimed at the bigbox makers. They usually include anemic psu's so a nice low power usage gpu that they can offer as an upgrade option would be a high seller.

How about Crossfire 4770 for a big box maker?

If two HD4770s have a total of 160 watts TDP that is basically the same as one 4870 512 MB.

But with two HD4770s we have 1280 stream processors running @ 750 MHz rather than 800 stream processors running @ 750 Mhz.

But here is my question how would the memory bandwidth workout in that situation? Do both GPUs share the same 128 but bus like they do with "mirroring" the physical memory?

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Just learning


But here is my question how would the memory bandwidth workout in that situation? Do both GPUs share the same 128 but bus like they do with "mirroring" the physical memory?

You'll be left with 512 mb of ddr5 on 128 bits and nothing more, less that what 4870 has to offer and that is so very low for higher resolutions.

 

[Sylvanas]

This is an awesome card for this price. Finally we have something in the midrange that is decent and not just another 8600 / X1600- cut down and uninteresting version of a bigger brother. I can see putting one of these in my aging Athlon XP machine.

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: Just learning


But here is my question how would the memory bandwidth workout in that situation? Do both GPUs share the same 128 but bus like they do with "mirroring" the physical memory?

You'll be left with 512 mb of ddr5 on 128 bits and nothing more, less that what 4870 has to offer and that is so very low for higher resolutions.

So both 4770 GPUs could be bottlenecked by sharing a single 128 bit bus?

What does this mean as far as "strategy" goes? Would turning up AA/AF be away of getting around this? (ie, more processing power is used up before transferring thru the bus?)