Ati radeon hd 5870 - Ati News!

Game Tests

Call of Duty 5

Benchmark done using Fraps, with anti-aliasing 4x and all settings at maximum from the game’s control panel.

Values are expressed in FPS

Sapphire HD 5770 - Vapor X

- 1920 x 1200 - 85
- 1680 x 1050 - 99
- 1280 x 1024 - 121

ATI Radeon HD 5770

- 1920 x 1200 - 82
- 1680 x 1050 - 98
- 1280 x 1024 - 120

Game Tests

Crysis Warhead

The Hocbench benchmarking tool was used for Crysis Warhead. The tests were done using the Airfield map, with Anisotropic Filter enabled at 16x from the benchmark and no anti-aliasing, and high quality.

Values are expressed in FPS

Sapphire HD 5770 - Vapor X

- 1920 x 1200 - 14
- 1680 x 1050 - 17
- 1280 x 1024 - 21

ATI Radeon HD 5770

- 1920 x 1200 - 14
- 1680 x 1050 - 17
- 1280 x 1024 - 21

Test Configuration

Considering the performance levels for the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and its standard price, the resolutions used in the tests were 1280 x 1024, 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 pixels. The platform was based on an Intel Core i7 965 Extreme, with core frequencies at 3.2 Ghz and Turbo Mode technology enabled, reaching a frequency of 3.33 Ghz in full load. The OS chosen was the Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

The card was tested using these games: Crysis Warhead, Devil May Cry 4, Far Cry 2 and Call of Duty 5.

The connection area is very rich and presents an HDMI and DisplayPort connections, besides the usual DVI-D. The DisplayPort connection is essential for the Eyefinity technology; without it, the technology cannot be used. Some entry-level video cards, such as the HD 5450 or HD 5570, despite supporting the Eyefinity technology, don’t come with a DisplayPort connection by default.

Sapphire’s solution presents 1024MB of GDDR5 memory: the modules are the Hynix H5GQ1H24AFR T2C, certified to work at a frequency of 1250 Mhz and 1.5V tension. Sapphire offers the HD 5770 Vapor-X with the memories set at 1200 Mhz, which could mean good attempts in overclocking.

The Card

The card features the typical Vapor-X heatsink. Differently from the reference version, the PCB isn’t entirely covered by a surface directly in contact with GPU and memories, there’s plenty of empty space in this solution. The dual-slot design remains, however, and it’s essential in order to help keep the temperatures during more stressing working sessions.

Looking at the card from the sides, it’s easy to notice how the heatsink base is directly in contact only with the GPU, and not with the memories: differently from the reference model, the heatsink is smaller on the Vapor-X series. The possibility of using the vapor chamber technology from Sapphire in all Vapor-X cards allows for a more efficient cooling system.

The Radeon HD 5770 is the model that places itself at the medium-level range from all the cards on the HD 5000 family: the technical specifications, together with the price make it one of the most interesting solutions when it comes to price/performance. The HD 5850 and HD 5870 models feature, for example, twice as many stream processors, but also a much less convenient price.

The benefits that come with a more efficient cooling system than the standard one makes it possible for Sapphire to have a bigger marging when altering frequencies, but in this review, we’ll be analysing not only how the card behave with its original frequencies (higher than standard), but also the overclocking possibilities.

Introduction

The Vapor-X series from Sapphire has become perhaps one of the most famous examples of the type of cards that go beyond the reference models. Developed with a specific cooling system that is able to keep superior performances, the Vapor-X cards are made for the enthusiast users that want to get the most from a graphic card. Having a particularly efficient cooling system allows the manufacturer to raise the frequencies on the card, eliminating possible overheating issues.

The Vapor-X series goes exactly that way, becoming a choice for passionate and enthusiast users. The card on this review belongs to the Vapor-X series, but it isn’t much different from a normal Radeon HD 5770; Sapphire has in fact concentrated its efforts into developing an efficient cooling system instead of offering a card with extremely high frequencies: 10 MHz more for the GPU and 40 Mhz for the memories, and that isn’t exactly ground-breaking when it comes to performances.

Conclusions - Final

The Radeon HD 5570 presents itself as a proposal for the market range under €100, similarly to the Radeon HD 5450, this proposal offers an economic card with a low profile layout and active cooling system. It seems to us almost like the Radeon HD 5570 is aimed to the game beginners, as the 400 stream processors are capable of managing 3D scenes with an average performance.

The official price for this new proposal is $79, which could translate into €65-70, depending on the retail stores. The main problem comes when users find three cards within the same price range, and ATI’s extreme segmentation on their new lines is the main reason for it: it’s interesting to give users a wider margin of choice, but it can create some confusion.

Conclusions - Part 1

The new ATI card is the last piece that was needed to complete the Radeon HD 5000 family; the DirectX 11 GPU line is now complete and covering all market segments, from the enthusiast to the entry-level.

At this point, nVIDIA hasn’t yet announced the launch date for their Fermi cards: so ATI can now enjoy a certain advantage when it comes to the technology, but not only. With the HD 5000 family, ATI wanted to keep the strategy that made the previous series, the HD 4800, a true victory: great performances for a rather competitive price.

Conclusion - Part 2

Also, Sapphire guarantees a very rich bundle that comes together with the fame of this brand that has been supplying good quality cards for a long time. Coming with the cards, users will find three games: Half-Life 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2, a copy of 3DMark06 and the Power DVD software.

ATI also offers, with the 2600 series, native support to the HDMI in all their models, while nVidia leaves it up to each manufacturer the choice on whether to offer it or not.

The 2600 series is thus indicated to those that want to save a little more money and yet have a card with superior video quality than the nVidia counterpart, although the performances are slightly inferior.