AMD’s “three-seven” game video adapter is well-known to all fans of resource-intensive dynamic games. By launching the Radeon 7770 graphics card on the market, the manufacturer took a huge step towards the potential consumer - he endowed the High-End class device with an affordable price (8,000 rubles) and placed the accelerator in a budget niche, slightly limiting its performance. The focus of the article is an overview of the characteristics of the video card, the study of products from different manufacturers and owner reviews.
Two Acrobat Brothers
The AMD Radeon HD 7770 Series graphics card went on sale along with its cheaper version of the HD 7750. The manufacturer thus wished to occupy two different price classes using one graphics core. However, a significant difference in the performance of the two video adapters and a slight difference in price led to the fact that the cheap modification is practically devoid of market demand.
Yes, and the Radeon HD 7770 could go unnoticed if it weren’t for the manufacturers of video cards, who saw the device as a huge overclocking potential, significantly increasing the performance of the video adapter, bringing it to the High-End level. Low power consumption and a decent cooling system, as always, break records in the field of the gaming market, regardless of the graphics core and manufacturer.
Specifications
High performance in games provides the graphics card Radeon HD 7770 graphics core specifications. The Cape Verde chip is manufactured according to the 28 nanometer process technology and places one and a half billion transistors on a 123 mm 2 plate. The new graphics processor is capable of operating at a frequency of 1 GHz, and it still has the potential for overclocking. The data bus is responsible for the GDDR5 memory bus, which works with a bandwidth of 128 bits and has 1 gigabyte of RAM on board operating at a frequency of 4500 MHz. Stream processors 640, texture units - 40.
One of the main features of this video card is its low power consumption - 80 watts at peak loads, which is at least two times less than similar competitors from the manufacturer Nvidia. Also, a controller is installed on the Cape Verde chip, which resets frequencies to a minimum when the video card is idle. In such cases, the power consumption will be approximately 3 watts.
Acquaintance with the original
Externally, the AMD Radeon HD 7770 graphics card resembles a top-end device. The modification claims two slots in the system unit, and the protective casing of the cooling system has a directional system for blowing the printed circuit board. In general, it seems that the video card and cooler cover are a single design. However, as users note in their reviews, the cooling is caused by a fan, which is located in the middle of the board in a closed casing and does not have a turbine - it just blows on the radiator. A huge ventilation grill, which occupies the entire section of one mounting plate, contributes to the removal of heated air.
Owners of old monitors who found only digital video outputs (for mini DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI) have questions to the manufacturer on the video card. A rather strange decision by the manufacturer clearly reduced interest in the video card in the Russian computer market.
Potential for factory overclocking
Before you begin to study the devices presented by other manufacturers on the video card market, you need to understand the technical capabilities of the reference video card Radeon HD 7770. The characteristics of increasing the speed of the graphics core here come first. So, in the process of testing the video card, we managed to overclock the GPU to 1170 MHz, and the memory to 6120 MHz. To do this, however, I had to increase the voltage from 1.1 V to 1.2 V. In this mode, the video card shows high stability without the appearance of artifacts and problems with the drivers.
Questions from the user may arise to a standard cooling system that does not cope with the task. During testing, the fan operation noise completely blocked the operation of all coolers in the system unit, but the temperature of the graphics core did not drop below 70 degrees Celsius. Based on the data obtained, it can be concluded that the choice of the necessary video card from the options offered on the market should focus not only on overclocking potential, but also on a decent cooling system.
Monopolist offer
The Radeon HD 7770 graphics card, presented on the market under the Sapphire logo, has serious prerequisites for becoming a sales leader by the price-quality criterion. The fact is that it is positioned in the segment of budget devices accessible to many buyers, but the factory overclocking in performance puts the video card on a level with High-End devices. The graphics core runs at a frequency of 1150 MHz by default, and the memory is overclocked to 5000 MHz.
As practice shows, such a potential of the video card is hidden behind a full-fledged cooling system, which was installed in the Sapphire laboratory. It is thanks to the huge aluminum radiator that covers the entire printed circuit board, and the copper heat-conducting pipes that distribute heat correctly that the video adapter does not overheat. Air circulation is provided by one huge fan, which is installed on top, on a protective casing.
Overclockers
And if Sapphire fans will find the performance of the standard modification of the video card a little, then you can buy a device more powerful: Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X GHz Edition OC. The modest price for this video adapter is only (8000 rubles), and the appearance and characteristics will surprise even the most demanding buyer. Firstly, a professional cooling system is installed. The same is placed on the High-End devices: aluminum, copper, an evaporation chamber, two powerful fans, a protective casing with directional airflow.
The declared frequency of the graphics core is 1100 MHz, but during overclocking the value easily increases to 1190 MHz. But there are some problems with memory - in the factory version it works at a frequency of 5200 MHz, but it is unrealistic to overclock it above 5980 MHz, the entire system freezes immediately and the computer reboots. However, such overclocking is enough to get very close to the top-end HD 6850 graphics card in gaming tests .
"Ice" offer
HIS, a world-famous company that produces video cards based only on AMD chipsets, also pleased fans with the new Radeon 7770. The characteristics of the device in the basic configuration were not improved at the manufacturer's factory, although the cooling system underwent significant changes, clearly hinting to the owner about the huge potential for overclocking. This is also evidenced by the installation of a five-phase power circuit with the replacement of the PWM controller. During testing, increasing the frequency of the graphics core shows stable operation at 1210 MHz, and the memory copes with the tasks at 5780 MHz.
The appearance of the cooling system, although it draws attention to itself, however, upon a detailed examination there is a significant drawback - the radiator is completely adjacent only to the graphic core. The remaining components, including memory chips, are simply blown by the air stream. The ice cooling of the HIS 7770 IceQ X video card, as advertised, is just a marketing ploy.
Consumer goods
ASUS Radeon 7770 graphics card can be considered the best purchase on the market of productive devices. It's all about factory overclocking, which is covered by the seller’s warranty . The graphics core in normal mode operates at a frequency of 1170 MHz, and memory - at 4600 MHz. Great results. A further increase in performance is meaningless, although the installed cooling system of the prerequisite for this has: a copper core, an aluminum radiator, a protective plastic casing with one fan.
It is worth noting that in the Russian market there is another instance of the HD 7770 video adapter, which has 2 GB of RAM on board. The manufacturer did not overclock the graphics core and memory bus, leaving this fate to the future owner. The cooling system is responsible for cooling the video card similar to the previous device, although it is already equipped with two powerful fans. As a result, overclocking the graphics core is quite real up to the frequency of 1200 MHz, and the memory works stably at 5000 MHz.
Taiwan market leader
Gigabyte company introduced video cards based on Radeon 7770 with one and two gigabytes of memory at the same price in the Taiwan market. The manufacturer for both devices increased the frequency of the graphics core, setting at around 1100 MHz, and also raised the frequency of the memory to 5000 MHz. As it turned out, further overclocking is pointless; the whole problem lies in the proprietary cooling system.
A regular aluminum radiator the size of a graphic core clearly does not cope with a decent blowing of the printed circuit board. Many users, judging by their reviews, had the impression that the cooler was borrowed from the Low-End device, at least the efficiency is the same. An unexpected turn of events in the gaming market was made in the Gigabyte laboratory.
Silent from MSI
The Radeon 7770 graphics card, presented by the renowned MSI manufacturer in the Russian market, looks like a top-class device. Two huge fans on the radiator cover will definitely delight all potential buyers. However, it is not worth rushing, because the company decided to go the other way: instead of a race for productivity, it threw all the technologies to conquer the quiet operation. And she succeeded 100%, because in tests with similar devices the hum of fans even in peak loads does not exceed 26 dB (quieter than the noise from a standard processor cooler).
The manufacturer did not overclock and provided a factory-made product to AMD. However, this does not mean that you can forget about increasing productivity. The graphics core of the video adapter is able to work stably at a frequency of 1100 MHz, and the memory at 5200 MHz, which looks very acceptable when compared with competitors. The owners note that there is potential for overclocking, but the whole problem is in the cooler’s rev limiter, if you remove it, then you can safely improve performance up to 1200 MHz in the core.
Strange player
PowerColor company presented to the market its vision of the AMD Radeon 7770 chipset. One potential appearance will be enough for any potential buyer to understand the idea of the manufacturer. A strange imitation of a turbofan, which is installed on the top devices of competitors of Nvidia, does not make any special impressions. And if you look under the cover, you can be completely disappointed in the brand - one section of an aluminum radiator the size of a graphic core clearly does not arouse customer confidence.
And if, thanks to the cooling system, overclocking is out of the question, then there are questions about the price of the device. The cost of a video card in the market is 9,000 rubles. Is a brand name so expensive? This is the only video adapter from the market for similar devices based on the Radeon 7770, which is not recommended for purchase by all users. The manufacturer did nothing to equal the market with competitors.
To summarize
As expected, the favorite of all users in the market of video game adapters - the company Sapphire - once again presented its fans with a surprise in the form of a productive video card in the low-cost segment - Radeon 7770. Proprietary cooling technologies and the refinement of the power management system contributed to achieving maximum performance in games. A good potential for overclocking HIS and ASUS is that you feel the right approach to the consumer in the form of serious improvements related to the heating of power elements on the video card's printed circuit board. The rest of the brands, judging by the reviews of the owners, are not impressive with their characteristics. The strange attitude of manufacturers towards the chip is such a potential, but there is nothing to choose from.