The only problem is I paid $175 for my HD4890 a long time ago (well over a year ago), and it is still faster than this card. Nothing exciting has happened in the mid-range for a long time.
There's no way having a fan closer or further will affect the airflow in a closed environnement (in occurrence the somewhat small duct).
The only thing that can be affected, is the noise, when you use a bigger fan, you can reduce the speed of it, so the noise drop, and you keep the same airflow.
Another myth people beleive in, is making the fan turn faster, will cool down the heatsink better. This is actually logical up to a point. The point where the heatsink itself can't transfert any faster the heat. Aluminium and copper have a limit to what amount of thermal it can transfert, eg: speeding up a 120mm fan more than 1200rpm, will not cool more your CPU. You'll need a better heatsink design that can dissipate more heat at the same time.
Actually, separating the fan from the heatsink surface CAN improve performance by limiting the dead spot underneath the fan hub (fan shrouds on radiators, anyone?).
Best thing a person can do to reduce heat and noise (aside from an aftermarket cooler) is to replace the cheapo stock goop on your GPU with MX-2 (or other quality paste). Simple, quick, do it right: great results.
That's what AT should do! Take all of the mid-high range cards from both camps, replace the TIM, then test. *drool*
Just put a stern warning on the article that it shouldn't be attempted if you're a real dummy who will end up bricking the card.
So the cooler manages to be almost as good as the stock cooler while being louder and potentially taking up more space. The card itself is about as overclockable as any other 5770 card and comes with a 6% factory overclock, while costing 10% more than other 5770 cards. No thanks.
Just to be clear, the cooler takes up no additional space unless you extend the fan. When it's lowered it's no wider than any other double-slot card, and since it's shorter overall it's smaller than the reference 5770.
I am not interested in 3-slot GPUs. What I'd actually like to see is a review of the single-slot 5770 by XFX. Mostly, what happens to noise and temperatures on that card. But then, I have a rather odd BTX motherboard/system that won't let me use more than a single-slot GPU. :-)
Hi everybody. I signed up to anandtech forums couple of weeks ago and activatrd my account. I can log into my account but when I try to post, it says that I dont have enough previleges or permisions to post. Whats going on? Sorry for being off topic, but this is the only way I can get help.
I was wondering if it'd be too much trouble, or impossible, to add more graphics cards to the GPU Bench... namely the mainstream cards? At least from this generation (5430->5475, 5570, and the nVidia equivalents, that jazz).
Would be nice to have a couple from the old generation too (4650/4670, 4770, etc). Those cards are still widely available here in Brazil (and I suspect in the US too), so having a direct comparison tool like Bench, to see how much could be gained from an upgrade, or new build, would be really nice. =)
The articles are quality, but GPU review is not like CPU review, there are so many cards out there. Mobos and GPUs just require fulltime staff and lots of capital to test.
Data for lower-end cards will be coming next month. We have to build a new benchmark suite for those cards, and it takes (a lot of) time to gather that data.
PCB of the card is definitely not reference-design, and looks "cheaped down". Only one crossfire connector. Also, note that the reference design 5770 had three-phase power. A number of aftermarket cards cut down to two phases to save $$$.
Since there are few, if any 5770 reference-design cards left on the market (might be a few from Diamond, but most manufacturers have switched), I normally look at ASUS, one of the few vendors that actually designed their reference cards to be equal or better, rather than to save costs. Other vendors like XFX, Sapphire, and (apparently) PowerColor seem to be going the other way.
After checking, it seems even ASUS may have cut down their 5770 card. The only two left I'd be interested in are MSI's HAWK 5770, and Diamond's 5770PE51G, which (if you can find one) should be a reference design.
The downside to Diamond is that customer support is a real crap-shoot. I guess that would leave me looking for a used reference-design 5770 on Ebay; they're still the best version of the card.
Come to think of it if the coolers we have now had something like heat pipes in them instead of fins we could still be getting away with single slot coolers. A gang of oil filled tubes with radial fins extending from the gpu to the ends of the card and one or two going over the ram bank (maybe in a loop) with a 12 bladed 92x5mm fan (or maybe 2 if you wanted to cover the entire card) could offer enough cooling in a cost effective design for the card makers to offer them stock instead of everyone having to buy aftermarket coolers. Granted an aftermarket cooler isnt hard to put on but it does void your warranty which sucks if the card dies.
XFX (and possibly some others) know that a user might want to water cool their card, so the warranty isn't void for removing the cooler, as long as you don't screw the card up in the process. In my case, I removed the cooler from my reference 5870-XXX Edition almost immediately, to replace the TIM. I found the factory had really glopped it on, so I re-applied it more conservatively, which improved GPU temperatures slightly.
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26 Comments
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Stuka87 - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
This article totally reminds me of mythbusters. Will the fan work better while extended? As it turns out, myth busted!Great article as always guys.
MrBrownSound - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
This card looks like the perfect mid range ati card.kmmatney - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
The only problem is I paid $175 for my HD4890 a long time ago (well over a year ago), and it is still faster than this card. Nothing exciting has happened in the mid-range for a long time.i3arracuda - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
That thing got a HEMI? :-Bchrnochime - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
The car that they based the diagram on looks to be the Camaro. Obviously Camaro does NOT use the Hemi.Saidas - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Looks more like a Mustang to me, but wouldn't have a HEMI either.pcfxer - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
You're an idiot. It is clearly a Camaro.Mari0Br0s - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
There's no way having a fan closer or further will affect the airflow in a closed environnement (in occurrence the somewhat small duct).The only thing that can be affected, is the noise, when you use a bigger fan, you can reduce the speed of it, so the noise drop, and you keep the same airflow.
Another myth people beleive in, is making the fan turn faster, will cool down the heatsink better. This is actually logical up to a point. The point where the heatsink itself can't transfert any faster the heat. Aluminium and copper have a limit to what amount of thermal it can transfert, eg: speeding up a 120mm fan more than 1200rpm, will not cool more your CPU. You'll need a better heatsink design that can dissipate more heat at the same time.
Goty - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Actually, separating the fan from the heatsink surface CAN improve performance by limiting the dead spot underneath the fan hub (fan shrouds on radiators, anyone?).Patrick Wolf - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Best thing a person can do to reduce heat and noise (aside from an aftermarket cooler) is to replace the cheapo stock goop on your GPU with MX-2 (or other quality paste). Simple, quick, do it right: great results.That's what AT should do! Take all of the mid-high range cards from both camps, replace the TIM, then test. *drool*
Just put a stern warning on the article that it shouldn't be attempted if you're a real dummy who will end up bricking the card.
JimmiG - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
So the cooler manages to be almost as good as the stock cooler while being louder and potentially taking up more space. The card itself is about as overclockable as any other 5770 card and comes with a 6% factory overclock, while costing 10% more than other 5770 cards. No thanks.Ryan Smith - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Just to be clear, the cooler takes up no additional space unless you extend the fan. When it's lowered it's no wider than any other double-slot card, and since it's shorter overall it's smaller than the reference 5770.GatoRat - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
This makes me want to buy a NVidia GTX 460! Runs cooler and faster and uses less power! The 768MB version sells for only $30 more.Goty - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Yeah, a whole 2-3 watts less at idle. Whoopee?Taft12 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
... along with 40W more power at load and not $30 more, but $50 more.The GTX460 is a great product but can we please keep the fanboy exaggerations down?
JarredWalton - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
I am not interested in 3-slot GPUs. What I'd actually like to see is a review of the single-slot 5770 by XFX. Mostly, what happens to noise and temperatures on that card. But then, I have a rather odd BTX motherboard/system that won't let me use more than a single-slot GPU. :-)ggathagan - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Jarred,As an SB86i owner, I agree, but until Anand gets you one to test:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canu...
Canuck's biggest beef: XFX gave up the HDMI connection for a 2nd DVI connection.
You gotta' talk to your boss about what's important.... :)
spac18 - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Hi everybody. I signed up to anandtech forums couple of weeks ago and activatrd my account. I can log into my account but when I try to post, it says that I dont have enough previleges or permisions to post. Whats going on? Sorry for being off topic, but this is the only way I can get help.LordanSS - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
I was wondering if it'd be too much trouble, or impossible, to add more graphics cards to the GPU Bench... namely the mainstream cards? At least from this generation (5430->5475, 5570, and the nVidia equivalents, that jazz).Would be nice to have a couple from the old generation too (4650/4670, 4770, etc). Those cards are still widely available here in Brazil (and I suspect in the US too), so having a direct comparison tool like Bench, to see how much could be gained from an upgrade, or new build, would be really nice. =)
Keep up the good work! =)
vol7ron - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
It's true, this site is not the best GPU review site. http://www.gpureview.com/ is okay.The articles are quality, but GPU review is not like CPU review, there are so many cards out there. Mobos and GPUs just require fulltime staff and lots of capital to test.
Ryan Smith - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Data for lower-end cards will be coming next month. We have to build a new benchmark suite for those cards, and it takes (a lot of) time to gather that data.Phynaz - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Charts are way two crowded. You're comparing two 5770's, we don't need results from SLI GTX480's.LoneWolf15 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
PCB of the card is definitely not reference-design, and looks "cheaped down". Only one crossfire connector. Also, note that the reference design 5770 had three-phase power. A number of aftermarket cards cut down to two phases to save $$$.Since there are few, if any 5770 reference-design cards left on the market (might be a few from Diamond, but most manufacturers have switched), I normally look at ASUS, one of the few vendors that actually designed their reference cards to be equal or better, rather than to save costs. Other vendors like XFX, Sapphire, and (apparently) PowerColor seem to be going the other way.
LoneWolf15 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
After checking, it seems even ASUS may have cut down their 5770 card. The only two left I'd be interested in are MSI's HAWK 5770, and Diamond's 5770PE51G, which (if you can find one) should be a reference design.The downside to Diamond is that customer support is a real crap-shoot. I guess that would leave me looking for a used reference-design 5770 on Ebay; they're still the best version of the card.
shin0bi272 - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Come to think of it if the coolers we have now had something like heat pipes in them instead of fins we could still be getting away with single slot coolers. A gang of oil filled tubes with radial fins extending from the gpu to the ends of the card and one or two going over the ram bank (maybe in a loop) with a 12 bladed 92x5mm fan (or maybe 2 if you wanted to cover the entire card) could offer enough cooling in a cost effective design for the card makers to offer them stock instead of everyone having to buy aftermarket coolers. Granted an aftermarket cooler isnt hard to put on but it does void your warranty which sucks if the card dies.LoneWolf15 - Friday, August 27, 2010 - link
It doesn't void the warranty for every company.XFX (and possibly some others) know that a user might want to water cool their card, so the warranty isn't void for removing the cooler, as long as you don't screw the card up in the process. In my case, I removed the cooler from my reference 5870-XXX Edition almost immediately, to replace the TIM. I found the factory had really glopped it on, so I re-applied it more conservatively, which improved GPU temperatures slightly.