Introduction

It seemed for the longest time that ATI video cards were red-headed step child of the video card industry, that is until we began to see cards like HD4870, HD4870X, HD3870X2 to name just a few. Perhaps it was the partnership with AMD that made the difference or perhaps it just the result of having the right design team on board to finally make the recipe come out alright.

Shortly after claiming the fastest video card award ATI/AMD did something that had been overlooked previously by any manufacturer and that was introduce high-speed video cards to the mid-market range ($150.00 area) This is when we began to see cards such as the 4570 and 4570X2 come on the market and for once just about everyone could afford a decent video that is everyone except those that had to settle for the sub-$100 dollar video card crowd. Fear not because ATI/AMD had one more card left to play and that is the card we are reviewing today, the HD4770, this card is able to approach the speed of it big brother the 4870, while still cost less than one Franklin.

So come on along as we check out the new HD4770 video card from Sapphire Tech.

The new SAPPHIRE HD 4770 is the first card in its class to use GDDR5 memory and is based on the first ever GPU built in 40nm process technology. It uses the powerful graphics architectures from the ATI division of AMD, incorporating multi-purpose stream processing units and improved memory management architecture.

	GDDR5 memory
	DirectX® 10.1
	24x custom filter anti-aliasing (CFAA) and high performance anisotropic filtering
	Dual mode ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance
	PCI Express® 2.0 support
	Dynamic geometry acceleration
	Game physics processing capability
	ATI Avivo™HD video and display technology
	Dynamic power management with ATI PowerPlay™ technology
	ATI Stream technology

ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 – Overview

A new paradigm of performance and price.

The ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 graphics processing unit (GPU) offers an unbeatable combination of HD gaming performance1 and price. Featuring the industry’s cutting-edge 40nm process technology and the most advanced GDDR5 memory technology, this GPU delivers seamless frame rates with incredible speed and processing power. Proof that high performance gaming and price can co-exist without compromise.

1 HD capable monitor required
2 ATI CrossFireX™ technology requires an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard, an ATI CrossFireX™ Bridge Interconnect and may require a specialized power supply.
3 Blu-ray drive required
4 The ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 GPU can upscale video display to 2560x1600 on dual-link monitors which is almost twice the display resolution of 1080p displays.

The product descriptions, features and performance results are for graphics cards based on AMD´s standard reference design for the ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 with GDDR5 memory. Third party manufacturers may modify these reference designs, which can result in product specifications, features and/or performance results different from those described in this document. Buyers should confirm exact specifications, features and performance of third party graphics cards before purchase.

ATI Radeon™ HD graphics chips have numerous features integrated into the processor itself (e.g., HDCP, HDMI, etc.). Third parties manufacturing products based on, or incorporating ATI Radeon HD graphics chips, may choose to enable some or all of these features. If a particular feature is important to you, please inquire of the manufacturer if a particular product supports this feature. In addition, some features or technologies may require you to purchase additional components in order to make full use of them (e.g. a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive, HDCP-ready monitor, etc.).

ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 - GPU Specifications

1 ATI Avivo™ HD is a technology platform that includes a broad set of capabilities offered by certain ATI Radeon™ HD GPUs. Not all products have all features and full enablement of some ATI Avivo™ HD capabilities may require complementary products.
2 Blu-ray or HD DVD drive and HD monitor required
3 Some custom resolutions require user configuration
4 Playing HDCP content requires additional HDCP ready components, including but not limited to an HDCP ready monitor, Blu-ray or HD DVD disc drive, multimedia application and computer operating system.
5 Subject to digital rights management limitations; maximum supported audio stream bandwidth is 6.144 Mbps
6 ATI PowerPlay™ technology consists of numerous power saving features. Not all features may be available in all ATI Radeon HD 4770 Graphics cards.
7 ATI CrossFireX™ technology requires an ATI CrossFireX™ ready motherboard and may require a specialized power supply.
8 Dual channel interconnect is not required for ATI CrossFireX™ technology enabled products and may not be included in all product configurations
9 Upscaling is subject to available monitor resolution

The product descriptions, features and performance results are for graphics cards based on AMD´s standard reference design for the ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 with GDDR5 memory. Third party manufacturers may modify these reference designs, which can result in product specifications, features and/or performance results different from those described in this document. Buyers should confirm exact specifications, features and performance of third party graphics cards before purchase.

ATI Radeon™ HD graphics chips have numerous features integrated into the processor itself (e.g., HDCP, HDMI, etc.). Third parties manufacturing products based on, or incorporating ATI Radeon HD graphics chips, may choose to enable some or all of these features. If a particular feature is important to you, please inquire of the manufacturer if a particular product supports this feature. In addition, some features or technologies may require you to purchase additional components in order to make full use of them (e.g. a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive, HDCP-ready monitor, etc.).

A Closer Look at the HD4770

The Sapphire HD 4770 like all other 4770's on market is the first video card to make use of the newest 40nm process. Finally the light bulb went on at the ATI/AMD head offices and they decided that the one area they had been overlooking for far to long was the sub-$100 video card area. That is where the RV740 graphics processor used in the HD 4770 comes in, using a similar design to what used in the 4850/4870/4890 video cards just came up with the HD 4770 video card. The other thing that brought about the HD 47670 was a need to compete with Nvidia's 9800 GT card, during our test we can honestly say that the HD 4770 can easily hold its own against the Asus 9800GT we test it against.

Here is a breakdown of the current offerings from the HD line-up, the other thing to note is the fact the 4770 has 16 ROPs in comparison to the HD 4350 to the HD 4670 which only have 8 ROPs.

Packaging and Artwork

Looking at the front of the carton we have the ever popular Ruby standing there in all of her cartoon sexiness and beside her we have the Sapphire logo with the words "Driven by performance and fueled by fantasy'. Along the edge of the carton is a listing of the key points of the card, things such as the use of GDDR5 advanced memory modules, Dual-mode ATI Crossfire Technology, 2-Dual Link DVI Connectors, HDMI with 7.1 Audio, Game Physics technology, and last but not least the 40nm processing which means you are using the current state of the art technology.

Moving to the rear of the carton you are present with some of the same information that you had on the front of the carton. Here you will find out a bit more about the capability of the HD 4770. Such things as the HD4770s support for DirectX 10.1 and PCI 2.0 which will insure throughput up to twice as fast as the earlier version of PCI 1.0 architecture. The reduced size of the GPU along with its ability to hold 1 billion + transistors on 40nm technology insures less heat for the GPU. Also the support for UVD 2 dual-stream decoding which frees up the processor to do other work.

A Closer Look at the HD4770

The Sapphire HD 4770 used a 3/4 length heatsink and the card also requires the use of a s single 6-pin connector to supply additional voltage to the card. The heatsink cools not only the GPU but the memory that is placed directly below the heatsink.

Looking at the rear of the HD 4770 video card you can see that it uses the standard 4-point attachment method which secures the heatsink The HD 4770 has a total of 512MB of GDDR5 memory which should allow us to play most games at medium to high settings.

From this angle you can see the memory modules that are located beneath the heatsink. The heatsink is designed in such a way as to allow it to force cool air down onto the modules. Here you can also see the eight capacitors that are used on the

Here you can see the heatsink that covers the power transistors at the rear of the card, these are used to covert the voltage to correct voltages needed for the video card.

Here is a good look at the futuristic heatsink used on the Sapphire HD 4770 it bears the name Radeon and ATI on the outer ring of the unit and the word Sapphire on the main portion of the fan.

Here you have the two Dual-Link DVI-i ports at the end of the card.

Testing and Results

Conclusion

This is one video card that speaks for itself, the results of our test show that if you are looking for a second video card to install in your backup system and you still want to be able to play games with that system the HD 4770 is the card to install in it. This card handled everything we tossed at it and begged for more and we will look forward to seeing how well the card plays some of the new games coming down the pike.

I did have a chance to try the card while playing Conan Online which has the option of using the DirectX 10 graphics settings and I can safely say going from a EVGA 8800 video card to the HD 4770 card and using the DirectX 10 grahics was indeed an eye opener. If you have a $100 dollars stashed away grab one of these cards and you will be as impressed as I am with it. Till next time good gaming and testing.