Sapphire Technology comes back with one of the first mainstream 40nm GPU cards, the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4770. This model has 512MB of GDDR5 memory, which until now had been on higher end GPU cards. With the introduction of both a lower power consumption card with the newer GDDR5 memory the combination makes it one of the most attractive alternatives to the budget conscious enthusiast. Unlike the HD4670, the HD4770 promises to deliver results for less cost than a HD4850 or HD4870.
Half way down the middle between the HD4670 and the HD4850 is where the HD4770 is said to be positioned in general. However PCWizKid has found that comparing the HD4770 to the older HD4670 is no real comparison in real life benchmarks. The fact is , the HD4770 nearly doubles at times the results in various benchmarks to the HD4670. It is the HD4850 and the more expensive HD4870 that we really want to compare against in this review.
In the chart below we get the general specs from AMD on the HD4770 and in many areas the specs not only pass the HD4670 but the HD4850 aswell. For this reason PCWizKid will be comparing results with the HD4870 instead to
Video Review
When I first saw this card the most obvious eye catcher was Sapphire's large copper heatsink and fan combo. An interesting design on the plastic cover to give it a more aggressive look , yet it is not an enclosed cooler.
Key Features and Benefits
Dual slot Active Cooler with a thermally controlled fan
24x custom filter anti-aliasing (CFAA) and high performance anisotropic filtering
ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance
Use up to four discrete cards with an AMD 790FX based motherboard
PCI Express® 2.0 support
Dynamic geometry acceleration
Game physics processing capability
ATI Avivo™HD video support and Unified Video Decoder 2 for Blu-ray™ and HD Video Built-in HDMI with 7.1 surround sound supportOn-chip HDCP
ATI PowerPlay™ technology
System Requirements
PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products
1GB of system memory
Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
DVD playback requires DVD drive
Blu-ray™ / HD DVD playback requires Blu-ray / HD DVD drive
Conclusion
PC gamers and enthusiasts on a budget will appreciate the Sapphire HD4770. The mid-range gaming graphics card that uses low power and delivers is truly the HD4770 since it has the outstanding performance beating easily the HD4670 and compares closely to the HD4850. The Sapphire Radeon HD4770 is a terrific low cost alternative to the HD4870 for gamers who are looking for a top product at a lower price point. The GPU cooler does a great job at keeping the temperatures at load no higher than 61 Degrees Celsius with a quiet fan. The bundle in the retail package is complete and a great value added bonus to what you are getting though I would have liked to see a recent game included instead of the DVD authoring software. SAPPHIRE Click here for the latest pricing on the Radeon HD 4770 100277L Video Card
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