ATI HD 4770: 40 nm, RV740 -- SPCR reviewed

[mb2]

Are there any plans for a card with HDMI/VGA/DVI port config.??

I would much prefer it, having a 2xHDMI monitor with no DVI. Plus, it allows for triple displays with just as much (more) flexibility as 2xDVI-I's. I have no use or desire for S-Video in 2009 and beyond!
Also, since this has a max power use which seems to generally be less or equal to the 4670 then a fanless version would be great.
Basically i want a 'Sapphire HD 4770 Ultimate'.

Unless theres some imminent news of a HDMI/VGA/DVI card (&/or a passive one) i'll be likely to push the button on a regular Sapphire HD 4770.. and sell it if a better card comes out.. been waiting for a while to see what this was like. Whilst dissapointing about the idle, at the end of the day its ~1/3rd faster than the 4670 for no more (fair to say less?) max power and a small amount more money. I won't regret getting one of these over a passive 4670, right?.

Any reliable (ish) info from retail cards RE: power, (and how it is with underclocking for idle).??

Finally, are there any significant differentiating out features on any of the boards worth looking for?
was hoping someone else would have had one here by now..

[Mats]

It's actually even faster than you think, 56 % faster than a 4670.
You can always get a better cooler later.

[Ant6n]

...hoping for they toys to arrive tomorrow ... can't wait.

[spc]

The 4770 is still not listed at the AMD/ATI driver page : http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx .

How much of a diff would "proper" drivers make ?

[~El~Jefe~]

It's all the same thing. Better question to ask is which ones are tested by your manufacturer? I use those first.

[spc]

It's all the same thing. Better question to ask is which ones are tested by your manufacturer? I use those first.

At this moment, afaik all manufacturers are using "hacked" drivers. That's the reason I asked.

[Mats]

I think the new 9.5 drivers will show up next week, no need to look for them before they show up.

[thepwner]

I just bought my fanless 4670 and am happy with it, I might have to upgrade to a 4770 when a fanless version hits the market...ugh....the troubles of technology...buy something and 5 minutes later it's obselete.

[silo]

I just bought my fanless 4670 and am happy with it, I might have to upgrade to a 4770 when a fanless version hits the market...ugh....the troubles of technology...buy something and 5 minutes later it's obselete.

then think 5 minutes forward? btw, just bought a 4770 ( lol i know) like dirty cheap, my advice, keep your 4670 it rocks, its small, it has punch, efficient, compatible, etc. (im going to have to rape my s1 and make a mess out of my case because of that extra pci connector)

[K.Murx]

my advice, keep your 4670 it rocks, its small, it has punch, efficient, compatible, etc. (im going to have to rape my s1 and make a mess out of my case because of that extra pci connector)

Then return your 4770, go back to your 4670 and finally STFU?
Sorry, but your constant, baseless ranting does grate on my nerves.

[edit]
Uh oh, sorry, I confused your nickname with another 4-Letter-guy that has been posting unfounded claims about nvidia always being better than ATI, etc. So I thought your gripe about the caps (which I still do not understand) was a continuation of that.

Oops. I apologize.

[silo]

my advice, keep your 4670 it rocks, its small, it has punch, efficient, compatible, etc. (im going to have to rape my s1 and make a mess out of my case because of that extra pci connector)

Then return your 4770, go back to your 4670 and finally STFU?
Sorry, but your constant, baseless ranting does grate on my nerves.

take a pill. hey does anyone here knows if this bad boy fits the 4770? looks ok to me...

http://i43.tinypic.com/amvdra.jpg

if not....

http://i41.tinypic.com/2yyusli.jpg

(yes thats a s1 on top of that poor 4770)

[~El~Jefe~]

my advice, keep your 4670 it rocks, its small, it has punch, efficient, compatible, etc. (im going to have to rape my s1 and make a mess out of my case because of that extra pci connector)

Then return your 4770, go back to your 4670 and finally STFU?
Sorry, but your constant, baseless ranting does grate on my nerves.

you are a tard k.murx.

[mczak]

Are there any plans for a card with HDMI/VGA/DVI port config.??

I would much prefer it, having a 2xHDMI monitor with no DVI. Plus, it allows for triple displays with just as much (more) flexibility as 2xDVI-I's.

No, 2xDVI-I is more flexible. You can't use triple displays with HDMI/VGA/DVI ports since all the chips only have 2 display controllers so only 2 connections can be used at the same time.
So, 2xDVI-I allows you to use 2 analog connections. It also allows you to connect 2 displays requiring dual-link dvi (hdmi is limited to single link - actually newer standard version could achieve same resolutions as dual-link dvi with higher clock frequency but I don't know of any card which supports this).

I have no use or desire for S-Video in 2009 and beyond!

Oh yes this one I understand. For some very odd reason though people still seem to use it...

[alecmg]

Looks like GPU socket on 4770 is so close to ports that a S1 won't fit at all.

http://images.people.overclockers.ru/180440.jpg

[josephclemente]

Looks like GPU socket on 4770 is so close to ports that a S1 won't fit at all.

I read somewhere that someone installed an S1 by bending all of the fins on the end 90 degrees. I haven't seen any pictures of an install yet... Anyone here try this yet?

[Matija]

I read somewhere that someone installed an S1 by bending all of the fins on the end 90 degrees. I haven't seen any pictures of an install yet... Anyone here try this yet?

It's four posts above yours.

[ryboto]

I read somewhere that someone installed an S1 by bending all of the fins on the end 90 degrees. I haven't seen any pictures of an install yet... Anyone here try this yet?

It's four posts above yours.

might it just be better to cut the fins? When they're bent like that, there's no room for airflow between them, I cant imagine they're doing much for cooling.

[Ch0z3n]

might it just be better to cut the fins? When they're bent like that, there's no room for airflow between them, I cant imagine they're doing much for cooling.

I agree, it also prevents air from coming in/going out of the case in that slot. It is very saddening that the GPU is so close, I am probably going to end up waiting for a custom PCB that hopefully gets the idle power consumption down and moves the GPU far enough back to use a decent cooler.

[~El~Jefe~]

Same here.

Can't deal with the cramped board. I will wait as well.

[Tzupy]

XFX is supposed to launch a 1GB version with a custom PCB.
Anyone has seen that PCB, does it have the GPU socket moved to the right?

[josephclemente]

This is my new HIS 4770 with Accelero S1 attached. I cut off the end of the fins using a sophisticated process: scissors followed by a more precise trim using fingernail clippers.

[Matija]

Hey, that's a really nice photo! You do photography for a living?

[mb2]

i gots mine

edit: lol @ dual mode CrossFire sticker over 4x on the box. too competitive?

[sampo]

This is my new HIS 4770 with Accelero S1 attached. I cut off the end of the fins using a sophisticated process: scissors followed by a more precise trim using fingernail clippers.

Looks nice and clean. Any problems with temperatures?

[dhanson865]

So the Accelero S1 fits if you clip or bend fins at one end.

Will the Accelero S2 fit without modification?

fwiw the only hs that is stated to work without modification is the Accelero L2 Pro (which has no heatpipes and a 92mm fan).

[Entropy]

OK. I have had the card for just under a week now. I side-graded from a HD4870, and also use a 7900GTX on the same system.
Due to some problems with PCI-E x16, I have fiddled around a lot with the card, although mostly trying to achieve stable operation at full PCI-E speed - it kept going to x1 operation which is slow enough to affect graphics performance significantly. The issue is semi-sorted by now.

Good news:
The performance is remarkably close to the 4870, but with drastically lower power draw. If you go to extreme levels of AA/AF/Resolution, the higher bandwidth of the 4870 obviously pays off but in practise, I simply don't notice a difference. It performs better than I expected, even with AA.

The simplistic fan setup still manages to be relatively quiet, and the lower power draw of the GPU allows the temperature to be 30 degrees Celsius lower at load than the 4870. Since you can activate manual fan control in Catalyst Control Centre, the thermal margins allow you to lower fan speed lower still. You would have to have a _very_ quiet system for the fan to be obnoxious, or even noticeable over other noise-sources.

I would have preferred:
A fan system that evacuated the hot air, and was thermally controlled.

Lower power draw - I will experiment with lower GPU voltages and see what is possible, but haven't gone there yet. PCI-E issues have taken precedence.

Higher bandwidth - I don't know how much more a 256-bit memory subsystem would have cost, but given that nVidia has it on similarly priced cards (albeit with GDDR3), it can't be all that expensive. The card feels a bit too cut down in terms of production value, but I guess AMD wants reasonable profit margins at $100 suggested retail. I would happly have paid another $25 for twice the bandwidth though, but perhaps I care more about power draw (and AA performance) than most consumers.


Overall, apart from the problems with PCI-E that may well be at least partially blamed on my ASUS P5B-Deluxe motherboard, I think this is the best card by far for someone who are looking for high performance and manageable thermals. The excellent price/performance makes it hard to quibble with the undeniably cut corners since at least some of those savings were passed on to the customers.

[Matija]

Hmm, I have a P5B-Deluxe

[Mats]

Will the Accelero S2 fit without modification?

No, the distance in question is the same on both cards according to AC.

[silo]

Hmm, I have a P5B-Deluxe

fuck i have a p5b-e.... i didn't try it yet, waiting for my ram heat sinks > SCVCH-1000 to arrive... btw i did this yesterday ( shitiest pic) didn't even have the proper tools
( sharp scissors) but it turned out "fine" ati the things you make me do...

[Mats]

I would really want the review sample

XFX has first premium 4770. Mem heatsinks and extra condensators seem to missing though.

Yeah, well where are the heatpipes? It looks like something that's supposed to look like the review cooler, but it is't AFAIK. So I'm not totally sure.

Here's the review cooler, you can clearly see the heatpipes: