HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card

Another HD 5700 series card makes its way through the door. This time it's a HD 5770 from HIS. Let's see how it goes.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: HIS Digital
11 minutes & 6 seconds read time

Introduction




HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 02


Having recently taken the time to see what HIS was doing with the HD 5750, today we'll be seeing what exactly is going on with the more powerful HD 5770. We've managed to have a look at a few HD 5770s since the launch of the model and they've all done an excellent job of impressing us.

It's time to see what HIS have going on and what they can offer us which stands out from the pack. We're not going to do anything too out of the ordinary today when it comes to reviewing the card; we'll first take a quick look at the package before we have a closer look at the card itself and the specifications.

Once that's done, we'll see how the model goes against its little brother, the HD 5750 in a number of benchmarks before wrapping everything up with our final thoughts. So with that all said and done, let's jump forward to the package and get started.

The Package




HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 03


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 04


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 05


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 06


There's nothing we haven't really seen before when it comes to the package. As for the bundle itself, the biggest stand out would have to be the inclusion of the Dirt 2 voucher that gives you the ability to download the game. Apart from that, we've got all the standard paperwork and cables.

Video Card




Having a look at the card, you can see that we're dealing with another cooler that we haven't seen before. Unlike the standard HD 5770 cooler, this doesn't cover the whole card from top to bottom. Another big difference is not only the fan, but the placement of it which is now more over the top of the core.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 07


HIS have placed a sticker in the middle of the fan and on the shroud we have another sticker that gives us the brand again along with the model number. Like all other HD 5770s we've looked at, this is a dual slot one and if you look carefully behind the fan you can see the copper heat pipe that is sitting within the card.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 08


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 09


While the cooler has changed, the overall layout of the card is the same. The 6-Pin PCI-E power connector is at the back of the card and is a lot easier to get to thanks to nothing covering it. Closer to the front and across the top, we have our CrossFire connectors here.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 10


While the HD 5750 from HIS lacked the second Dual-Link DVI, this one follows the standard design which means we have two along with the native HDMI and DisplayPort connector.


Specifications

Looking at the clocks of the card, we don't see any surprises. The core comes in at the stock 850MHz while the 1GB of GDDR5 memory carries with it a clock of 4800MHz QDR.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 01


There's nothing too unusual with the whole card, but the cooler looks of pretty high quality and hopefully should yield some good numbers in our testing.

Test System Setup and 3DMark Vantage


Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz (190MHz x 20)
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P (Supplied by Noctua)
Motherboard(s): GIGABYTE EX58-UD5 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Memory: 3 X 2GB Kingston Hyper X PC3-16000 2000MHz DDR CL9 (Supplied by Kingston)
Hard Disk(s): Western Digital 640GB SATA 2.0 HDD (Supplied by Western Digital)
Operating System: Windows 7
Drivers: Catalyst 9.11


Today we'll see how the HD 5770 compares against the HD 5750 iCooler IV we looked at just recently.

Let's get started!


3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here




3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 20


Straight away we see a good boost in performance from the HD 5770 thanks to the extra power on offer.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark (DX10 & DX11)


Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 1
Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com
Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/products/unigine



New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

Note: If a card doesn't support DirectX 11 the benchmark will be left out. If it does it will be included along with the DirectX 10 results.

Direct X 10

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 21


Direct X 11

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 22


The power continues to show under the Heaven benchmark with a nice increase in both DX10 and DX11 presets under both resolutions.

Benchmarks - CINEBENCH R10


CINEBENCH R10

Version and / or Patch Used: Release 10
Developer Homepage: http://www.maxon.net/
Product Homepage: http://www.maxon.net




CINEBENCH is a real-world test suite that assesses your computer's performace capabilities. MAXON CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winning animation software, CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.

MAXON CINEBENCH runs several tests on your computer to measure the performance of the main processor and the graphics card under real world circumstances. The benchmark application makes use of up to 16 CPUs or CPU cores and is available for Windows (32-bit and 64-Bit) and Macintosh (PPC and Intel-based).

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 23


CINEBENCH doesn't make use of the extra power on offer here, so we see that both cards perform very similar to each other.

Benchmarks - Resident Evil 5


Resident Evil 5

Version and / or Patch Used: Demo Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com
Product Homepage: http://www.residentevil.com




Resident Evil 5 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on September 18. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 25


We see some good numbers from both cards here. At the higher resolution we can see a fair bit more breathing room from the HD 5770; we really move a good chunk away from that 60 FPS average we like to see.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2


Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.03
Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com
Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com
Buy It Here




The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 26


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 27


The extra power on offer from the HD 5770 does a good job of making Far Cry 2 playable at 1920 x 1200 with the in game settings at very high. You can see the HD 5750 does struggle slightly at this resolution. It's always nice to see the next model up be the difference between a game being smooth and a little chunky.

Benchmarks - World in Conflict


World in Conflict

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.0.10
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.massive.se
Product Homepage: http://www.worldinconflict.com





World in Conflict is a real-time strategy video game by Massive Entertainment and to be published by Sierra Entertainment for Windows (DX9 and DX10).

The game is set in 1989 where economic troubles cripple the Soviet Union and threaten to dissolve it. However, the title pursues a "what if" scenario where, in this case, the Soviet Union does not collapse and instead pursues a course of war to remain in power. It is an intensive new game that is sure to put plenty of stress on even the latest graphics cards. We use the built-in benchmarking for our testing.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 28


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 29


WIC is pretty intensive and you can see the HD 5750 struggles to break a 30 FPS minimum at both resolutions. While the HD 5770 runs into the same problems at 1920 x 1200, you can see we're above the 30 FPS minimum at 1680 x 1050.

Benchmarks - Batman Arkham Asylum


Batman Arkham Asylum

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.rocksteadyltd.com
Product Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com





Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum.

Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.
Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series.

Note: With support for PhysX NVIDIA based cards will be tested with the technology on and off, while ATI cards will be tested with the technology off due to it not being supported on their cards.

Without PhysX

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 30


HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 31


As great as Batman: AA looks, it's really not that intensive. We see the HD 5750 really doesn't struggle with the game and the HD 5770 doesn't run into any problems either.

Benchmarks - Darkest of Days


Darkest of Days

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.4
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.phantomefx.com
Product Homepage: http://www.darkestofdays.com





Darkest of Days takes the player through time into historic battles in an effort to save key individuals from certain death. The battles range from Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 to fighting in Pompeii as ash and fire rain down from an erupting Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Other locations include the battles of Antietam and Tannenberg, and a German World War II P.O.W. camp. There are different missions in every time period and the game takes about 4 hours to complete.

The game features over twenty weapons, both from the original time period as well as those brought back from the future. In addition, there are artillery weapons from different time periods to assist in battle.

Note: With the PhysX set to Medium or High, Darkest of Days takes advantage of the NVIDIA PhysX abilities. For that reason we will test ATI cards at the Low preset, while NVIDIA based cards will be tested at Low and High.

PhysX set to Low

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 34


With no minimum, we want to get an average of over 60 FPS here. We can see the HD 5750 falls back a little at the 1920 x 1200 resolution. The HD 5770 on the other hand screams past it and gives us a whole lot more frames. With the HD 5770 this game is going to run nice and smooth at both resolutions, which is nice.

Benchmarks - BattleForge


BattleForge

Version and / or Patch Used: Auto Patched at Load
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.ea.com
Product Homepage: http://www.battleforge.com





The Gods have disappeared and the old sun has died, letting a vile twilight engulf the world of Nyn. In exchange for all treasures the mortals possessed, the evil giants agreed to forge a new sun and hurl it into the sky.

But the deal was betrayed, the treasure stolen and now the mortals flee the wrath of the giants. Under the light of a new sun the mortals stumble into a world changed and twisted by an age of twilight. The long journey home has become a conquest of survival.

Note: Supporting DirectX 11, we have separated the graphs for NVIDIA and ATI cards. While the numbers between the two brands can be compared, you have to make note that ATI based HD 5000 series cards are running DirectX 11.

DirectX 11 (ATI HD 5000 Series Only)

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 36


BattleForge is a really intensive DX11 game and we can see that the HD 5750 struggles. While the HD 5770 doesn't break that 60 FPS average we want to see, at 1680 x 1050 it's getting close.

Temperature and Sound Tests


Temperature Tests



With the TES 1326 Infrared Thermometer literally in hand we found ourselves getting real-world temperatures from the products we test at load (3D clock speeds).

There are two places we pull temperature from - the back of the card directly behind the core and if the card is dual slot and has an exhaust point we also pull a temperate from there, as seen in the picture.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 43


The cooler does a great job of keeping temperatures down with the HD 5770 actually coming in slightly cooler than the less powerful HD 5750.


Sound Tests



Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that we get a bit more serious and place the device two CM away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode) and in load (3D mode).

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 44


Noise levels on the cooler are also great with it falling in line with the HD 5750 iCooler IV which was quieter than the stock HD 5750 cooler.

Power Consumption Tests






Using our new PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a 7,200RPM SATA-II single hard drive is used without CD ROM or many cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card 45


Power draw at load is slightly up, but it's nothing to worry about. These cards really do a great job of not sucking a whole lot of juice which is nice.

Final Thoughts




The cooler that HIS have opted for isn't their own with the same design being seen on a few other companies cards. It seems that ATI have released two main coolers for the model. The first is a larger one that looks similar to the HD 5800 series and the other is this one which seems to come in a little bit cheaper.

To be honest, I prefer this cooler a little more. The numbers it puts out are extremely impressive and unlike the other design it's not a pain to install the PCI-E connector in the back of the card. Throw in the fact that it's also cheaper than the other model and you're onto a real winner.

If all that wasn't enough, the HIS HD 5770 seems to be one of the cheapest on the market coming in at a very impressive $162.99 at Newegg. This is a great card for regular gamers on 1680 x 1050 and casual gamers at 1920 x 1200, though while it does handle the higher resolution with no real dramas, if you intend to keep the card for a while it may struggle with future more intensive titles.

HIS have done an excellent job with the card. We've got a nice bundle together and they opted for the other fan design which is impressive and they've managed to do it all at a cheaper price than the other companies.

If you're looking for a HD 5770, you really can't go wrong with this model. On the other hand, if you're looking for something with a bit more power out of the box or a different cooler, it might be worth waiting till HIS put their Turbo and IceQ or iCooler stamp on the model.

What do TweakTown.com awards mean? Click for details!

PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.

USUnited States: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com

UKUnited Kingdom: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.co.uk

AUAustralia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com.au

CACanada: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.ca

DEDeutschland: Finde andere Technik- und Computerprodukte wie dieses auf Amazon.de

Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

Newsletter Subscription
We openly invite the companies who provide us with review samples / who are mentioned or discussed to express their opinion. If any company representative wishes to respond, we will publish the response here. Please contact us if you wish to respond.