Introduction

It would be interesting to know the strategy behind ATI and their decision to release the HD 5400 series before the HD 5500. Considering the samples arrived only days apart, we doubt it was because one was ready and not the other. They could've almost released both cards at the same time; maybe they just wanted to spread it out a bit so they received more coverage instead of having one review / article on two models. Now they end up with two.

Ultimately, though, why they've done it this way doesn't really matter. While you might think you have a bit of an idea on how this model will perform, the chances are you're wrong, because while we know how the HD 5600 series performs and the HD 5400 performs, we don't know if ATI are going to release more models in those categories; something like a HD 5650 or HD 5470.

The big question that needs to be answered today is whether or not the HD 5570 performs closer to the HD 5670 or closer to the HD 5450. For the simple fact that we like performance, we hope that it leans towards the HD 5670, but we're really not sure. Before we find out just how it does perform, let's take a closer look at the package and the card itself.