GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 Graphics Card

AMD continues on with its momentum and quietly slides another new model into its Radeon 4xxx series. Let's see if it has its place in the market.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: GIGABYTE
13 minutes & 16 seconds read time

Introduction


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card



The frequency of graphics card releases now compared to two years ago is just jaw dropping. There used to be three models; a low, mid and high-end model. And while we still have that base structure today, there are so many models that fit into each category. These days we have high mid range cards and low high end cards amongst the main three categories; the reason for this is because of the amount of power these cards offer.

The latest card to hit the market is the HD 4770 which expands upon the HD 4700 series from ATI. The weird thing is that it's a series that we haven't heard about a whole lot leading up to its release, especially in the new model market. What we've seen from ATI lately are models in the HD 4800 series, HD 4890, HD 4870, HD 4850 and more.

With the GIGABYTE HD 4770 in hand we'll find out if the model is jut ATI getting some attention or a model that's actually worth checking out in today's market. Let's have a look at what GIGABYTE has done with the package and bundle before having a closer look at the card. From there we'll find out just how it performs.

The Package




Looking at the package there isn't anything we haven't seen before from GIGABYTE. We have the metallic purple and white setup which is pretty calming with a picture of a woman wielding a gun and manages to take up most of the package. As for information, we have the GIGABYTE and ATI logo running across the top.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Moving down, we have mention that the card carries with it GDDR5 memory. Moving to the bottom we have the model, in this case the HD 4770 and we again see mention that the card uses GDDR5 memory and that there's 512MB of it.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Turning the box over, we have the typical run down of information about what the card is capable of. We see mention of AVIVO and DirectX 10 support. Across the bottom we have a list of the main features while across the top and very bottom we have mention of the model and logos from GIGABYTE and ATI.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


For a mid-range card there isn't really any surprises; we see a component out dongle along with a dual molex to 6-pin PCI-E connector. It's also good to see that ATI has included a DVI to HDMI connector which is always appreciated by the HT enthusiasts or owners of HDMI powered monitors. As far as paperwork goes, we've got a manual and alongside that we have a driver CD.

The Card




Having a look at the card we can see that it's pretty mid-range looking and one of the first things we notice is that the card's not quite as long as its higher end brothers. We can also see that GIGABYTE has opted for a smaller cooler that doesn't take up a huge amount of space on the card.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Having a closer look at the cooler, we can see that there isn't a whole lot to it. Apart from the fan that sits on top and the shroud that goes around it, below it we can see a heatsink that sits directly on the on the HD 4770 core.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Having a look around the card, we can see at the back we have a single 6-pin PCI-E power connector that is used to power the HD 4770. Closer to the front of the card we have our Crossfire connectors that let us run up to three of these cards together.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Looking at the front of the card, we've got two Dual-Link DVI connectors and a single TV-Out port in between. As we saw earlier, HDMI is offered via a DVI to HDMI connector that's included in the bundle.


Specifications

While the HD 4770 stock clocks are 750MHz on the core and 800MHz on the memory, GIGABYTE has decided to ramp up the memory clock to 850MHz. The big thing about this card is that while it's mid-range and carries a 128-bit memory bus, it does utilize 512MB of GDDR5 memory which is something new.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


The biggest feature of the card would have to be the manufacturing process on the GPU. Utilizing 40nm technology the card should run nice and cool while also drawing less power. The 40nm technology will also ultimately mean higher clock speeds thanks to less heat, which is always a good thing.

Test System Setup and 3DMark Vantage


Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel 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 OCZ Technology PC-12800 DDR-3 8-8-8-24 (OCZ3G1600LV6GK)
Hard Disk(s): Western Digital 300GB Velicorapter (Supplied by Western Digital)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows Vista SP1 64-Bit
Drivers: ForceWare 182.50, Catalyst 9.4


Today we'll have a look at how the HD 4770 compares against some of the higher end HD 4800 series of cards including the new HD 4890 and the older HD 4870. As for how the card compares to NVIDIA offerings, while the GTS 250 is more expensive it's also the most recent mid-range model from NVIDIA, so we'll see how the 4770 goes against that.


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.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


In our first test we can see that the performance sits quite similar to the more expensive GTS 250. We'll have to see how it pans out in real world testing whether or not the card sits in a similar position or falls back, as the lower price would suggest.

Benchmarks - PT Boats: Knights of the Sea


PT Boats: Knights of the Sea

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo
Developer Homepage: http://en.akella.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.pt-boats.net/





PT Boats: Knights of the Sea is a naval action simulator that places gamers in charge of a mosquito fleet of the Allied Forces, Russia or Germany during the height of World War II.

Using the latest Direct X 10 technology PT Boards - Knights of the Sea manages to apply a lot of stress to the components of today which in turn gives us quite an intensive benchmark.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Under PT Boats we see the card fall to the back of the pack. Changing to medium we could game at 1680 x 1050, but any higher than that is going to be hard.

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).


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


We can see that just like the HD 4870 the HD 4770 performs very well under CINEBENCH, passing the newer and higher end HD 4890 under this test.

Benchmarks - World in Conflict


World in Conflict

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.0.5
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) and the Xbox 360.

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 is sure to put plenty of stress on even the latest graphics cards and we use the built-in benchmarking for our testing.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


While the card doesn't fall too far behind the HD 4870 at the lower resolution, it does drop below the 30 FPS minimum we like at 1680 x 1050. If we move to high or medium, though, the gap will close in and we shouldn't have any dramas playing at this resolution.

Benchmarks - Crysis Warhead


Crysis Warhead

Version and / or Patch Used: unpatched
Timedemo or Level Used: Airfield
Developer Homepage: http://www.crytek.com
Product Homepage: http://crysiswarhead.ea.com/
Buy It Here




Crysis Warhead updates and refines the gameplay of the original game through a sidestory plot involving Psycho, one of previous protagonist Nomad's allies. The game is a parallel story that follows Sergeant Michael "Psycho" Sykes, a character from the original Crysis, as he faces his own trials and challenges on the other side of the island during the time period of the first game.

It also showcases a new, enhanced and optimized version of CryEngine 2 using full DX10 extensions and is the first game developed by Crytek's Budapest studio.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


At the lower resolution we again see that performance isn't all that far behind the HD 4870. Unfortunately Warhead performance for all cards isn't great.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2


Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01
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.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


At 1680 x 1050 we see that the performance is good once again, though just short of that 30 FPS minimum. However, a small drop in detail would fix the problem which is good news.

Benchmarks - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky


S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.5.07
Timedemo or Level Used: Custom Timedemo
Developer Homepage: http://www.gsc-game.com/
Product Homepage: http://cs.stalker-game.com/en/
Buy It Here




S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the stand-alone prequel for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.[3] The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game. The X-ray graphics engine has been updated to version 1.5 and includes DirectX 10 support (later patch 1.5.06 included DirectX 10.1). Additionally, the AI received an overhaul to accommodate the new faction wars feature.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


We can see that performance is okay compared to the other cards, but on a whole Clear Sky performance for these lower end cards is never great.

Benchmarks - Left 4 Dead


Left 4 Dead

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update
Timedemo or Level Used: Custom Timedemo
Developer Homepage: http://www.valvesoftware.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.l4d.com/
Buy It Here




Left 4 Dead uses the latest version of Valve's Source engine, with improvements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation to more realistically portray hair and clothing, and to improve physics interaction with enemies when shot or shoved in different body parts. Animation was also improved to allow characters to lean realistically when moving in curved paths.

Rendering and artificial intelligence were scaled up to allow for greater number of enemies who can navigate the world in better ways, such as climbing, jumping or breaking obstacles. Lighting has been enhanced with new self-shadowing normal mapping and advanced shadow rendering that is important to convey information about the environment and player actions.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Compared to the GTS 250 we again see the HD 4770 perform quite well considering it's cheaper.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF


High Quality AA and AF

Our high quality tests let us separate the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls. If the cards weren't struggling before they will start to now.


Far Cry 2

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


We tend to see the ATI offerings fall in this test and here is no different.


World In Conflict

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Being a mid-range card AA gaming is really out of the question.


Left 4 Dead

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Even under the less intensive L4D we see that performance is quite low, but still on par with the GTS 250.

Benchmarks - World in Conflict - XP


World in Conflict

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.0.5
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) and the Xbox 360.

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 is sure to put plenty of stress on even the latest graphics cards and we use the built-in benchmarking for our testing.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


We can see that again the HD 4770 performs quite well. We even find that at 1920 x 1200 we have that all important 30 FPS minimum.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2 - XP


Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01
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.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


We again see the HD 4770 perform well at 1680 x 1050. While the minimum is just under that 30 FPS we like, moving to high or medium will fix that low minimum for us.

Benchmarks - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky - XP


S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.5.07
Timedemo or Level Used: Custom Timedemo
Developer Homepage: http://www.gsc-game.com/
Product Homepage: http://cs.stalker-game.com/en/
Buy It Here




S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the stand-alone prequel for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.[3] The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game. The X-ray graphics engine has been updated to version 1.5 and includes DirectX 10 support (later patch 1.5.06 included DirectX 10.1). Additionally, the AI received an overhaul to accommodate the new faction wars feature.

GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


We again see that compared to the GTS 250 the HD 4770 performs well under this test. But the results on a whole are nothing impressive, which isn't uncommon.

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.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


A pretty nice temperature from the 40nm based card.


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).


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


Nice quiet cooling which is always appreciated.

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.


GIGABYTE HD 4770 512MB Graphics Card


As we expected, we've got pretty low power draw in both the idle and load department.

Final Thoughts




ATI has done what they do best here; create a graphics card that offers good value for money. In typical ATI style, it's not the fastest card on the market, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the $109.99 USD price point.

While we compared it to all these cards here today, the main thing we want to know is what exactly the card is capable of and the type of user who should buy this. Well, this card is going to suit a large line-up of people; anyone with a 22" monitor that outputs 1680 x 1050 and wants to game with mid to high detail is going to love this card.

For the price you really can't go wrong; the only other people that should probably look at this card are people who game at 1920 x 1200 very rarely. They want something that gives them a little bit of a punch and don't mind having the settings in the low to mid range area. Even if you own a 1920 capable monitor, you could move from the native res down to 1680 x 1050 and play at the mid to high settings we just suggested.

It's good to see GIGABYTE has bumped the memory speed up, but what this does for overall performance we don't know since it's the first HD 4770 we've looked at. No doubt the memory increase will give us a small performance increase as well, which is always appreciated.

As for the bundle, it's all very standard for a mid-range card. We've got everything we need to get up and running and it's nice to see that GIGABYTE has chosen to include a DVI to HDMI connector. We also see that GIGABYTE has opted for a different cooler, but how this differs to the stock one we again don't know since it's the first HD 4770 we've looked at.

All in all we've got a good model here from ATI that lets the company dip its toes into 40nm technology; a very positive step. No doubt in the near future we will see the higher end models make use of the same technology bringing heat, power and price down while bringing performance, performance and performance up.

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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.

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