AMD Radeon HD 7770: specs, reviews, review

The budget HD 7770 video adapter from AMD took a strong position in the domestic market, because it is one of the few that meets the price-quality criterion among competitors. High performance, huge overclocking potential and availability of all modern technologies immediately interested in this chip all manufacturers of video cards on the world market. In this article, the reader will get acquainted with the characteristics of this chip and devices based on it, and the review and feedback of owners will help determine the purchase to all users.

Specifications

It should be noted right away that the AMD Radeon HD 7770 graphics accelerator is the only representative of the budget class that is equipped with a CrossFire connector. And this means that game lovers can assemble themselves a fairly productive system with minimal costs. The characteristics of the chip look modest, but they are enough for all modern games:

1. The graphic core of Cape Verde XT is built on 28 nanometer technology with a processor area of 123 square millimeters. The number of transistors on the chip is 1.5 billion. The core frequency is 1000 MHz.
2. The number of shader units is 640, 16 threads are responsible for rasterization, and 40 textures for textures.
3. Modern DDR5 memory has a capacity of 1024 MB and works with a 128-bit bus at an effective frequency of 4,500 MHz.
4. The power consumption of the video card "Radeon" HD 7770 does not exceed 80 watts in peak loads at the nominal memory frequencies and graphics core.

Factory equipment and device

The budget representative AMD Radeon HD 7770 looks more like an average price category device. This is evidenced by the form factor of the printed circuit board and the installed cooling system. The video adapter itself claims to occupy two seats in the system case. It is worth noting that the manufacturer does not retail its products, giving this right to its representatives - famous world brands. However, in the world market, the original product can still be purchased from an authorized distributor, AMD.

The manufacturer's policy in terms of video outputs on the printed circuit board is not quite clear: there are only four outputs for connecting digital devices (DVI, HDMI and 2 DisplayPort connectors). The rest of the output panel area is occupied by a radiator grille for the removal of hot air. The consumption of the video card HD 7770 does not exceed 80 watts, respectively, no profuse heat release is out of the question. Hence the doubts about the irrational use of space on the output panel.

What does the budget representative hide in himself?

Users, judging by their reviews in the media, have a lot of questions to the manufacturer regarding the installation of a powerful cooling system on the budget AMD Radeon HD 7770 graphics card. The characteristics of the device look quite modest and obviously there can be no overheating of the speech, but the company's technology is still Installed a powerful cooler. Naturally, such manufacturer's steps hint at the high overclocking potential of the video adapter. True, no one has tried to test a reference copy from known world laboratories.

There is a suggestion among many potential buyers, based on their feedback, that the installation of a cooling game system can be a marketing move by the manufacturer, which claims to occupy not only the budget class but also the middle segment of video game adapters. In any case, the testing of video cards on the chip AMD Radeon HD 7770 will sum up in this issue.

The main competitor in the video adapter market

In the media, there are quite a few comparisons of two AMD and NVIDIA products: HD 7770 vs GTX 650. In synthetic tests and games, both video cards demonstrate almost identical performance, although the specifications for both devices differ slightly (the NVIDIA chip demonstrates the best theoretical bandwidth). Naturally, fans of AMD products have something to blame the competing company for.

The appearance of the updated modification of competitor NVIDIA in the form of overclocked chip GTX 650 Ti deprived the privileges of the chip HD 7770 in the tests, but the demand for it did not decrease. After all, no one prevents the owners of the AMD product from performing independent overclocking at home, in order to quickly restore the lost positions in the comparisons. The benefit of the video card based on the HD 7770 chip is decent.

Market of mobile devices

The popularity of the graphics chipset on the world market can be judged by the availability of its modification for equipping mobile platforms. The HD 7770 chip, reviewed in this article, is quite popular among notebook manufacturers. First of all, the graphics core attracts its low power consumption - 32 watts for peak loads of the video system of the laptop is considered a worthy indicator. However, for this the manufacturer had to reduce the frequency of the graphics core to 675 MHz.

All other features, including support for modern technologies, remained untouched by manufacturers of the mobile version of the popular video adapter. As you might expect, the main competitor of this chip is the mobile version of the GTX 650 from NVIDIA. Later, the more expensive GeForce representative - GT 740M became a competitor in the "performance-energy consumption" ratio (this chip attracted Apple's technologists).

The most affordable device in the budget class

XFX representative - HD 7770 video adapter - performance characteristics are minimal among similar devices, however, this step of the manufacturer allowed the video card to become the leader of sales due to the lowest cost among all competitors. At first glance, when compared with the reference device AMD, it seems that XFX technologists only repainted the cooling system case in black and placed the Monster inscription on its front part. However, with a detailed inspection, the user will find that the manufacturer has increased the area of the aluminum radiator and carried all the batteries to the back of the PCB.

Also in the laboratories of the plant XFX produced a slight overclocking of the device (the graphics core operates at a frequency of 1100 MHz, and the memory has 5000 MHz). Further overclocking is possible, but the GPU temperature from the 40 degree Celsius point rises sharply upwards (80-90 degrees). Such overheating testifies to the inefficiency of the cooling system on this chip.

Game solution from XFX

But the XFX video card with the Black Edition Super Overclock marking based on the Radeon HD 7770 chip, the review of which can often be found in popular print media, is the complete opposite of the most affordable "Monster". The manufacturer did everything possible to prevent overheating:

• All power elements that are capable of heating during operation have been transferred to the front of the video card (to video outputs);
• The GDDR5 memory modules by the manufacturer were also replaced by the more productive ones from Hynix (the effective frequency of operation is 5000 MHz, the response time is 0.2 milliseconds);
• Aluminum radiator received a copper contact pad;
• The cooling system casing is made of aluminum, and two powerful fans are installed on top.

In the factory version, the HD 7770-based video adapter demonstrates high performance in the tests, because the manufacturer made a small overclock (according to the graphics core up to 1120 MHz and memory up to 5200 MHz). Naturally, such characteristics can attract the attention of potential users.

Testing a powerful market representative

About the overclocking potential of the XFX product based on the Radeon HD 7770 chip, the media reviews are only positive, because such excellent performance results are rarely achieved at all. The graphics core shows stable performance at 1200 MHz - this, in fact, is the limit at the BIOS level of the video card, it is impossible to raise the figure even by improving the cooling.

The increase in performance is due to the rise in the voltage of the graphics processor, which at high frequencies quickly heats up. Thanks to the proprietary cooling system, the core temperature can be kept within 70 degrees Celsius. Accordingly, we can conclude that the potential for overclocking in the video card is also excellent, but to realize it, you need to take care of cooling.

Decent Representative

The company Sapphire also became interested in the novelty on the chip AMD Radeon HD 7770. Reviews of the owners of the devices of this brand assure that the overclocking potential of the manufacturer's video cards is very high. The best product, of course, is the Sapphire Vapor-X video adapter. In the company's laboratories on the PCB, AMD made some changes:

• Separated the power system into several phases and placed the elements by sectors on the textolite;
• All the batteries are equipped with their own heat sinks;
• The video output card is replaced (2 DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort are installed).

Also, the video card received a proprietary cooling system consisting of three sections of an aluminum radiator, which are connected together by copper hollow tubes, which are reduced to the base of the contact pad. The cooling system casing is made of plastic and covers completely the whole area of the printed circuit board. On top of it there are two branded fans.

High Vapor-X performance in games

In the factory version, the Sapphire video adapter based on the HD 7770 chip performance characteristics and so shows very high, so many users, judging by their feedback, do not hurry up the graphics card. The graphics core operates at a frequency of 1100 MHz, and the memory in the factory version is kept at 5200 MHz. In fact, the regular characteristics of this representative of the market are comparable with the overclocking potential of similar devices.

The successful placement of batteries and high-quality cooling system still bear fruit to their developers. The Sapphire Vapor-X video adapter based on the HD 7770 chip demonstrates the overclocking (the graphics core stays stable at 1200 MHz, and the memory reaches a threshold of 6000 MHz). Pleases owners and heating - the graphic core has consistently demonstrated a temperature of 65 degrees Celsius. True, the cooling system, working at maximum revs, still makes itself felt - the owner will clearly hear a small noise in the system unit, somewhat resembling the hum of the wind.

Lightweight version of the video card

Fans of Sapphire products who do not want to overpay for Vapor-X's proprietary cooling system (about $ 30) but eager to own a decent device are offered a light version of the manufacturer called Sapphire FleX HD 7770 GHz Edition. In fact, in the company's laboratories on the basis of one PCB, two different video cards were created, which differ only in the cooling system. Any user can verify this by himself, removing the radiator casing - the arrangement of the elements on the printed circuit board is identical, including the soldering of the video outputs.

The cooling system in the FleX version looks more economical, compared to the Vapor-X. Three times the area of the aluminum radiator has decreased, the number of copper tubes has decreased, and just one cooler does not inspire confidence. However, as tests and overclocking show, owners of a lightweight graphics card do not have any complaints about the device's performance. The graphics core copes with the frequency of 1120 MHz, and the memory operates at 4880 MHz (the frequencies are adjusted for the heating parameters limited to 70 degrees Celsius).

Beauty requires sacrifice

Another representative of the company AMD in the world market, HIS, became interested in the chip and presented to the world its vision of the HD 7770 chip. The feedback of the owners assures that the manufacturer managed to achieve several goals simultaneously:

• Provide a really attractive device;
• Achieve high productivity in work;
• Create decent cooling for effective overclocking of the system.

And if the beauty of the video card ceases to interest the user after installing the device in the system case, the other parameters constantly remind themselves. To achieve high performance it was possible to refine the elements on the printed circuit board of the video adapter: ferrite capacitors, improved PWM controllers, power supply system is spaced.

Regarding the cooling system, users, judging by their feedback, formed a twofold opinion. On the one hand, an aluminum grate consisting of two sections and joined by two copper tubes is a fairly efficient design for heat removal. However, the build quality does not inspire confidence. For example, the bends of copper pipes - the impression that some dilettantes clamped them with pliers.

Testing the best representatives of the HD 7770 chip

In the review, three well-known brands and products under their brand are not chosen by chance. It so happened that they became the best representatives of the AMD HD 7770 chip in the world market - these are three whales, on which all world sales of this video adapter are kept. Therefore, many potential buyers of a video card based on the HD 7770, the comparison of the performance of the three products considered in the games will clearly have a liking.

As shown by enthusiastic testing, a big role in performance is played not only by the frequency of the graphics processor. An important factor - the frequency of memory. In fact, in the results graphs the championship is distributed as follows:

• The first place is unquestionable for the Sapphire Vapor-X video adapter (by the way, in the overclocking it demonstrates the full-time performance of the competitor GTX 650 Ti);
• Second place for XFX with the Black Edition Super Overclock marking (it's not the cooling system that saves it, but the upgrade of the PCB and the installation of Hynix memory modules);
• The representative of HIS IceQ on the basis of the chip HD 7770 was not so powerful, taking only the third place.

Other representatives of the budget class

In addition to the "three whales" of the world market, based on the HD 7770 chip, their products were presented by notorious companies such as ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, VTX, PowerColor and others. Therefore, the reader is invited to briefly get acquainted with their products.

Of all the brands mentioned, the MSI product deserves attention. The fact is that the manufacturer not only developed a proprietary cooling system for a new chip, but also made some modifications to the elements of the printed circuit board. As a result, one of the most affordable video cards available in the budget niche was obtained. The potential for overclocking is minimal, but the video adapter works noiselessly in comparison with analogues.

Representatives of ASUS also slightly modified the AMD 7770 circuit board, but the cooling system of the well-known company, according to the owners, causes a lot of questions. For example, many users do not understand the contact diagram of the radiator with the board elements. After all, in addition to the graphics core, the batteries and memory modules are subject to heating, which for some reason do not cool efficiently.

And what about the other brands? They are fundamentally ignored in this review, because manufacturers who took an AMD circuit board and just screwed their cooler to it are unlikely to be able to surprise a potential buyer with something.

Finally

The video adapter based on AMD 7770 from AMD can be recommended first of all to all users who dream of playing productive games at low and medium settings, at the same time making a minimum of capital investments. Saving money is not only the cost of the product HD 7770 on the domestic market. A big role here is played by the low power consumption of the video card, which does not require the owner of the presence of a powerful power supply (450 watts is enough for the computer as a whole).

Do not forget that overclocking is only a guarantee that the user after a few years will be able to improve the characteristics of a morally obsolete device in order to enjoy a new game on the computer market. The video cards on the AMD HD 7770 chip are not designed to work in constant overclocking of the graphics core and memory modules. If you need decent performance in the regular mode, your eyes should be turned not to budget- class devices .