Sapphire HD 4770 PCIe Graphics Card
Test Setup & Overclocking
Published: 22nd May 2009 | Source: Sapphire | Price: £80.49 |
Test Setup
To ensure that all reviews on Overclock3D are fair, consistent and unbiased, a standard set of hardware and software is used whenever possible during the comparative testing of two or more products. The configurations used in this review can be seen below:
To ensure that all reviews on Overclock3D are fair, consistent and unbiased, a standard set of hardware and software is used whenever possible during the comparative testing of two or more products. The configurations used in this review can be seen below:
i7 Rig
CPU: Intel Nehalem i7 920 Skt1366 2.66GHz (@3.8 Ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Memory: 3x2GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz @ 8-8-8-24
HD : Hitachi Deskstar 7k160 7200rpm 80GB
GPU: Sapphire HD4770
Graphics Drivers: Supplied by Sapphire
PSU: Gigabyte ODIN 1200w
CPU: Intel Nehalem i7 920 Skt1366 2.66GHz (@3.8 Ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Memory: 3x2GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz @ 8-8-8-24
HD : Hitachi Deskstar 7k160 7200rpm 80GB
GPU: Sapphire HD4770
Graphics Drivers: Supplied by Sapphire
PSU: Gigabyte ODIN 1200w
To guarantee a broad range of results, the following benchmark utilities were used:
3D / Rendering Benchmarks
• 3DMark 05
• 3DMark 06
• 3DMark Vantage
3D Games
• Crysis
• Far Cry 2
• Oblivion
• Race drive: GRID
• Call of Duty IV
• Unreal Tournament III
• 3DMark 05
• 3DMark 06
• 3DMark Vantage
3D Games
• Crysis
• Far Cry 2
• Oblivion
• Race drive: GRID
• Call of Duty IV
• Unreal Tournament III
Power Consumption
Power consumption was measured at the socket using a plug-in mains power and energy monitor. Because of this, the readings below are of the total system, not just the GPU. Idle readings were taken after 5 minutes in Windows. Load readings were taken during a run of Furmark.
No surprises here really. Both 4770's consume near identical power. Linking two of the 4770's up however increased the power consumption quite dramatically with the Crossfire setup consuming and extra 80w of power. Still, this is pretty insignificant when compared to the power needed to run high end cards of today, testament to the die shrink.
Temperatures
Temperatures were taken at the factory clocked speed during idle in Windows and after 10 minutes of running Furmark with settings maxed out (2560x1600 8xMSAA). Ambient temperatures were taken with a household thermometer. As we use an open test bench setup consideration should be given to the fact that the temperatures would likely increase further in a closed case environment.
Temperatures were taken at the factory clocked speed during idle in Windows and after 10 minutes of running Furmark with settings maxed out (2560x1600 8xMSAA). Ambient temperatures were taken with a household thermometer. As we use an open test bench setup consideration should be given to the fact that the temperatures would likely increase further in a closed case environment.
First things first, the noise of the cooler is nigh on undetectable. Even when the card was placed under load the fan speed rarely increased and even then it was only momentarily. With the card running Furmark for 10 minutes, the card reached a plateau of 57c. This is an astonishing feat and resulted in the ATI cooler running at minimal levels for the majority of the time keeping the noise levels to a minimum,
Overclocking
For our overclocking tests I used CCC's Overdrive utility which worked perfectly with our setup. To test stability I ran 3D Mark 06 and a few runs of Call of Duty 4.
As with the current stock of ATI cards, I was able to max out the sliders in Overdrive resulting in 830 MHz on the core and 850MHz on the memory. I have little doubt that these values could be increased further and it appears ATI have been a tad conservative when deciding on a limit for the overclocks.
The overclocks above resulted in a fair increase to frames per second in Call of Duty 4. This increase is hardly groundbreaking but it is still a welcome benefit and should ATI increase the values in Overdrive with future driver revisions, the possibilities of further increases are there to be had.
Let's see how the card performs in OC3D's suite of 3D benchmarks...
Most Recent Comments
Good review mate, have to agree about the single slot cooler, would have been a great card for a media center if you wanted to do a bit of gaming as well 
Im actualy putting 2 of these in a new rig for a customer, little stormers of GPU's!
We finaly get a new 8800gt
We finaly get a new 8800gt
Awesome little graphics card. Nice to see one with a single slot cooler too
This doesn't have a single slot cooler - just one of my critcisms
. Great card all the same though and I agree about the 8800GT comment
.
. Great card all the same though and I agree about the 8800GT comment.Pretty much a carbon copy of the ASUS variant in terms of performance.
How much in terms of quality settings, can these cards achieve these days ? in comparison to perhaps a 8800gt ?
How much in terms of quality settings, can these cards achieve these days ? in comparison to perhaps a 8800gt ?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='Mul.'
Awesome little graphics card. Nice to see one with a single slot cooler too
|
Quality is not too bad, resolutions seemed to have a bigger effect (2560x1600 is pain full to watch at times). For your average gamer though they are not half bad at all.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='w3bbo'
Quality is not too bad, resolutions seemed to have a bigger effect (2560x1600 is pain full to watch at times). For your average gamer though they are not half bad at all.
|
(in comparison to the 8800gt if u like)
Well I don't have an 8800GT to hand m8 so I can't really compare directly I'm afraid. I may just have a 1GHz version coming soon though, so if you want me to try your preference of res/AA setting gimme a shout.
Nah w3bb0 m8, simpler, if u go into a game, what is selectable from the graphic options thing in terms of quality settings.
We know that if u go into "a" game with something like a 8800GT, for example, u can go 16xAA and 8x on filtering (or whatever), and that weird glow thing (that works well in TW I might add).
Despite what the "performance" may be, what u get on the amd's these days ?
We know that if u go into "a" game with something like a 8800GT, for example, u can go 16xAA and 8x on filtering (or whatever), and that weird glow thing (that works well in TW I might add).
Despite what the "performance" may be, what u get on the amd's these days ?
If memory serves it can go up to 24xCu AA (custom AA) or 8x Standard MSAA with upto 8x AF.
That's pretty good. I guess that custom AA is like the QQ.
(I have no idea tbh)
Good to see some quality breaking in there instead of just raw fps.
(I have no idea tbh)
Good to see some quality breaking in there instead of just raw fps.
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