HD 5770

[technix]

I was wondering what the scoop is regarding the cooling and different designs.

There is reference design, new 'egg-shaped' shroud and still some others that have their own weird shape. I noticed MSI has one called 'Hawk', Sapphire has a 'Vapor-X' and I think Asus has some strange ones, too. If one was to get a Radeon HD 5770 card, which design would you get? I have read mixed reviews: 1) reference design is better - new 'egg-shape' design is just cost-cutting measure by manufacturers and 2) new shape is copying HD 5750 card for better cooling and less noise - there is one site (forget the name) that tested and compared the two. They found the new shroud cards were running slighly cooler by a couple of degrees and weren't as noisy. I have no idea though. I would like to know from actual owners and testers (here). :-)

If I went ATI, I'd want one of those. But, which EXACT one woud you choose? Which brand and which design?

I'm hesitating because I'm a Linux user and generally, Nvidia is a safer choice. I thought I'd wait for Fermi but if those cards are expensive, I probably wouldn't choose one anyway. My Nvidia choices right now seem to be 260 GTX, GTS 250 and 240 GT. I would prefer a $100 card so if I wait a bit longer, I might get my wish? The HD 4850 is $100 now but I think the HD 5770 is a better choice overall and if there is any chance of the price for that card going down???

So, a possible price reduction and not knowing which shroud to go with has me hesitating...

Oh yeah, the Linux question, too, but I already have a backup card that is Nvidia so I could always go back until drivers are mature, I guess.

Any advice or recommendations?

[The Destroyer]

I just sold a Vapor-X 5770 and have to say there was no real issues with this style card. The Vapor-X runs very cool and keeps temperatures low which allows for possibly higher overclocks. I also read somewhere that the Vapor-X has lower power consumption at load (might be un-true). I really enjoyed the Vapor-X card and would recommend it to anyone looking for the best all-around 5770. My new card coming also has Vapor-X technology so I'm definitely a fan!

[Raserei408]

While I haven't actually owned it, from the reviews I've read the Hawk is hands-down the card to get. In addition to an awesome cooler it uses highly-binned chips, so it OCs especially high. Best OC/ΔV I've seen.