Conclusion
With ATI DX11 cards being brought to market at what seems like every week, you would be forgiven if you blinked and missed a release. Indeed, they seem to be hell bent on blanketing nearly every price point with a card before the competition can even give us a preview of their answering salvo. With a broad range of 5000-series cards now under their belts, the boys in red can lay back and watch the sales roll in. As we have said, the push to release a whole series of cards instead of only concentrating on the high end segment is a change this industry needed and we can do nothing but applaud ATI for stepping up to the plate in this regard.
In our previous reviews of the HD 5870 and HD 5850, we had praise for ATI’s attention to performance at a fair price and the HD 5770 1GB doesn’t do anything to change that. It introduces some competition into a section of the market that had previously been dominated by the 512MB and 1GB iterations of the GTS 250 / 9800 GTX+ and blows the doors straight off those cards. It also manages to maintain more than enough of a lead over the HD 5750 to justify its price premium.
If we can play devil’s advocate for a moment, there are other cards on the market that perform very close to or above the HD 5770 1GB but are priced to move as well. Considering the number of products at or near its $160USD price tag, the new kid on the block is in a much tougher fight when compared to the wide open field the HD 5870 and HD 5850 were introduced into. If we look at pure performance and don’t take power consumption or heat production into account, the GTX 260 216 is still around and trades blows with the HD 5770 but costs about as much after rebates are factored in. The HD 4890 – a card many thought the HD 5770 would compete with- goes for $200USD or thereabouts but offers heaps of additional performance. Neither has the sexiness factor of that prized DX11 sticker but they are alternatives if you can’t see yourself making a wager on unproven next generation performance. However, it you take overall efficiency, price before rebates and noise output into account, the HD 5770 is far more appealing than either of those cards.
All surmising aside, this card represents a huge leap forward for a marketplace that is looking for more budget-minded solutions without extravagant price tags. In this respect, we find that ATI fit all the right pieces into place in order to balance out performance, efficiency and pricing. The mere fact that we can mention this $160 card’s performance in the same sentence as that of the GTX 260 216 really does say a lot about what ATI has accomplished in such a short time. In one sweep, the HD 5770 has cut the legs right out from under the GTS 250 series and has given the GTX 260 216 a black eye. That’s impressive stuff to say the least.
XFX has once again put their best step forward by bringing a card to market with a great warranty which does nothing but add to this card's value. To make matters even better, they have included a voucher for a full version of BattleForge with their HD 5770 1GB which very few other manufacturers will do come launch.
When it comes to the HD 5770 1GB, there is simply nothing else on the market today which features this kind of performance and efficiency in the sub-$200 category. Period.
Pros:
- Great performance per watt
- Quiet
- Very efficient
- Lifetime warranty
- Included game
- Compact size
Cons:
- Unknown performance in DX11 titles
Conclusion
With ATI DX11 cards being brought to market at what seems like every week, you would be forgiven if you blinked and missed a release. Indeed, they seem to be hell bent on blanketing nearly every price point with a card before the competition can even give us a preview of their answering salvo. With a broad range of 5000-series cards now under their belts, the boys in red can lay back and watch the sales roll in. As we have said, the push to release a whole series of cards instead of only concentrating on the high end segment is a change this industry needed and we can do nothing but applaud ATI for stepping up to the plate in this regard.
In our previous reviews of the HD 5870 and HD 5850, we had praise for ATI’s attention to performance at a fair price and the HD 5770 1GB doesn’t do anything to change that. It introduces some competition into a section of the market that had previously been dominated by the 512MB and 1GB iterations of the GTS 250 / 9800 GTX+ and blows the doors straight off those cards. It also manages to maintain more than enough of a lead over the HD 5750 to justify its price premium.
If we can play devil’s advocate for a moment, there are other cards on the market that perform very close to or above the HD 5770 1GB but are priced to move as well. Considering the number of products at or near its $160USD price tag, the new kid on the block is in a much tougher fight when compared to the wide open field the HD 5870 and HD 5850 were introduced into. If we look at pure performance and don’t take power consumption or heat production into account, the GTX 260 216 is still around and trades blows with the HD 5770 but costs about as much after rebates are factored in. The HD 4890 – a card many thought the HD 5770 would compete with- goes for $200USD or thereabouts but offers heaps of additional performance. Neither has the sexiness factor of that prized DX11 sticker but they are alternatives if you can’t see yourself making a wager on unproven next generation performance. However, it you take overall efficiency, price before rebates and noise output into account, the HD 5770 is far more appealing than either of those cards.
All surmising aside, this card represents a huge leap forward for a marketplace that is looking for more budget-minded solutions without extravagant price tags. In this respect, we find that ATI fit all the right pieces into place in order to balance out performance, efficiency and pricing. The mere fact that we can mention this $160 card’s performance in the same sentence as that of the GTX 260 216 really does say a lot about what ATI has accomplished in such a short time. In one sweep, the HD 5770 has cut the legs right out from under the GTS 250 series and has given the GTX 260 216 a black eye. That’s impressive stuff to say the least.
XFX has once again put their best step forward by bringing a card to market with a great warranty which does nothing but add to this card's value. To make matters even better, they have included a voucher for a full version of BattleForge with their HD 5770 1GB which very few other manufacturers will do come launch.
When it comes to the HD 5770 1GB, there is simply nothing else on the market today which features this kind of performance and efficiency in the sub-$200 category. Period.
Pros:
- Great performance per watt
- Quiet
- Very efficient
- Lifetime warranty
- Included game
- Compact size
Cons:
- Unknown performance in DX11 titles
