# Exclusive: XFX HD4770 Review



## krazzy (Apr 29, 2009)

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Source: www.techtree.com
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*

Exclusive: XFX HD4770 [Review]*


*images.techtree.com/ttimages/story/101505_front.jpg


40nm fabrication is finally commercial and for the first time it's a GPU instead of a CPU, and who other than ATI to bring you the world's first 40nm graphics card. 

After striking gold with their 55nm RV770 GPU back in August last year, the RV740 is finally a reality. Shrinking the die further means cheaper cost of production (though the fabrication process itself is more expensive initially at least) since you get more dies per wafer of silicon and also lower power consumption, which eventually gives you lower operating temperatures.

The RV740 is not architecturally very different from the RV770; in fact it supports the exact same features. This GPU is fabricated using the 40nm process and comes with 640 stream processors (or shaders) just like the HD4830. In order to lower the cost of the card, the memory bus has been cut down to 128-bit instead of 256-bit, but to compensate for that ATI has chosen GDDR5 memory which is relatively easy to implement while drawing less power (1.5v). So instead of just shrinking the die of the HD4830, ATI has taken a slightly different route by giving you low voltage and much faster GDDR5 memory coupled with higher clock speeds for better performance. 

The HD4830 was never far behind from the HD4850 and now with the HD4770 replacing it and promising better performance, that gap is soon closing up. *We managed to snap up the only retail sample of the XFX HD4770 available in the country* and are going to compare it with the reference card to find out what XFX has done differently. The direct competition to the HD4770 from Nvidia is the 9800GT, so of course that's there, and then we have the HD4830 and the HD4850 to complete the group.

*Continue Reading:*
*www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/Exclusive_XFX_HD4770_Review/551-101505-537.html

Usually I prefer not to advertise Techtree reviews here, but I thought you might be interested in this one. 8)


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## naveen_reloaded (May 1, 2009)

sorry for not keeping g a track on GFX off lately..

why is there so much buzz about this card ?


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## desiibond (May 1, 2009)

1) World's first card based on 40nm fabrication chip
2) cheaper than 9800GT and competes with GTS250 and HD4850
3) lakes lot less power


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## desiibond (May 1, 2009)

XFX gone crazy and priced HD4770 at 8.7k. This is crazy!!!


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## saqib_khan (May 1, 2009)

XFX's graphics card are always pricey. MSI 4770 costs 6.5k approx. 

@naveen_reloaded
And add to that it performs just 10 % less in comparison to 4850. Now compare the prices & performance, and u'll know that 4770 is the real VFM card.


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## dOm1naTOr (May 1, 2009)

4770 costs less than 100$ outside. So its insane to price it at 8.7k by XFX.
6~6.5k looks like a sweet spot.


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## dOm1naTOr (May 1, 2009)

Lets wait for the Palit


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## IronManForever (May 2, 2009)

Well yeah. I was kinda right about Full HD gaming nearing 5k price point soon. 

The choices are so lucrative right now. Sadly its a long time before I buy one.


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## gxsaurav (May 2, 2009)

For some reason I don't like this card. It could be just that I don't buy a graphics card just for gaming anymore.

ATI needs to do something to compete with nVidia CUDA. Badaboom is something which normal users are also finding appealing as it helps convert videos fast


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## comp@ddict (May 2, 2009)

^^ATi has something tht competes with Badaboom, and both have same speed. Only, the output format selection(choices) are much more for the ATi softie.

ATi has Havok, and c'mon, how many games use PhysX?


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## Zangetsu (May 5, 2009)

will it beat 4850 

 i was planing 2 get the 4850...?????


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## desiibond (May 5, 2009)

It won't beat HD4850 at stock speed but with little bit of overclocking, it will.


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## dOm1naTOr (May 5, 2009)

palit one costs only 6.5k !
and heard cfx 4770 beats 4890 and GTX 260 by a gud margin. so probably X2 might well comes close to GTX 275 and ll be cheaper than cfx.


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## comp@ddict (May 5, 2009)

Price has dropped, now with in-mail-rebate, it's only 89$


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## desiibond (May 5, 2009)

still, I checked in Golcha (Bangalore) for Sapphire HD4770 512MB card and they quoted Rs.7,900


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## comp@ddict (May 5, 2009)

best place is to order ol from te-dealers paradise


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## desiibond (May 5, 2009)

definitely. I couldn't find any any difference between MSI and Sapphire cards so I think it's better to get MSI's version.


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## desiibond (May 5, 2009)

I have decided to upgrade my PC. And this is what I decided

1) AMD Phenom II X4 720 (will wait till this one's price comes down to 6k)
2) 790FX chipset based CF enabled board (so that I can have freedom to add a second HD4770 in the future)
3) 2x2Gb DDR2 800MHz RAM
4) HD4770

First I will buy HD4770 when Palit releases sonic edition so that i can do a bit more overclocking. Then I will go for mobo+cpu+ram upgrade.


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## j1n M@tt (May 5, 2009)

the card shown in the first post will cost only normal pricing of HD4770 like other brands. XFX Premium Reference Design HD4770 costs above 8k :
*img380.imageshack.us/img380/8350/img139022xfxati.jpg  

source : techPowerUp


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## hot zubs (May 5, 2009)

desiibond said:


> I have decided to upgrade my PC. And this is what I decided
> 
> 1) AMD Phenom II X4 720 (will wait till this one's price comes down to 6k)
> 2) 790FX chipset based CF enabled board (so that I can have freedom to add a second HD4770 in the future)
> ...



dude wats d price of 790FX....


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## dOm1naTOr (May 5, 2009)

XFX one looks cool, but they are always pricing ATI cards like dumb morons. At 8k who wud buy that card, when 4850 is available for same or lower price? 4850 too can be oced to get better performance.

and 4770above 8.5k is no way vfm, as for 10.3k GTX 260 is there.


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## desiibond (May 5, 2009)

hot zubs said:


> dude wats d price of 790FX....



around 9k I think.


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## desiibond (May 5, 2009)

I seriously think this will be a really really wrong time to buy HD4770. it's overpriced and except XFX all are based on reference design. Am going to wait till end of this month.


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## j1n M@tt (May 5, 2009)

always waiting for some time to drop in prices after the release of a new card is a wise thing to do. btw reviews says an overclocked HD4770 can beat a HD4850, so dat XFX premium model with a better cooler is not a bad option for overclockers.


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## comp@ddict (May 6, 2009)

I think by then there will be more non-reference models by other partners, which mite be better than AMD's premium cooler.


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## dOm1naTOr (May 6, 2009)

even if XFX dual slot non reference cooler cud do gud oc to beat 4850, even a reference 4850 can oc yielding better results... and both roughly hare at same price.

palit>>>>do some miracle.


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## comp@ddict (May 6, 2009)

Yeah, a Palit HD4770 "SONIC" is very welcome now.

BTW, here's the REVIEW of an OCed HD4770, with clock speeds which I think partners might make default for their cards.

*www.expreview.com/img/review/HD4770OC/GPU-z.png

Core - 850MHz(piece of cake!!)
Memory - 1000MHz(it's rated to run at that speed!!)

Settings *MAX* - Res. 1920x1200
*www.expreview.com/img/review/HD4770OC/cry.png

*www.expreview.com/img/review/HD4770OC/l4d01.png

*www.expreview.com/img/review/HD4770OC/cod.png

*www.expreview.com/img/review/HD4770OC/wic.png

*www.expreview.com/img/review/HD4770OC/gta.png

*RESULT*
The HD4770 beats the HD4850 hands down with this new speed of it's, even while not consuming as much power as that of an HD4830(after OC too).

The card beats the GTS 250 in majority of the games, and in 3D Mark, the card's a total WINNER.


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## desiibond (May 6, 2009)

Today, I went to SP Road and saw the Sapphire version of the card.

Got tempted, bought it for 7.2k

The cooler is superb and is entirely made of copper.


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## desiibond (May 6, 2009)

But fcuk AMD, the drivers are not latest and after reasses of Windows 7 rating, the rating for Graphics dropped from 5.9 to 2.0


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## j1n M@tt (May 6, 2009)

plz post pics of ur HD4770 dude


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## IronManForever (May 7, 2009)

desiibond said:


> Today, I went to SP Road and saw the Sapphire version of the card.
> 
> Got tempted, bought it for 7.2k
> 
> The cooler is superb and is entirely made of copper.



Congrats! However I still feel that you will be hitting a limit because of your other components. 
-----

Its awesome! OC gives astonshingly better results than the default, which is not seen in every case. What's the secret?


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## desiibond (May 7, 2009)

secret is 40nm 

yes. I will be changing proc+mobo in two weeks time and then I will go full throttle. Am able to play games at high settings on 1440x900 already. a processor upgrade should give additional 10-20fps.


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## vamsi_krishna (May 7, 2009)

I've upgraded my machine a week ago. I've not purchased the Graphics Card. I wanna buy one. I've 8.5k of budget. And i'm thinking of ATI Readon HD 4870 or Geforce 9800GTX. 

But the discussion is tempting me to buy HD 4770. But my room is not properly ventilated and i can't afford for a thrid party coller. Does overclocking the HD4770 at stock coller Fries the card ?.... after continuos use say 4-5 hours? Help me.


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## desiibond (May 7, 2009)

HD4770 is lot lot cooler when compared to HD4870 or 9800GTX but it is much slower than HD4870. If you have FullHD display, better get GTX260 SP216 for 11k


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## dOm1naTOr (May 7, 2009)

btw @vamsikrishna919
4870 is a 11k+ card and 4770 is a 7k worth card. 
get a 4770 with a dual slot aftermarket cooler that throes hot air outside.

and yeah, GTX 260@11k has no competition, until a 40nm GPu from ati releases to replace 4870/4890.


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## vamsi_krishna (May 7, 2009)

thanks for info. But is there going to be any price cut in GFX cards in  near future?

I can wait for 2months.


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## desiibond (May 7, 2009)

^^yes. there will be, atleast from nVidia for sub 8k cards to compete with HD4770

At this point of time, I think HD4770 is best card for 6k-9k.
for 10k-13k, it's GTX260 SP216


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## IronManForever (May 7, 2009)

desiibond said:
			
		

> secret is 40nm


Thats the secret to good clocks on OC, not 'why' the performance results are much more than expected for OC. 
I mean, we wont see the same result by increasing the clock speed in each and every GPU.. The way performance sclaed here is great!


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## desiibond (May 7, 2009)

1) 40nm means less heat and more efficiency
2) GDDR5
3) higher core clock speed

Remember, at stock speed, it is slower than HD4850 but when it is oced by 10%, it beats HD4850. Thanks to the new fabrication and low heat/power, it has much overclocking room. This is why it is able to compete with HD4850 and GTS 250.


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## IronManForever (May 7, 2009)

^ All that I know, I just meant to ask a different thing altogether, but never mind.


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## desiibond (May 7, 2009)

hmm okay.

how about this:

The architecture of HD4770 and HD4850 is almost the same. And the things that are less in HD4770 is 128-bit memory bus width and 193MHz slower Memory clock and 160 less shaders.

Now, HD4770 has faster core clock, lot lot faster GDDR5 RAM. As a result of this, it was only a bit slower than HD4850. Now, when I increase core clock even higher and Memory clock made same/higher as/than that in HD4850, HD4770 should be lot more faster than HD4850 because it has faster RAM, faster memory clock and faster core clock. This should be the reason why for small increments in clock, we are seeing high increase in fps.


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## comp@ddict (May 7, 2009)

^^To beat HD4850 full on, set to following parameters:-

Core - 800MHz(50MHz only!)
Memory - 1000MHz(check the chips, they ARE RATED TO RUN AT 1000MHz, 1.0ns chips)


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## damngoodman999 (May 7, 2009)

1Ghz memory on HD 4770 surely boosts the FPS in all the games  ,, 

@ desiibond : in some games only HD 4770 lows on to the HD 4850 many games its equal may be if u change ur proccy then u ll get more FPS !!


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## j1n M@tt (May 7, 2009)

@desiibond

is ur Sapphire HD4770 a dual slot card??


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## desiibond (May 7, 2009)

nope. Sapphire's is not a dual slot card but it's cooler is big and luckily, it nearly touches the soundcard in PCI slot. Will post a detailed picture in the morning.


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## dOm1naTOr (May 7, 2009)

heer are those pics
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114849

and it seems a dual slot, but is not fully covered, and has a big copper heatsink. but it leave the air inside the chassis itself.


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## j1n M@tt (May 7, 2009)

^^it's the stock reference cooler for ATi HD4770.


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