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Exclusive: XFX Radeon HD 4770 [Review]

Roydon Cerejo, Apr 28, 2009 2131 hrs IST

Boo-ya! We review the world's first 40nm graphics card - the XFX HD 4770

Expert Rating:

Great performance, custom cooler, good overclocker, low power consumption

No overclocking software, occupies two slots, expensive

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EXPERT REVIEW

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.

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USER COMMENTS

Can anyone tell me where can I buy it in Pune? I am not able to find even ATI cards in some of the prominent shops in Pune. I was actaully looking for 4850, but I think this one looks better.

by Sandeep Kulkarn, Pune, on Jul 08, 2009 11:57 PM, Report abuse Reply

That's an amazing review keep up the great work Techtree...

by Grim, Bangalore, on May 22, 2009 01:58 AM, Report abuse Reply

Will this card work with my asus M2A-VM motherboard

by tushar, barnala, on May 18, 2009 03:07 AM, Report abuse Reply

could i attach this graphic card with my asus (m2a-mx) motherboard, i really need ur help, i m new in this matter. athor brand of this card are:- MSI, HIS, Sapphire, Diamond, Gigabyte & Powercolor which one is the best please help me please......

by yubi, patiala, on May 05, 2009 11:18 PM, Report abuse Reply

I guess you can, but the card will work at reduced speed since it of PCI Express 2.0 and one on your mboard is PCI Express.

by Gopinath Billav, Mysore, on May 08, 2009 01:51 PM, Report abuse

You can definitely use the card on that mobo without any performance loss since its a midrange card. Right now, MSI seems to have a very competitive pricing of around 6.5K (in Delhi at least) so if you can find one for similar pricing, its a steal.

by Roydon, Mumbai, on May 12, 2009 07:52 PM, Report abuse

hiii,sir i have a intex-4800 watts subwoofer,but i want its sound quality features,life,how's experience compatibility of 5.1 channel home theatre system,so pls give more information about it.

by manish shahgal, patna, on May 11, 2009 02:20 AM, Report abuse Reply

Now AMD had dropped the prices to $90 for 4770 i.e 5-6k Rs

by Gopinath Billav, Mysore, on May 05, 2009 04:26 PM, Report abuse Reply

Well, i got one, the Diamond 4770 at Frys here in the USA. It is kinda a high price, but since May all prices went up on Disk & Video about 10%. Issue is it needs newer drivers, 9.4 does not seem to load for it. it seems slick, i'll be testing it out and comparing to 4850.

by Cor'e =), Poorland O-ree-gone, on May 03, 2009 12:36 AM, Report abuse Reply

congrates for bringing the first available retail card review. You should consider that a modest testbench while reviewing a mass market graphics card. This will give more appropriate understanding of how the card will perform on an average joe's pc. keep up your good work :)

by pcgamer, pccity, on May 02, 2009 02:41 PM, Report abuse Reply

MSI HD4770 is available in Nehru Place Delhi for ~6.5k only....

by HailStonE, Anonymous, on Apr 30, 2009 09:09 PM, Report abuse Reply

Nice review and test system but I think the appropriate nvidia card to use as comparison would be the 9600GT and not the 9800GT. When you're not comparing the "cream-of-the-crop" "monies no issue" components it more comes down to "bang-for-the-buck". The current price of the HD4770, here in Canada is $130.00 so also the 9600GT at $130.00 but the 9800GT is retailing at $160.00. Also, to be fair, the nvidia comparison card should have been over-clocked to show it's maximum potential.

by FeAr3d, Toronto, on Apr 30, 2009 08:49 PM, Report abuse Reply

100$ card for 200$ thats total rip off it should be priced at 6 - 7k

by Chintan, Mumbai, on Apr 29, 2009 01:43 PM, Report abuse Reply

you have one badass review rig! I really miss your "Build your own pc with Rs <> budget" series. Pls restart it!

by Chandan, Mumbai, on Apr 28, 2009 10:31 PM, Report abuse Reply

Yes, I vote for it

by Gopinath Billav, mysore, on Apr 29, 2009 12:11 PM, Report abuse

when it will be available in the market?

by yubi, patiala, on Apr 29, 2009 10:05 AM, Report abuse Reply

"Occupies two slots" can hardly be considered a negative. It's practically the de facto standard now. Jeez.

by Angad, Los Angeles, on Apr 29, 2009 04:10 AM, Report abuse Reply