For what it was when released, there ...was never a better card. a 100(ish) dollar video card that was within reach of even the most expensive high performance single card solutions available...and while achieving that also ran cooler, used less power, and ran quieter. Here we are 2 years later, STILL a damn decent card! The new 57 and 58 and now 68 cards FINALLY caught up and passed the venerable 4800s and its cheaper little brother the 4770...but in many ways its still just as good. The main selling point of the newer cards is DX11 compatibility...except DX11 isnt put yet nor will games be DX11 compatible before summer...so spending an extra 50 or 100 for the latest is probably foolish because by the tyme enough new software shopws up to need the upgrade...yet another new gen of cards may be out before you get to need the current generation! Add to that that the 4770 supports all the major features, and has ridiculously low power consumtion (despite the claims of minimum 500w psu required, Its been tested at 350 stable in HD gaming! The thing doesnt yank any amps! Peaking out under 300 for static and maxing around 360 momentarily!). They recommend the 500w or greater...but the card is so efficient it will likely never need it unless crossfired and strained to death at max res all features). And now its cheaper too! Cant say enough, still one of my favorite dollars to performance choices out there...if you can find one refurbed or used (or even new if you are ucky!) then I highly recommend!
Pros: -Stays cool with ease -Overclocks well -Scales in ...CrossfireX like no other -First card to utilize GDDR5 -Matches what a 4850 can do with a minor overclock. Cons: -Limited to 512MB of memory (stutters in higher resolutions) -Memory bandwidth is low by today's standards -Lack of voltage control limits the overclock potential -Non-Reference design further limits the overclock potential _______________________________________________________________________________ Great card overall. I've owned three at one time and can say that Tri-CrossfireX scales up to roughly 250% when compared to single card use. Unfortunately, though, the half gig framebuffer that the card has is the primary limitation of this line of GPUs made. It was the primary reason why the 4850 continued to sell over this card. Worth every penny I paid. Fantasic little card. Vastly underestimated by most.
The HD4770 is without doubt the best grapics card... in it's category. It consistantly out performs it's competetors (see benchmark tests) through your browser. I happened onto the HD4770 after recommendations by associates who have used the unit over the last couple of years without problem and are still so satisfied with it's performance that upgrading is not considered. A few points to note. Your system must be PCi express and operate with a minimum 450 watt (PSU)power supply unit. As to price, you must shop around, waiting is worth it as some suppliers are charging upwards of £140.00. It took me 3 weeks to make my purchase of only £66.50 including delivery. Happy gaming
Us...ing two of these on Crossfire, has done some excellent rendering for the most current video game. Battlefield 3 has a fps of about 40-50 FPS, which can be compared to a 5000 or even 6000 series when using crossfire. I'd definitely recommend this card as a single gpu for high-end office processing or two gpus running crossfire to have the most current and affordable gpu without such a high latency and price to pay.
Had enough time looking for the vi...deo card, excellent products, good price and quality, just what I needed.