Official HD7770/7750 Reviews Thread

[busydude]

Reading these posts is making me feel stupid.

Yes, LWA.. there is no game in the whole wide world that uses more than 512MB at 1680X1050.. which is also "playable" on a 4870. None at all!

Can we move on please.

 

[Stuka87]

Previous to my 7950 I had a 512MB 5750. There are plenty of games that would start having plenty of issues if I turned settings up because the frame buffer was full. And various utilities showed the frame buffer was hanging around 500MB.

To say a game doesn't need over 512MB of memory is laughable. I think the fact that my 7950 will use close to 1.5GB at 1080P shows the game wants that much memory for best performance.

For the 77x0, 1GB is most likely plenty for them. As they are not fast enough to crank settings up high enough to use more than that.

 

[blckgrffn]

Previous to my 7950 I had a 512MB 5750. There are plenty of games that would start having plenty of issues if I turned settings up because the frame buffer was full. And various utilities showed the frame buffer was hanging around 500MB.

To say a game doesn't need over 512MB of memory is laughable. I think the fact that my 7950 will use close to 1.5GB at 1080P shows the game wants that much memory for best performance.

For the 77x0, 1GB is most likely plenty for them. As they are not fast enough to crank settings up high enough to use more than that.

I do wish, though, that they would have had 192-Bit memory interface and 1.5GB of RAM. Then we'd be able to clearly identify it above the 5750/5770. It would have used more power, though, so I can see where that wouldn't have gone over well. A DDR3 7730 might have been an option with a wider bus, however.

And as we talk about the 7770 being a better card "for the future" being able to run those eventual games that move the RAM watermark above 1GB for textures even at lower resolutions would have been nice.

 

[Concillian]

You have no clue of what you're talking about. Neither card [4870 or 5770] is meant for a res higher than 1680x1050, and they're not fast enough to push the amount of textures needed to use more than 512MB. As in, by the time they can exploit it they're already at unplayable framerates.

Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about when I actually run a 5770 in Skyrim at 1920x1200 with texture packs that fill 700+ MB of Video memory.

Yes, it's quite playable. There are settings that are not maxed, but highest visual detail for this card in this game is obtained by running lower settings on certain settings and using high res textures.

It's quite possible to effectively utilize more than 512MB RAM on a card of this power level.

 

[Concillian]

I do wish, though, that they would have had 192-Bit memory interface and 1.5GB of RAM. Then we'd be able to clearly identify it above the 5750/5770. It would have used more power, though, so I can see where that wouldn't have gone over well. A DDR3 7730 might have been an option with a wider bus, however.

See the GCN vs. VLIW5 comparo thread that talks about pad size limitations. This die size is down near the limit of 128 bit pad area. I doubt 192bit is possible with a die of this size.

 

[blckgrffn]

See the GCN vs. VLIW5 comparo thread that talks about pad size limitations. This die size is down near the limit of 128 bit pad area. I doubt 192bit is possible with a die of this size.

Ah, I see, that makes sense.

Then the darn thing should be cheaper then!!!

A few months from now when these are priced right I think they'll be a pretty popular pick at the $100 level.

 

[Infraction Jack]

Every time I see GCN I think Nintendo GameCube.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Sigh. Really? Are you going to trot out some charts from Tom's? Because that is where I got my last little bit of data from. Turning on Ultra on a 512 MB card tanked ye' old minimum frames pretty good, and I was looking at resolutions higher than that since I don't agree with your assertion that the 4870 dies above the resolution you sited.

And its an RTS, not an FPS. That makes a huge difference in what is "playable".

FWIW, this thread is way off track. If you want to continue this discussion (I am sure) please make a new thread about it.

20 FPS min. isn't playable even in an RTS.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about when I actually run a 5770 in Skyrim at 1920x1200 with texture packs that fill 700+ MB of Video memory.

Yes, it's quite playable. There are settings that are not maxed, but highest visual detail for this card in this game is obtained by running lower settings on certain settings and using high res textures.

It's quite possible to effectively utilize more than 512MB RAM on a card of this power level.

I don't care about texture packs, and what software monitoring says doesn't matter except if you're having framerate dips caused by running out of video memory. Just because it's reporting usage of more than 512MB of VRAM doesn't mean it's actually making a difference.

I don't want to hear another thing about VRAM from anyone. You guys are done. take it to PM.
-ViRGE

 

[blckgrffn]

20 FPS min. isn't playable even in an RTS.

Good thing I don't care about your opinion, stated as a definition there.

I'm sure there are plenty of people "playing" SC2 whose minimum frames dip much lower than that. Very sure, because I know and play with a dozen or so of them, cheap bastards that they are

But by all means, continue to beat on this.

 

[Concillian]

I don't care about texture packs, and what software monitoring says doesn't matter except if you're having framerate dips caused by running out of video memory. Just because it's reporting usage of more than 512MB of VRAM doesn't mean it's actually making a difference.

Lol, don't care about texture packs... Everyone who talks about VRAM always wants to create scenarios that never use VRAM... Yes, if you put up artificial limitations until you've gated off all possible scenarios that can use additional VRAM, then yes, extra VRAM is useless. I actually use 1GB of VRAM on a GPU this powerful just fine. Also, I don't need an application to tell me when I've used too much VRAM. When you load too many high res textures, a game hitches BADLY. Like really, really badly. I know I'm near the maximum of my 1GB VRAM because if I use even 10% more, performance goes from fine to COMPLETELY unplayable due to the hitching.

Ignore reality if you need to do that, but it doesn't change reality.

Most people who have theories disproved will search for ways to revise their theories to fit the new data. Not you though...
If you have a theory that says it's physically impossible for a bee to fly, and you see a bee flying... you shout at the bee to land! He can't possibly be flying, he needs to fall out of the sky, so you'll yell at him to fall out of the sky!

I don't want to hear another thing about VRAM from anyone. You guys are done. take it to PM.
-ViRGE

 

[Chiropteran]

Not to change the subject or anything, but sounds like the 7770 isn't that great at bitcoin mining.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64241.0

Latest Diablominer as of 2/17/2012, 12.2 with bundled 2.6 SDK, Win7 64bit, clocked at 1230MHz: 183MH/s vs 181 MH/s Phoenix 2.0 with fine-tuned paramaters

Basically the same or worse than a 5770. Power usage is probably better, but overall it doesn't sound like a card with buying for mining at the current prices. Of course, things could change with further miner optimization.

 

[formulav8]

Well its much better than the rambling going on the last few posts...

 

[-Slacker-]

2^ Well ... 640 SPs... bitcoin miners don't take kindly to that...

 

[formulav8]

Has the 79xx gpu's proven to be much better at mining than the 58xx gpu's? Wasn't the 58xx gpus the ones to get for mining, even compared to the 69xx series?

 

[blckgrffn]

Not to change the subject or anything, but sounds like the 7770 isn't that great at bitcoin mining.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64241.0



Basically the same or worse than a 5770. Power usage is probably better, but overall it doesn't sound like a card with buying for mining at the current prices. Of course, things could change with further miner optimization.

Good to know, thanks for sharing. That's a bummer You'd have though that this many years later we'd have at least picked up some compute power? I suppose we should consider that at least they didn't get worse at things they were once good at... (AMD GPUs, that is...)

 

[Vesku]

More confirmation to me that the 7770 should have had 128 more SPs (12 GCN CUs instead of 10). Hope the 7800 series is better price/(perf/w)

 

[Chiropteran]

Has the 79xx gpu's proven to be much better at mining than the 58xx gpu's? Wasn't the 58xx gpus the ones to get for mining, even compared to the 69xx series?

On a mhash/w basis, the 7970 is the top mining card. As far as total mhash for a single card, it's only beaten by the dual GPU 5970 and 6990- which are almost impossible to find for sale new anymore, and they use a lot more power than a 7970. The 7970 is also a great option for a casual miner who also wants top gaming performance without the drawbacks of crossfire.

Actually, on a mhash/dollar basis the 7970 beats the 6 series cards, so it may just be the best card to invest in for mining right now if you don't want to deal with lots and lots of cheap 5 series cards.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

The 6 series isn't really that bad at mining, only a little bit worse than the 5 series equivalents, but when newegg and other places were practically giving 5830s away for free it just didn't make a lot of sense to buy expensive 6 series cards for mining. The 6970 does mine a little better than the 5870 on average, and the 6990 is the highest mhash single card- it just wasn't worth the price premium over a 5970.

 

[Red Hawk]

I think LWA has confused the Radeon HD 5770/4870 for the 5670/6670. THOSE are the cards that can't use more than 512 MB of VRAM even if they have more. I for one play games at 1080p all the time on my 5770; it's usually not memory issues that bog my PC down, but shader-heavy features like ambient occlusion (at least, I think ambient occlusion is shader-heavy...)

 

[MrTeal]

On a mhash/w basis, the 7970 is the top mining card. As far as total mhash for a single card, it's only beaten by the dual GPU 5970 and 6990- which are almost impossible to find for sale new anymore, and they use a lot more power than a 7970. The 7970 is also a great option for a casual miner who also wants top gaming performance without the drawbacks of crossfire.

Actually, on a mhash/dollar basis the 7970 beats the 6 series cards, so it may just be the best card to invest in for mining right now if you don't want to deal with lots and lots of cheap 5 series cards.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

The 6 series isn't really that bad at mining, only a little bit worse than the 5 series equivalents, but when newegg and other places were practically giving 5830s away for free it just didn't make a lot of sense to buy expensive 6 series cards for mining. The 6970 does mine a little better than the 5870 on average, and the 6990 is the highest mhash single card- it just wasn't worth the price premium over a 5970.

I think it's fairly dependent on clocks and shaders, at least between the 5xxx-7xxx series. I just grabbed a couple average values from the hardware chart, but I got this

5870 - 288 Hash/(Shaders*MHz)
6970 - 278 Hash/(Shaders*MHz)
7970 - 287 Hash/(Shaders*MHz)

Obviously, the new 28nm cards will be more efficient, but the most important factor is the shaders and clocks.

 

[marsspirit123]

If I compare 7750 to my 4870 512mb , the 7750 looks very good . My 4870 has 2 pcix6 power conectors atatched vs none for the 7750 . And still 7750 is only around 10% lower performance vs 4870.And that's just amazing if you ask me . My 4870 was $150 3 years ago.

 

[toyota]

If I compare 7750 to my 4870 512mb , the 7750 looks very good . My 4870 has 2 pcix6 power conectors atatched vs none for the 7750 . And still 7750 is only around 10% lower performance vs 4870.And that's just amazing if you ask me . My 4870 was $150 3 years ago.

well the 55nm 4870 is now 3.5 years old which is a long time in the computer world. by now I would expect nothing less than being able to match it on a 28nm new architecture gpu for well under 150 bucks.

 

[Termie]

The sale prices on these cards are finally starting to appear. Tigerdirect has the standard Sapphire model available for $130AR/FS/Code(YRH56338): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2042277&Sku=A271-7770

At this price, I'd say the card is very competitive.

 

[railven]

The sale prices on these cards are finally starting to appear. Tigerdirect has the standard Sapphire model available for $130AR/FS/Code(YRH56338): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2042277&Sku=A271-7770

At this price, I'd say the card is very competitive.

Holy cow is this true?

Minimum PSU Wattage Requirement: 600 Watt

HAHA. Not bad, glad they're starting to discount them, at their original value these things were pointless.

Hmmm, got someone trying to build an entry level gaming PC, this vs HD 6870? Better tess, lower power, and heat, but still ~10% slower on average.

Hmmmm....guess I'll let him decide.

 

[blckgrffn]

The sale prices on these cards are finally starting to appear. Tigerdirect has the standard Sapphire model available for $130AR/FS/Code(YRH56338): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2042277&Sku=A271-7770

At this price, I'd say the card is very competitive.

Yeah, now we're talking!

I am still holding out, $100 is my buy point, for the Wife's PC (3870 if finally crapping out, the factory memory OC causes artifacts and she finally noticed afterburner and asked about it, since I am using that to reduce the memory clocks.) She does have 24" monitor, but I think we can all agree the 7770 is going to be quite the step up over a GDDR4 512MB 3870. Also, the 3870 seems to constantly run @ 3D clocks. Not a huge deal as its TDP is so nice and low, but the 7770 should provide a good bit of power savings too. I believe the 3870 was purchased in 2008, got it for $120, so it's served its purpose.