The GTX 550 Ti is in a lower class than the other cards. Consider it dropped

Since i have to start completely fresh, i might as well use my new CPU speed of 4.2GHz for general benching. i'm glad i7-920 is still just as relevant as a very mildly overclocked 2600K might be as an enthusiast's choice for even extreme graphics.

i actually do have GTX 560 benches slightly overclocked at 830/2004. However, they are benched with the last WHQLs - 285s
-- unfortunately, i don't have the card any longer.

Shall i include them? The Sapphire HD 7770 scores 16707 in Vantage; the GTX 560 scores 19875 and the Ti scores about 22000
- the 550 TI scores about 13500 ... so if you really want to see it . . .


And now that i think about it, i *will* include GTX 550 Ti
- why not, since i am benching HD 6770 also?

If you do, please try to observe the issues regarding GTX 550 Ti ( viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21797&view=unread#p59879 ) and make notes whenever it seems to stutter/hitch more than what the frame rates suggest. Maybe an article on it, even?? Then AMD will be back on your side!! Just kidding, not to make enemies with Nvidia!

HD 7770 is a decent card; it is just priced high (for now)

The thing i am concerned about is being LATE with this review; i doubt that i can finish it this week. i am taking a short 3 day vacation and flying for the first time since 9-11. All this crap about what you can and can't pack - 3.4 oz total of liquid in a ziplock

Worst of all, i can't tell from the ticket/site what baggage is included in the ticket price - the airline wants to charge $25 for a bag check in. And of course there is no CS (other than AI) to ask.

As you might guess, i am really busy getting prepared for a major review and i am trying to clear everything else now. In the meantime, i am writing my Thermaltake Frio and Frio OC reviews while benching Sapphire's HD 7770's OC'd to 1150MHz card. Plus there are at least 3 other reviews coming on the mobile platform from Mario, our new contributing editor.

What is interesting to report (so far) is that there is no headroom much beyond Sapphire's OC. Base clock is 1000MHz and Sapphire got it to 1150MHz and i can barely squeeze another +45MHz out. The first 150MHz gets a solid performance increase but the other "extra" (nearly) +50Mhz barely does anything.

It *appears* at this point that the performance gain from overclocking (mini) Tahiti is not linear as many seem to claim.

EDIT:
oh .. in case you noticed the topic's title change (... + ??) ... yep, another mystery card arrived at ABT for benching. i'll start on it as soon as HD 7770 benching is finished)

Looking forward to it

So how did this new mystery card arrive? through the mail? or did it follow you home from your working holiday?

It wouldn't be much of a mystery card if i spill the beans now


i don't get to bench it until i am done with the HD 7770; i made that promise to myself
(so that means no sleep for awhile)

Confirmed.

Does anyone find this interesting? Severely curtailed and diminishing returns on OC'ing the higher you go - despite claims to the contrary. There is very little gain from the +50Hz compared to the +150MHz added by Sapphire to the base clock of 1000MHz core. And i cannot get any more than 1200MHz without adjusting voltage; temperature is not an issue. It is at the edge of stability.

i cannot wait to get my hands on a HD 7970. It looks like a possibility now.

Hey, ya know, HD 7770 is rather bandwidth-limited, so adding even more core clock only exacerbates the bottlenecking factor of the memory. HD 7770 has over 50% more shader compute AND texturing power than HD 7750 which has the same bandwidth, yet it's only 28% faster overall.

HD 7770 is probably the highest-performing card (94 Voodoopower) with the least bandwidth in its class.

Now, I wish somebody could answer me as to what the magic about Barts is that allows it to perform better than Cayman specs-wise, even though it's still based on "old" VLIW5 architecture!

Beyond3D failed this challenge so utterly desperately!