ATi Radeon 5770 Performance Test
OpenGL
Next I’ll test a selection of OpenGL games. You might be wondering why Quake 1 and Quake 2 are in the list, why they’re only run at 1680×1050 with 2xAA, and why they run so slow compared to the more modern titles.
The answer is that these particular versions are source ports. They implement per-pixel lighting & shadowing, parallax mapping, HDR, post-processing, water shaders, and other nice features. Combine these features with high resolution content and the games not only look like they could’ve been released today, but they also make excellent graphics test-beds. These two source ports are by far the most demanding OpenGL games available today, and with all details cranked even a GTX285 can drop into single digit framerates at the settings I used.
After the disastrous performance on the previous page, the 5770 bounces back with its best performance to date. It’s a significant 27.60% faster than the 4850 overall, but more importantly it’s 14.08% faster than the 260+ overall. This is an excellent result as the 260+ is the more expensive card.
The red team generates impressive performance in Quake 4. Prey and Doom 3, and nVidia’s old Achilles heel with 8xMSAA in OpenGL is still around. The 5770 has a huge 37.97% and 35.91% advantage over the 260+ in Quake 4 and Prey respectively. Also the 4850 almost matches the 260+ in Prey, and isn’t much slower in Quake 4.
But Doom 3 is where ATi absolutely crushes nVidia with quite possibly the biggest beating administered by either vendor today. The 5770 is a whopping 63.50% faster than the 260+ and 27.77% faster than the 285. To further rub salt in the wound, the 4850 also outruns the 260+ despite having half the VRAM and memory bandwidth. I retested ATi’s cards repeatedly because I couldn’t believe the scores, but I always got the same result. That’s the power of driver optimization right there folks; it can make or break a card. One can only imagine what a 5870 would generate in this benchmark.
Moving on to Quake 1, the 5770 is basically the same speed as the 260+, which is a good sign since it’s unlikely ATi optimizes their OpenGL ICD for this title given almost no-one knows about it.
It’s not all rosy for the 5770 because it posts significant loses to the 260+ in Wolfenstein and in the Quake 2 source port.
When i had a 5870, I would always leave the fan speed at 45% and i never touched it after that. temperature would never go above sixty degrees celscius despite being overclocked beyond 1 ghz, i dont know if the 5770 is any different. apparently, my other friend who got an xfx 5870 (i had sapphire) was getting temperatures of 70 degrees on load with 100% fan, no over clock.
In my opinion, every heatsink is diffent in a way, it might be the thermal paste.
still, its a nice review to have a whole variety of games. this makes choosing a graphics card much easier for people.
Yes, I like testing a lot of different games (especially older titles) using a mixture of different settings. This gives a more accurate representation of how the cards behave in gaming.
This review was very helpful and informative, thank you very much.
Very helpful review, thank you very much. I was looking to change my old GTS 250 (512MB) and I think the HD 5770 (probably a Sapphire Vapor-X edition) would still be a little good upgrade with DX11 support and Eyefinity support (I actually need a 8400GS that I use for PhysX to plug in a 3rd monitor). Moreover, my board doesn’t support SLI but does support Crossfire (P45 chipset).
Outliers are the problem here, when comparing the HD 5770 and the GTX 260. There are some massive outliers i can see straight off like Ut 2004 and Fear 2 for the HD 5770. I thought both of those games were terrible, so i wont be playing them. The would drag the average down to a more (for me) comparable level.
Gernads and Strife, that’s exactly why I like testing a lot of games. The more games that are tested, the more readers can pick and choose based on what titles they’re interested in.
Also UT2004 doesn’t influence the ranking against nVidia because that game was only tested against a 4850 using 24xAA.
Your results are skewed and there is a large amount of abnormality for your Older OpenGL game results.
A GTX 275 is capable of running Quake 2 at at 1920×1200 80FPS WITH 8xSQ Hybrid AA enabled.
The wolfenstien scores are also questionably, as are doom and prey.
I expect the configuration was incorrect and you were infact benching the games in 16bpp, which will infact be much slower on new hardware, then if you were to use 32bpp.
Squall:
I’m not running Quake 2, I’m running a source port. There’s a big chunk of text pointing that out, right above the results.
As for the rest of the OpenGL benchmarks, there’s nothing questionable about them. ATi’s exceptional performance with the Doom 3 engine is a known fact, dating back to the X1950 XTX days. Also known is nVidia’s large performance hit with 8xAA on G80 parts (and later) in said engine.
one of the best reviews i have seen for this card but the results would vary. it depends on what model of card you get eg. evga 260 or msi twin frozer 260 (big difference) the overclocked vapour x version of the card over clocks alot better than the ati 5770 and mine runs at 28 idle and 46- 58 full load and i got for $15 less only games i have come along that i cant max at playable frame rates are crysis and gta iv but awsome review anyways. thanks also 2 2 vapour x are running the same as a stock gtx295 so i recomend it.
Please Help me i am not using more than one monitor so which is BEST for GAMEs ? which is more powerful
4890 has 256 bit but 5770 has 128 so why 5770 should be a better VGA ?
Sam,
Just read the comments above and you will see what card is best. They are situational. It depends on what you are using your Video Card for primarily. If you want more indepth information email me at nicholas.seigel@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Nic
MCSE
PC GAMER
High Performance PC Enthusiast
Tehnology Nutcase
Thnx, those numbers were very helpful !!
“Also given the retail price of a GTX260+ is only about $20 USD more than a 5770.”
Closer to $50 nowadays. Just bought a Sapphire 5770 1GB for $155. I’d say the 260 would retail at $205 atm.
The article is a year old. Things change.
Just read the comments above and you will see what card is best. They are situational. It depends on what you are using your Video Card for primarily. If you want more indepth information email me at nicholas.seigel@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Nic
MCSE
PC GAMER
High Performance PC Enthusiast
Tehnology Nutcase
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