{"id":26744,"date":"2011-08-16T02:10:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T01:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=26744"},"modified":"2011-08-16T06:25:46","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T05:25:46","slug":"the-passive-gigabyte-overclocked-his-hd-6770-meet-the-evga-gtx-560-ti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/the-passive-gigabyte-overclocked-his-hd-6770-meet-the-evga-gtx-560-ti\/","title":{"rendered":"The Passive Gigabyte & Overclocked HIS HD 6770 meet the EVGA GTX 550 Ti"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have completed our AMD Graphics’ HD 6000 series versus Nvidia’s 500 series evaluations from their top dual-GPU $750 monster cards<\/a> down to their entry level<\/a> video cards.\u00a0 Both companies together with their partners have had time and the resources to fully round out their impressive line-up and today we are going to look at AMD’s bread and butter lineup and compare two very different HD 6770s – a passively-cooled Gigabyte<\/a> and an overclocked HIS IceQ X Turbo<\/a> – against Nvidia GTX 550 Ti as represented by the EVGA version<\/a>.which we reviewed in April of this year.\u00a0 And of course, we are going to be looking at performance versus value to see if these cards can still be called “gaming” cards with an emphasis on DX11.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Nearly two years ago, on October 2009, AMD released the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card. This product featured AMD’s Eyefinity Technology and they were among the first cards to have Direct 11 compatibility and Shader Model 5 support. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 had extraordinary performance for its price point and it has been one of the most successful products in the AMD lineup.\u00a0 AMD has continued the ATI Radeon HD 5770 legacy by adding some features and rebranding it as the HD 6770 GPU.\u00a0 And we are going to look at two very different HD 6770s from a performance standpoint.<\/p>\n

The Radeon HD 6770 is a slightly updated version and a rebrand of the HD 5770.\u00a0 Although they use the same core, The Radeon 6770 has an improved video playback engine, BluRay 3D support and HDMI 1.4a.\u00a0 One might believe that these are among the least interesting cards to gamers yet they can tell us much about the architecture of their respective series. We are going to evaluate the mid-overclocked EVGA GTX 550 Ti and compare it to the two HD 6770s – the passively-cooled Gigabyte version and the HIS turbo-overclocked version.\u00a0\u00a0 All of these cards were created to compete at the $150 price point when they were first released.<\/p>\n

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These video cards are all similarly-priced gaming solutions.\u00a0 The HIS IceQ Turbo X<\/a> sells at Newegg for $120 after a ten dollar mail in rebate; the passively-cooled GIGABYTE<\/a> GV-R677SL-1GD<\/a> sells for $138 with a free copy of DiRT 3;<\/em> and the EVGA GTX 550 Ti<\/a> is on a Newegg weekend special for $110 after a $20 mail-in-rebate.\u00a0 The EVGA GTX 550 TI is their middle-overclocked version and the least expensive versions start at about $99 after rebate while the HD 6770’s bottom pricing is about $89 after rebate in the USA.<\/p>\n

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We want to put together a complete picture for you as we are here to help you to determine what these new video cards bring as we continue to focus on gaming performance. And most importantly, we will let you know if you should even bother to use them for DX11 PC gaming at all or just buy them primarily for home theater PC (HTPC) and use them for light gaming.<\/p>\n

We put our two HD 6770 Radeon cards through their paces this week with the very latest Catalyst beta performance drivers 11.8.\u00a0 This driver brought some good performance increases over the WHQL 11-7 Catalyst drivers. We also used the 280.26 WHQL drivers for the GeForce cards that were released last week which also brought good performance increases over the launch drivers for the GTX 550 Ti.<\/p>\n

Is the GTX 550 Ti and the HD 6770 worth about the same price?<\/h3>\n

We naturally want to know if the HD 6770 is worth the same approximately $130 as the stock and overclocked GTX 550 Ti which are now regularly in about the same price range. Please note that we are also testing cards that cost up to $140 so you can see where these cards fit in as to performance and features. We will do the testing and then you can answer these questions for yourself together with us in our conclusion.<\/p>\n

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We now bench with 20 modern games and with 3 synthetic benchmarks generally using 1920×1200 and 1680×1050 resolutions and with an emphasis on DX11 games – 1 open GL, 4 DX9, 5 DX10, and 10 DX11 games.\u00a0 We will also overclock our Radeons and bench some games at the super-widescreen resolution of 5780×1060 and with CrossFired HD 6770s.\u00a0 We will let you know if the Passively-cooled Gigabyte and the HIS Turbo IceQ HD 6770s play well together in CrossFire and what their temperatures are like.<\/p>\n

Since we are using mid-level enthusiast GPU video cards, it makes sense to test them at their highest playable resolutions and with the most demanding playable settings that they can handle. And of course we will attempt to find playable settings bearing in mind that they are aimed approximately at 1920×1080 resolution.\u00a0 Let’s take a look at each of our competing cards.<\/p>\n

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Our Featured Cards – the passively-cooled and the overclocked HD 6770 vs. the overclocked GTX 550 Ti<\/h2>\n

The passively-cooled Gigabyte HD 6770<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an interesting card with a massive heatsink that is cooled without an attached VGA fan.\u00a0 It requires that your case have at least decent cooling and that you also make sure that it will fit in your case before you buy it.\u00a0 What is interesting is that this card is clocked at the reference clocks of the HD 6770 (850\/1200MHz) and appears to be able to overclock further!\u00a0 We definitely will test this out and we are also quite tempted to strap some fans on this massive heatsink; of course, it would then become a three-slot solution.\u00a0 You can see how far the heatsink overhangs the PCB!<\/p>\n

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Make sure that it can fit into your case before buying it.\u00a0 Dimensions are 42 x 278 x 172 mm. \u00a0The Gigabyte box shows off the massive heatsink awaiting inside as they tout their Silent Cell technology.\u00a0 The packing is anti-static, so there is no anti-static “bag” per se; you must still use caution installing your hardware.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Gigabyte GV-R677SL-1GD Silent Series is aimed at users who prefer a completely quiet system as the HD 6770 is mounted with an extra-large heat sink and yet there is no cooling fan attached.\u00a0 This is “passive cooling” which relies on your case’s airflow to remove the heat from the GPU transferred by the 3 heatpipes and the aluminum fins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Inside we see a driver CD, manual, DVI to VGA connector and dual Molex to 6-Pin PCI-E power connector.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Gigabyte used their patented Silent-Cell Passive Thermal Design to cool this graphics card without a VGA fan. They used layered fins with aluminum nodes to lower the GPU’s operating temperature. They also increased the cooling surface area by over 600% and claim the GV-R677SL-1GD can be over clocked by up to 30%.\u00a0 We shall see.<\/p>\n

Of course this video card is DirectX-11 compliant and also supports AMD Eyefinity, CrossFireX, and Avivo HD. It has one of each – a Dual-Link DVI, DisplayPort and a (gold plated) HDMI port.\u00a0\u00a0 In the image below, you can see the single 6-pin PCIe connector required to power this card.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Unfortunately, unless you own a native DisplayPort display, you will need two adapters if you want to run 3-panel Eyefinity; the HIS HD 6770 has two DVI connectors, so only needs one DP adapter to run 3-panel Eyefinity.\u00a0 From Gigabyte’s website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

GIGABYTE Silent Series<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 GIGABYTE Silent Series<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Powered by AMD Radeon HD 6770 GPU<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Integrated with the first 1GB GDDR5 memory and 128-bit memory interface<\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Features Dual-link DVI-I \/ HDMI \/ Displayport<\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 GIGABYTE Silent-cell passive thermal design<\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Support AMD Eyefinity\u2122 & CrossFireX\u2122 & Avivo\u2122HD<\/li>\n
  7. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 System power supply requirement: 450W (one 75W 6-pin PCI Express\u00ae connector recommended)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Ultra Durable VGA\u2122<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Features & Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

    GPU Temperature 5%~10% down<\/p>\n

    Ultra Durable VGA board provides dramatic cooling effect on lowering both GPU and memory temperature by doubling the copper inner layer of PCB. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA can lower GPU temperature by 5% to 10%.<\/p>\n

    Overclocking Capability 10%~30% Up<\/p>\n

    Ultra Durable VGA board reduces voltage ripples in normal and transient state, thus effectively lowers noises and ensures higher overclocking capability. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA graphic accelerators improve overclocking capability by 10% to 30%.<\/p>\n

    Power Switching Loss 10%~30% Down<\/p>\n

    Ultra Durable VGA board allows more bandwidth for electron passage and reduces circuit impedance. The less circuit impedance, the more stable flow of current and can effectively improve power efficiency. GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA can lower power switching loss by 10% to 30%.<\/p>\n

    Gold plated HDMI<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Gold plated, durable large contact area connectors have been used for optimum signal transfer between connections<\/p>\n

    \n
    Silent Cell<\/strong><\/div>\n
    \n

    GIGABYTE rewrites the history of silent cooling to perfect the thermal performance, introducing the state-of-the-art Silent-Cell\u2122 Cooling Technology which adopts a series of crimping layered fins with Aluminum nodes. GIGABYTE Silent-Cell\u2122 Cooling features and Benefits as:<\/p>\n