New Revolution: ATI Radeon HD 4770 Graphics Card Review
April 28, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Everyone remembers the revolution made by Radeon HD 4850 that has set a new performance bar for mainstream graphics accelerator. Today AMD officially launches a new revolutionary, this time from the Budget segment.
So, Radeon HD 4770 announced today, on April 27, 2009, became this new solution. ATI often testdrives some technological innovations on inexpensive graphics solutions first and Radeon HD 4770 is no exception: it is based on RV740 – the world’s first graphics processor manufactured with 40nm process. It is also the first budget graphics adapter equipped with GDDR5 memory. The new solution promises to be pretty exciting from all standpoints that is why our today’s review will try to reveal if the new Radeon HD 4770 can really perform a revolution in the budget gaming segment. But at first let’s check out the technical details.
Graphics Card Failure Rates
March 23, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
We found this interesting article and thought it would be useful to translate for our English speaking readers.
We finish our series of current events on the failure rates with the graphics cards and GPU. These statistics are always those of a large French E-tradesman. They relate to the charts sold from March to August 2008, that is to say 6 months 1 year from operation. The statistics by mark are based on a minimal sample of 500 sales:
- ASUSTeK: 2.0%
- Sapphire: 2.0%
- MSI: 2.1%
- Leadtek: 2.4%
- PNY: 2.8%
- Gainward: 3.2%
- Gigabyte: 3.6%
- Point Of View: 5.6%
The failure rates are overall normal, except Point Off View which is notably less good. If the least reliable models more closely are looked at, one finds two charts with the top of 10% which were sold with more than 100 specimens: Gigabyte GV-RX26P5H, Radeon HD 2600 passivates, is to 14.1%, against 10.2% for ASUSTeK ENGTX280/HTDP/1G. If one looks at the rates of return by GPU, one arrives at the following figures:
- GeForce GTX 280: 9.9%
- GeForce GTX 260: 4.3%
- GeForce 9800: 3.2%
- GeForce 8800: 3.3%
- Radeon HD 4870: 3.2%
- Radeon HD 4850: 1.9%
- Radeon HD 3870: 2.6%
In spite of the high temperatures reached on Radeon HD 4870/4850, these last have completely normal failure rates. A contrario the GTX 280 are not the queens of reliability. Concerning the charts Bi-GPU, one is to 6% for the 9800 GX2, 11% for the 3870 X2 (!) and 4.3% for the 4870 X2.
Source: hardwarefrance
How To Overclock Your Graphics Card
April 24, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Tomshardware has put together a great tutorial on how to Overclock your graphics card.
Overclocking is more popular than ever. And since it’s so easy to boost the frequency of your Intel processor, it would be a shame not to. But CPUs aren’t the only components that can be overclocked. The GPUs on graphics cards can also be speeded up, and so can their memory. And since an affordable card only differs from more expensive ones in its clock speed, overclocking can be your key to some real savings.
Overclocking a GPU is a less common process than overclocking a CPU, and above all, it’s more complex. One of the reasons for that is that a graphics card’s BIOS is not as easily accessible as a motherboard’s. This article will shed some light on the different methods that can be used and the results you can expect when overclocking your graphics card.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Best Graphics Cards for the Money: May 08
April 24, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
The Best Graphics Cards for the Money: May 2008
Detailed graphics card specifications and reviews are great — that is, if you have the time to do the research. But at the end of the day, what a gamer needs is the best graphics card within a certain budget.
If you don’t have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to make the right decision, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware Guide have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming cards available for the money.
April Review and May Updates:
Graphics card purchasers out there are the winners in the never-ending price war between ATI and Nvidia. Aggressive price drops keep coming, and graphics cards get cheaper. It’s hard to believe that a few months ago there were no high-end graphics cards under $200: now all of the new high end single-GPU graphics cards are below $200, except for the 8800 GTS and 9800 GTX.
Speaking of the 9800 GTX, it’s the new kid on the block, becoming available for purchase just in April. While its performance is impressive, the card is essentially an overclocked 8800 GTS 512MB: it’s slower than the old 8800 Ultra in many cases. At $290, it’s hard to recommend at this time, since the similar but slower clocked 8800 GTS 512MB can be purchased for $220, and two 9600 GTs in SLI can be had for as little as $300 (and will usually beat the pants off of it).
On the AGP side, the king-of-the-hill Radeon 3850 has taken a dramatic price drop to $175, and the 2600 XT can be had for just over $100 now. I have a feeling the days of AGP are soon coming to an end, as many of the cards previously available for the bus are vanishing completely.
On a final note, rumors abound that ATI’s next generation R700 based graphics cards are well on their way to making it to release this year. For its part, Nvidia is planning a counterattack with their own next generation parts soon after — and this is always good news for graphics and gaming enthusiasts!
Some Notes About Our Recommendations
A few simple guidelines to keep in mind when reading this list:
* It is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, the cards in this list are more expensive than you need.
* Prices and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing information, but we can list some good cards that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest.
* The list is based on some of the best U.S. prices from online retailers. In other countries, or at retail, your mileage will most certainly vary;
* These are new card prices. No used or open box cards are in the list; they might be a good deal, but it’s outside the scope of what we’re trying to do.
