ATI HD 4770: 40 nm, RV740 -- SPCR reviewed

silo · Post by **silo** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:05 am

sampo wrote:
silo wrote:WOW NICE CARD AND COOLER > goes to newegg and stares in disbelieve .... so 4770 flopped. NEXT!
Could you tone it down a bit? We all get your message... Non reference models are coming in a couple of weeks. The low max consumption would make this card ideal for passive cooling.

at the low, low price of what? 130$ ? 145$ > multiply that number x2 and that's what i got to pay. NEXT.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:33 am

silo wrote:at the low, low price of what? 130$ ? 145$ > multiply that number x2 and that's what i got to pay. NEXT.

You're ranting about launch-day pricing from a notorious price-gouge etailer? Ufff. You should try living elsewhere in the world for a bit.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:40 am

I think that's the point - he lives in a place where prices are high.

FWIW, the Sapphire 4770 appeared on some Croatian retailers and is listed at around $160; nobody has the cards yet, but past experiences tell me that this amount will go up once the cards arrive, probably to around $180-190 or so.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:43 am

Well I have no idea where HOME is so I dunno what local currency he's dealing in.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:13 am

Vicotnik wrote:17.4W idle is still far too much. I'm very disappointed with ATi, why will they not take idle power consumption seriously? I mean in this day of all sorts of "green" products.. After the 4670 I thought we were on the right track.

This is really bizarre for power consumption values on each website. Xbitlabs seems WAY too low for idle consumption. Anandtech has results that seem more in line with spcr. Generally every website seems to agree that it consumes between 50-60w on load. I wish there was a specific methodology for video card power consumption data because most websites aren't matching at all. I'm highly inclined to trust that spcr's 30w idle is the real truth though.

K.Murx · Post by **K.Murx** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:31 am

I was really, really hoping that ATI would get the idle consumption fixed, but sadly, this does not seem to be the case. The 17.4W from XBitlabs would be okay with me, but 30W? While it just sits there, doing nothing?
I will probably get one anyway. It's still the best card in its price range. But I just hate to seed good things that could have been much better

sampo · Post by **sampo** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:42 am

K.Murx wrote:I was really, really hoping that ATI would get the idle consumption fixed, but sadly, this does not seem to be the case. The 17.4W from XBitlabs would be okay with me, but 30W? While it just sits there, doing nothing?(

Just do a separate 2D profile with reduced mem speeds for the card . I don't game much, so manually changing between modes wouldn't be a big issue.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:48 am

I just want to remind people that the GPU sits closer to the rear of the card compared to most other cards, and that the distance between the mounting holes are different to the 4800 cards.

The underside of the HD 4770 512MB doesnâ€™t really hold anything of interest other than the retention bracket for the heatsink. It should be noted that the spacing between the retention bracketâ€™s holes is 45 mm. This means that while some older heatsinks will fit (any heatsink compatible with the X1650 or 8600GT), newer ones compatible with the HD 4800-series and even the HD 4600-series will not fit.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:58 am

Xbitlabs used to measure the power consumption directly at the power connectors and the slot. dunno if they do that anymore.
Their old method will of course show a lower power consumption than what a Kill-a-watt would tell.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:19 pm

sampo wrote:
K.Murx wrote:I was really, really hoping that ATI would get the idle consumption fixed, but sadly, this does not seem to be the case. The 17.4W from XBitlabs would be okay with me, but 30W? While it just sits there, doing nothing?(
Just do a separate 2D profile with reduced mem speeds for the card . I don't game much, so manually changing between modes wouldn't be a big issue.

Well, someone needs to do some power tests with custom 2d clocks and post it here. Otherwise, I'll be hanging on to my 3870 for a while.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:20 pm

Mats wrote:Xbitlabs used to measure the power consumption directly at the power connectors and the slot. dunno if they do that anymore.
Their old method will of course show a lower power consumption than what a Kill-a-watt would tell.

i dont understand your statement, can you elaborate on your reasoning?

Fred · Post by **Fred** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:26 pm

I currently own a passively cooled 3850... I was sold on the 4770 at first, back when people foresaw no power connector. From there on though, it just got worse. =/

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:29 pm

Mats wrote:Xbitlabs used to measure the power consumption directly at the power connectors and the slot. dunno if they do that anymore.
Their old method will of course show a lower power consumption than what a Kill-a-watt would tell.

Ya I'm just confused why their numbers are generally so low. It seems like somehow this measurement may not be capturing all the power usage because in general, most websites show the 4770 having higher idle than the 4830.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:35 pm

merlin wrote:
Ya I'm just confused why their numbers are generally so low. It seems like somehow this measurement may not be capturing all the power usage because in general, most websites show the 4770 having higher idle than the 4830.

I can understand how they measure power at the pcie power connector, but how do they measure the socket?

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:44 pm

Mats wrote:I just want to remind people that the GPU sits closer to the rear of the card compared to most other cards, and that the distance between the mounting holes are different to the 4800 cards.
The underside of the HD 4770 512MB doesnâ€™t really hold anything of interest other than the retention bracket for the heatsink. It should be noted that the spacing between the retention bracketâ€™s holes is 45 mm. This means that while some older heatsinks will fit (any heatsink compatible with the X1650 or 8600GT), newer ones compatible with the HD 4800-series and even the HD 4600-series will not fit.

That's surely wrong. The 4770, as the 46xx, has to have mounting holes 43 mm apart.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:49 pm

ryboto wrote:i dont understand your statement, can you elaborate on your reasoning?

I'm just saying that a Kill-a-watt test will give higher power consumption because of the loss in the PSU. It doesn't really explain all the difference in power consumption I guess.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:50 pm

Matija wrote:That's surely wrong. The 4770, as the 46xx, has to have mounting holes 43 mm apart.

Do you have any proof for that or are you only guessing?

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:59 pm

Why would ATI decide to space the holes further and eliminate absolutely all 3rd-party (and existing) coolers?

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:08 pm

Matija wrote:Why would ATI decide to space the holes further and eliminate absolutely all 3rd-party (and existing) coolers?

Now you're adding even more assumptions. The reviewer have already concluded that one HR-03 fits, and another one doesn't.
IDK why he says the 4600 uses a different hole pattern, but at least I've followed his work with trying to get a cooler that fits.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:20 pm

If one HR-03 fits, then the mounting holes are 43mm apart, just like on the 4670

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:40 pm

K.Murx wrote:I was really, really hoping that ATI would get the idle consumption fixed, but sadly, this does not seem to be the case. The 17.4W from XBitlabs would be okay with me, but 30W? While it just sits there, doing nothing?
I will probably get one anyway. It's still the best card in its price range. But I just hate to seed good things that could have been much better

I hear the reference editions have very poorly designed power systems.

If MSI makes an OC version of this card like it has for the 4830, the idle and upper will be noticably lower.

Some cheap parts.

Also, the 4830 that SPCR has has been always showing lower idle numbers than other sites. I think it was cherry picked.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:55 pm

and here it is

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio ... 9&Itemid=1

that looks rocking. No stats so far as I can see. I wish spcr had this one instead of reference.

rei · Post by **rei** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:25 pm

the retail coolers look nothing like the one in spcr's review. the retail coolers on ncix look like chintzy crap. i don't think this will fit in my spcr silent3 unfortunately.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:28 pm

~El~Jefe~ wrote:and here it is

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio ... 9&Itemid=1

that looks rocking. No stats so far as I can see. I wish spcr had this one instead of reference.

The thing is that MSI doesn't mention anything about those unique features. The PCB looks like a reference part to me.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:44 pm

Yeah, I guess that is the same model?

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:50 pm

Mats wrote:
~El~Jefe~ wrote:and here it is

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio ... 9&Itemid=1

that looks rocking. No stats so far as I can see. I wish spcr had this one instead of reference.
The thing is that MSI doesn't mention anything about those unique features. The PCB looks like a reference part to me.

It looks the same but the marketing page does mention:

Dynamic Power Management with ATI PowerPlay Technology

* ATI Radeon HD 4770 GPUs deliver high performance when needed and conserve power when the demand on the graphics processor is low.

and the model number matches the one mentioned in the fudzilla piece.

I won't rely on it until a trusted source tests it but the claims are there.

If I could see a confirmed part with a fanless heatsink and 18W idle even when fanless I'd probably buy one this year.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:53 pm

~El~Jefe~ wrote:Yeah, I guess that is the same model?

Ja. Both are the T2D512 and both have identical pics. Fudzilla have been wrong before.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:02 pm

dhanson865 wrote:It looks the same but the marketing page does mention:

Dynamic Power Management with ATI PowerPlay Technology

* ATI Radeon HD 4770 GPUs deliver high performance when needed and conserve power when the demand on the graphics processor is low.
and the model number matches the one mentioned in the fudzilla piece.

I won't rely on it until a trusted source tests it but the claims are there.

If I could see a confirmed part with a fanless heatsink and 18W idle even when fanless I'd probably buy one this year.

Doesn't all 4770's have PowerPlay? XFX cards does, at least.

Edit: I guess all 4770 cards have PowerPlay, according to AMD.

sampo · Post by **sampo** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:07 pm

Mats wrote:MSI doesn't mention anything about those unique features. The PCB looks like a reference part to me.

http://www.msi.eu/news/press/2009/PR_R4 ... R4770.html

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:21 pm

Those pictures still shows a reference card, I don't get it. Compare with the one on thread page 2. As long as it doesn't underclock the RAM there's not much of a difference.