TalkinHorse wrote:
Checking the PowerColor Radeon 7xxx line...
http://www.powercolor.com/us/products_layer_2.asp?ByBus=PCI-E&ByClass=ByProducts&VGASeries=RADEON%20HD7000%20Series&IsView=0&Series=RADEON%20HD7700...and I see a "Go Green" fanless 7750:
http://www.powercolor.com/us/products_features.asp?id=413Any reason to think the PowerColor is better or worse than the Sapphire? The specs look identical. At a glance, the Sapphire heatsink looks more solid, and the wrap-around my be helpful for convection (i.e., better to have the hot spot over the card rather than under it). But looks don't always translate into real-world results. (Hmmm, I looked briefly and am not seeing these fanless PowerColors actually for sale. But they'll presumably show up sooner or later.)
Haven't seen any attempts at a fanless 7770 yet.
I got the 7750 fanless powercolor version. the HS sticks up from the top of the card slightly. Not an issue in most cases but might matter in a smaller case.
The Sapphire is longer and taller, again not an issue for most cases but can be an issue in smaller cases. It might handle high temps better though with the larger heatsink and the heatsinks on the other chips on the card.
If you aren't getting one for a really small PC case I'd buy on price between the two. The only difference between them other than the heatsinks will be the power circuitry and it'd only be a difference of a couple of watts so its almost a non issue.
Something not covered in the article is how you can change the maximum power draw +20% or -20% or anywhere in-between in 1% increments. Since I game I'll leave mine at +20% (or whatever percentage testing shows to give the best performance*) most of the time, it'll still idle just as efficiently but it won't throttle the GPU in heavy gaming.
Conversely if you were using a super small PSU or lived in a very hot environment or were using it as a server or HTPC video card you might be happy turning the power max down by 20% to reduce the heat inside the case or to prevent spiking over the maximum power draw of your PSU. I might do this on the hottest summer days but I haven't hit one since I got the card so I'm not sure yet.
I really should get the killawatt out and measure my system at idle and playing a game with the power settings at -20%, 0%, and +20% just to see how much of a difference it makes but that'd probably kill a few hours of my time so I'll save that for a warm day or some day when my internet goes down again.
At the time of the article the comparison was made about buying an old 5750 to save a few bucks. But the flexibility on the power settings and the modern driver support that the 7xxx cards will see going forward makes it worth going 7750 instead. Of course by now the 5750 is no longer cheaper as it is still a $150 card if you can find it and the 7750 has become an $85 to $120 card depending on the heatsink used. Personally I think it's worth the extra money for a heatsink that has no fans or at least one with more heat pipes and either one larger than stock fan or two fans.
edit * = On some cards turning the power above 0% will actually reduce performance, you have to test minimum and average framrates while monitoring temps to find out if you are making your card faster or slower in a specific application and Game A might run faster at +20 and Game B might run faster at +17% and benchmark X might run faster at +0% all on the same card. Not a fire and forget setting unless you are playing with the negative percentages which are always easier to predict the result of their use. And if you change your CPU and/or OS you have to retest the new combination.