Looking for ATI based card 5770 preferred but want quiet

deadbolt · Post by **deadbolt** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:01 pm

I'm putting together a new dual monitor setup. Currently I use 2x 19"CRTs but I plan to replace them with 24"LCDs when I find the right monitor. I think 1900x1200 LED IPS has some benefit for my application.

What I am pondering is with Win7 x64 what (ATI) video card will be best to get snappy graphics in dual monitor mode. Occasional gamer, because my the hardware was never up to the task. I'd like the option of being able to play.

Should I get a 5770 (or better) and run 2 monitors off of it or maybe a pair of
5750 passive cards with one monitor on each? XFire

Is the onboard ATI HD4290 good for anything ?

psyopper · Post by **psyopper** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:53 pm

The least I would get is the 5770 and then only to game on a single monitor with decent settings and frame rates in modern games. You'll want a 5850 or better if you want to go dual screen gaming.

As for a quiet 5770, that's ben beaten to death on the forums. Get a Vapor-X if you want OEM and pretty quiet (but definitely not silent), get any non-reference if you want to cook your own cooling solution.

vortex222 · Post by **vortex222** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:58 pm

for anything but gaming, the onboard video isnt bad, hardware decoding of HD content and Aero are quite slick on it. But for gaming a single more powerfull video card is always better then 2 lesser ones. A single 5770 should be great for most games at decent settings. I currently run a GTX260 that has roughly the same power as a 5770 and i have no issue with any current games, however a 5770 will be much cooler running.

that should be more then fine. But if havign doubts then try a 5850. The noise at idle is quite low suprisingly, perhaps not good enough for the most picky but inside a heavy case they dissapier in the background.

mozartrules · Post by **mozartrules** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:02 pm

I needed a card with DisplayPort for my Dell U2711 (an incredible monitor that prefer compared to two 24") and first bought an XFX 5670 card, but that proved to noisy for me. So I just got the Powercooler Go Green 5750 which is wonderful. I does seem expensive at $170 (NewEgg), but that huge cooler looks great and just the signal that it is the fastest card you can get without an extra power connector indicates power frugality.

deadbolt · Post by **deadbolt** » Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:59 am

Mozartrules, that's a very nice monitor. Even with a monster like that I'd still opt for a secondary say a 21" in portrait mode for web browsing and office documents. Most web pages seem to be in portrait. I wonder if that will ever change.

I find the on board video to be very slow on my new PC which is an X6-1055 and an Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 (crazy model number) even in single monitor mode. I ramped up the clock on the video but the PC froze every time I accessed the PCIe dual tuner card.

I think I am going to settle on a Sapphire HD5770 Vapor-X card and wait until the aftermarket coolers catch up with the current crop of offerings to convert it to passive if I find it necessary. I have seen the thread with the Accelero passive on a 5770 but that thing is massive.

silentplummet · Post by **silentplummet** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:58 pm

deadbolt wrote: I have seen the thread with the Accelero passive on a 5770 but that thing is massive.

It's not as big as you think. If you're referring to my thread, I can tell you the 5770 Hawk is quite a cute and tiny little card for all the power it has. It just makes the cooler look big =)

Unfortunately, I don't think there are going to be any smaller passive coolers made available for this generation of GPUs. You can't beat physics. So my advice would be, go check the dimensions of your cooler of choice from its manufacturer's website, and if it fits in your case, go for it.

There is ample room in my P-183 for the Accelero S1 R2, although with the fan mounted on the rear of the 3.5" drive bay, I'll grant that it is a tight fit.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:03 pm

The 5770 cards offer good performance if you don't mind reduced eye candy. The rig in my sig with an Asus 5770 (had to buy what was in stock) can run Bad Company 2 at stock; 1680x1050 on 1x24" monitor, Low settings, average FPS in 40s and 50s depending on map, minimum constantly above 30. The game is still as awesome as ever to play and look at, I don't know how they do it.

I had my doubts about the 5770, but it is an absolute joy to have. Cool, compact and definitely eats up less watts than my old 8800 GTS 512 that didn't even have separate 2D mode clocks.

Edit: I do NOT recommend this Asus card for silent operation. It is tolerable but annoying in 2D and gets out of hand under load.

psyopper · Post by **psyopper** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:36 pm

Das_Saunamies wrote: Edit: I do NOT recommend this Asus card for silent operation. It is tolerable but annoying in 2D and gets out of hand under load.

I put a Scythe Setsugen on my Asus 5770 CuCore. I agree with your statement, plus the fact that the cooler didn't actually cool. It idled at 60c and ramped up to 110+ in Furmark.

With the Setsugen it idles at 40C (with the fan at 30%) and loads at 55c with the fan at 50%

Mounting the setsugen was tricky and required using the standoffs from the Asus cooler.

Edit: I use mine for Valve Source games on a 1920x1080 screen. I set the games to turn v-sync on with their highest graphics settings and rarely do I drop below 60 fps. Granted Source is pretty old at this point, but my entire reason for building this machine was to catch up on Half Life 2 (of which I am generally disappointed).

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:46 pm

psyopper wrote:-- idled at 60c and ramped up to 110+ in Furmark.

I just had to test this, since I forgot to stress test the new card.

Result? Card idles at 40'C, but it does indeed climb under load; at 70'C I got scared and turned the case fans up, but the temperature just keeps climbing. Telltale sign of a poor heatsink that just can't get rid of the heat fast enough. At 1680x1050 (I run this when I want more FPS or don't want 1920x1200 fullscreen) and 5 minutes in we're on 86'C and climbing, and the fan sounds desperate at 72% drive!

I oughta take a look at some alternatives to this, because when I get my case fans quiet with a controller I'm building, the GPU cooler's gonna be the next step. Thanks for the reminder.