6770 Radeon video card: review, testing and reviews

A representative of the budget class - a video adapter based on the chip 6770 Radeon - is considered one of the problematic products on the domestic market, which, having good performance, are not subject to further overclocking. In fact, this video accelerator has no future. But in fact something in it attracts buyers, after all, according to statistics, on the territory of Russia video cards based on this chip were sold about one million. The review, testing and feedback of the owners in this article will help the reader to understand the situation and understand what is so interesting about the chip 6770 HD.

Change of signage

Constantly blaming its rival nVidia for restyling products, AMD itself does not act dishonestly with its fans. There is nothing worse than selling an obsolete product again, changing the label on it, as it happened with the AMD Radeon HD 6770 video adapter, which was created on the basis of the HD 5770 chip. A rather unpleasant fact, both for potential buyers and owners, Who hastened to upgrade their computer.

In the media, you can find a lot of negative reviews about this, but there is good news. They deal with improved performance in synthetic tests and real applications. The fact is that the manufacturer still made a small improvement in the chip: increased the working frequency of the graphics core and equipped the device with modern technologies (OpenGL, HDMI, etc.).

Technical characteristics of the video adapter

In the production of the video card Radeon HD 6770, a kernel code-named JuniperXT was used, which all owners of budget devices are familiar with. The graphics accelerator, operating at 900 MHz, has an adapter in an inexpensive segment. To the virtues of many experts in the field of IT technology include the use of the manufacturer of modern memory modules. They are created using GDDR5 technology, have a total capacity of 1024 megabytes and operate at an effective frequency of 4200 MHz. Confuses only the bandwidth of the bus - only 128 bits.

There are questions from potential buyers and to the heat emission of the video card. The fact is that the adapter consumes 108 watts at maximum load. Such an indicator is peculiar to gaming devices of the initial class, but not to budget copies. On the other hand, game lovers prefer precisely high-capacity devices, logically assuming that high power consumption is directly proportional to the performance.

Meet the factory representative

A modern graphics processor from AMD must have an appropriate printed circuit board and a decent cooling system. But with HD 6770, things are different. The device at installation occupies one computer slot and has only one unit for connecting video devices. However, here the manufacturer should pay tribute - it is not every brand that can provide a video card with all the popular interfaces. On the panel, the user will find an old VGA port for connecting an analog device, a modern HDMI connector and a transitional interpretation of the digital output - DVI.

As for the cooling system, in fact it is not. After all, an aluminum radiator, located only on the graphics core, and an inexpensive fan from above is difficult to call a device. A conventional cooler that drives dust off the radiator grille. But the heat generation of more than 100 watts requires a more responsible approach - cooling must be subjected to powerful memory modules and batteries.

Representative of mobile market

But the notebook owners, built on the basis of the ATI Radeon 6770 game chip, were more fortunate than users of personal computers. Technologists of the company have created a real symbiosis of graphics accelerators of budget and game class. Chip HD 6770 received the HD 5770 graphics accelerator platform with the embedded technologies of the video game adapter HD 6800 series.

Accordingly, the owner of the laptop became available technologies such as 3D-Vision, HD Audio, Blu-ray and many others. As a result, the buyer receives not only an entry-level gaming device, but a real multimedia center that can easily cope with all the tasks set. However, the manufacturer did not manage to eliminate the negative with huge heat dissipation of the graphics accelerator, so the mobile video adapter can be found only in notebooks with a large diagonal (15-17 inches), in which there is a place for installing an active cooling system.

The main competitor of the graphics accelerator

The video card AMD Radeon HD 6770 many enthusiasts and overlockers compare with the representative of the initial game class Geforce GTX 550 Ti. Strangely enough, but the budget representative is able to demonstrate high performance in the tests and beat the results of the competitor. So, in the resolution of FullHD (1920x1080 dpi) in games Crysis 2, Civilization V, Dragon Age II, Splinter Cell Conviction, Radeon representative showed high performance (40-80 frames per second), while the lag behind the Nvidia gaming accelerator in all Tests was 5-7 FPS.

Experts in the field of IT technologies believe that testing the video card should be done not only to determine the performance, but also to identify the difference in resource intensity. If you make a comparison for electricity consumption and heat generation, the result will tip the scales towards AMD products. In the stress mode (long-term 100% load), the HD 6770 consumes 213 watts against 309 watts of the GTX 550 Ti.

The most popular video adapter

The video card based on the Radeon 6770 chip, the price of which is the most affordable on the market in the budget class (about 6,000 rubles), oddly enough, belongs to ASUS. The Taiwanese manufacturer did not reinvent the wheel, but simply took the reference device and, without changing its technical characteristics, installed its own cooling system and provided the market to all customers. In addition to affordable cost, the product, unlike other competitors, has a three-year warranty, and this is a worthy move by the manufacturer.

Confuses only the fact that the ASUS Radeon HD 6770 video adapter is not able to demonstrate high performance in synthetic tests and games when compared with other brands. Naturally, the demand for such a decision among players on the computer market is seriously understated. Especially if you take into account the fact that the chip can not be overclocked.

Taiwan knows how to solve problems

A completely different situation with the Radeon HD 6770 video adapter from ASUS, which was introduced in the market with a passive cooling system. Let the cost of the device and is within 7000 rubles, but this video card has a number of advantages, which attracts the attention of many potential customers to the product. First, the manufacturer decided to change the power supply system of the video adapter. The power elements were assembled in one unit and placed by the manufacturer in the area of the interface panel for better cooling.

Separate attention deserves a passive cooling system, because it is unique in its way and has no analogues. Aluminum radiator is one and a half times larger than the printed circuit board of the video adapter, both in width and length. Accordingly, the entire area of the video card has cooling. The radiator is permeated all around the perimeter with four copper tubes, which eventually boil down on the core, which is in contact with the graphic core. A protective cover is mounted on top of the radiator.

Oddities around ASUS products

The Radeon 6770 video card from the Taiwan manufacturer ASUS with passive cooling, along with the merits, has drawbacks, which sellers keep silent. Judging by the feedback of the owners, the graphic accelerator has serious problems with performance in games. At the factory, the video adapter underwent a modernization, which led to a decrease in the operating frequencies of the device to reduce heat dissipation. It touched, first of all, memory modules - the frequency was reduced from 4800 MHz to 4000.

Also, the manufacturer at the firmware level blocked the graphics core, which the user will not be able to overclock above the prescribed 850 MHz. There are problems with installing the video card in the system unit. Because of the large dimensions, it simply does not fit in the case of the MiniATX and midleATX format, and such users have about 99%. As you can see from the review, you still have to pay for the silence in the system unit, so many buyers have questions that no one can answer.

A double blow to competitors

In the market of video cards the user can find two completely different devices Sapphire Radeon HD 6770. The manufacturer positions them in different classes: budget and game. Quite an interesting step, which immediately attracted the attention of buyers, because the brand is well known in a wide range of game lovers. The representative of the budget class, which did not even improve in the walls of Sapphire, is aimed at buyers who want to save on buying. True, he still has positive feedback, both in terms of speed of operation and noiselessness.

But the second product labeled Vapor-X will be more interesting to players, because the well-known manufacturer has made a complete upgrade of the device. All electrolytic tanks were replaced with improved capacitors with a ferrite core. All the batteries are assembled in one unit and are equipped with their own cooling. The manufacturer has doubled the interface panel - let the video card and takes two slots, but now the user can connect 4 different monitors.

Revealing the potential of the video card

The well-known brand HIS will not stop at anything, which is also interested in the Radeon 6770 chip. Performance characteristics, however, are suggested to be improved by the user, as the technologists left the standard frequencies for the graphics core and memory modules. On the part of the manufacturer, the power system was only upgraded, which began to radiate less dissipated power. Also, HIS technologists have installed a proprietary cooling system that does a good job of removing heat.

In the media there are many reviews from the owners about the overclocking of this product, but all of them are more negative, because none of users has managed to overcome the psychological barrier in 1000 MHz (maximum 925 MHz). It is natural for many buyers to lose the sense of acquiring a product that the manufacturer himself comes with a program for overclocking that does not know how to please the owner of the video card.

Market of strange devices

Many brands have paid attention to the 6770 Radeon video adapter, but their ready solutions on the market cause more questions than the desire to make a purchase. For example, MSI once again decided to surprise consumers with a futuristic video card, but within the walls of the company did not pay attention to the height of the device. As a result, few buyers want to purchase a video adapter in the budget class, which claims to occupy three slots.

Disappointed buyers and the company PowerColor, which always comes up with unique cooling systems for its fans, which allow unhindered acceleration of the graphics accelerator. A well-known manufacturer using the AMD reference device simply placed its logo on the radiator hood. The company Gigabyte, judging by the feedback from customers, also upset its fans - a well-known brand decided to create only one product with a passive cooling system (reminiscent of the ASUS video card).

Computer Requirements

Many people are often concerned about the issue associated not only with the compatibility of the Radeon 6770 1Gb video card with the rest of the computer. Potential buyers are interested in the requirements of the video adapter to the processor and RAM, because all users know that to open the potential of one component, it is necessary to ensure the performance of adjacent devices. Since most games are designed to use dual-core processors, one answer is already there - the platform must have a minimum of 2 physical cores (Core 2 Duo from Intel or an analog from AMD).

Testing the video card many enthusiasts produce with a large amount of memory (6-8 GB). It is logical to assume that memory is not superfluous, especially in those cases when a 64-bit operating system is used. However, for most non-resource-consuming games there will be enough and 4 gigabytes. Also in their reviews, many owners recommend newcomers to purchase a SSD drive, which is 10-25 times faster than a magnetic hard drive.

Problems in servicing the video card

A distinctive feature of the 6770 Radeon chip from other manufacturer products is the lack of a protective screen on the graphics accelerator chip. That is, a user with incorrect actions when removing or installing a cooling system can easily destroy the video processor. Refuse because of this from cleaning the cooler from dust is not worth it, just need to be more careful when installing the radiator.

Also, problems can arise when changing thermal paste. All manufacturers of video adapters because of the fragility of the crystal drowned the contact area of the cooling system by 1 millimeter. Accordingly, to ensure a decent heat dissipation, the usual thermal paste will not work. The owner needs to take care of a high-viscosity thermocouple (usually a device for laptops). Under no circumstances should thermal glue be used, since in the near future, when removing the radiator, the glue can tear the crystal out of the printed circuit board.

Finally

Having carefully studied the review of the 6770 Radeon chip and its technical characteristics, the potential buyer will certainly come to the conclusion that the device in question will not suit many users who decided to upgrade their personal computer. After all, in addition to the fact that the manufacturer used an old graphics chip to create a video card, so even a fan of dynamic games can not accelerate the device by overclocking.

But users who purchase a computer from scratch, buying a video adapter HD 6770 will save on finance, because in the budget class, the video card has no competitors in terms of performance and price. And if you turn to comparing the product with competitors in the initial game class (we are talking about Nvidia GTX 550 Ti), then the purchase will be worthy.