Last April, AMD released the latest addition to ATI's Radeon HD 4000 graphic series - the ATI Radeon HD 4770. Carrying an estimated price tag of only RM 380 (~USD 100), together with power packed features such as DirectX 10.1 support, super fast GDDR5 memory and 40 nm processor, it caught the attention of the world as soon as it is hit the market.
 
The graphic card in question stopped by our office recently and we didn't waste any time putting the card to the test on our trusty test rig. Unfortunately, we don't have any other cards that are on the same class as 4770 for a comparison at this moment, so we are going to let the card to stand by its own, based on statistics from our test.

Reviews continues after the jump. WARNING: Image intensive feature ahead!

THE SUBJECT

At the heart of the card is a 750 MHz RV740 core that features low power consumption (AMD claimed it’s around 80W) and also lower heat properties, thanks to its 40nm architecture. Besides Direct X 10.1 support, the card also features UVD 2.0 video engine, HDMI output support with built-in HD audio controller, and also supports for CrossFireX Multi-GPU configuration.
 
In terms of memory, the card contains 512MB of GDDR5 memory running on a 128-bit bus at a speed of 800 MHz (3.2 GHz effective speed). While the bus width might be narrow, this card still managed to churn out an impressive amount of peak bandwidth of 51.2GB/s thanks to the RAM’s blazing speed.

The top part of the card is covered by heatsink, heatpipes and a cooling fan but still, the card felt pretty light. The card has two DVI and one S-Video output port. Last but not least, the power for this card comes through only one 6-pin auxiliary power connector which further showed the card’s low power property.

Do bear in mind that the the ATI Radeon HD 4770 that we have here is actually a reference board, so the retail version might look different.

TEST TOOLS

As you can see, we are using a very high end system, equipped with the latest and fastest Phenom II processor from AMD together with a Gigabyte motherboard. Although our OCZ RAM is listed as 4GB, due to limitation of the 32-bit edition of Windows Vista, only 3.25GB is available to the system. We also installed the latest version of ATI Catalyst for this test. 

To test the performances of the card, we choose retail edition of Race Driver GRID and Red Alert 3. Statistics from these two games were recorded using manual benchmarking application in FRAPS 2.9.8. 

We also ran couple of purpose-built benchmark tools such as Street Fighter IV Benchmark Tools and Techland’s Call of Juarez DirectX 10 benchmark. To complete it all, 3DMark Vantage provides us 3DMark score that many of enthuasists outhere have a love and hate relationship with.

TEST RESULTS 

3DMark Vantage Test

Test Preset: Performance and Entry
Score legend: P for Performance, E for Entry

Due to the lack HD-capable display at our office, we only able to run two preset configurations since 3D Mark Vantage presets are depending on display monitor’s resolution support. 

Race Driver GRID

Graphic Settings: Maxed Out on 1280 X 1024 resolution
Top - bottom image: Demolition Derby, Pro Tuned

The reason we chose the modes above are because of its chaotic nature where a lot of actions going on. Also, the two circuits represent daytime and nighttime. 

Red Alert 3

Graphic Settings: Maxed Out at 1280 x 1024 resolution

30 fps is quite low compared to framerate that we received in GRID. This is because the framerate has been locked by EA at 30 fps. That being said, the card showed no problem to run the game at the maximum framerate at a constant rate. 

Street Fighter IV Benchmark Tool

Graphic Settings: Maxed Out at 1280 x 1024 resolution with Parallel Rendering Off

While the card passed the SFIV Benchmark Tool with flying results, the FPS might drop to under 30 fps during intense battle, as seen in the screenshot. But somehow it rarely happened and pretty much unnoticeable. We turned off Parallel Rendering in this test as it is meant for multi-core cards. 

Call of Juarez Direct X10 Benchmark

Graphic Setting: Maxed Out at 1280 x 1024 resolution
Upper - lower screenshots (L to R results): 4xMSAA and 2xSSAA

The reason why we ran two different anti-aliasing settings is because as shown by the screenshots, both techniques churned out different results.

To our delight, the card managed to perform way better than expected, providing constant framerate and processing power to all graphic intense application that we threw at it. For such a huge power, it is almost unbelievable that the card only cost around RM 400. Considering that the price of this card will fall over time, it is only a matter of time before it becomes even more affordable and more accessible to mainstream users out there. 

Name: nirvash77	Comment: Hahaha! this card if crossfired (x2) the performance match againt nVidia GTX 280! Also the price & power consumption still lower than nVidia GTX280 even after crossfired. The details at Tom's Hardware. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-4770-crossfire,2288.html
Rated Article: Posted: 2009-09-04 10:00:57

Name: Kenneth Phang	Comment: Any recommendation vs Nvidia 9600GT range ?
Rated Article: Posted: 2009-08-06 16:10:31

Name: Jeffery	Comment: Agree with thomas..this card is faster than 4890 20% if you crossfire it..but think about if you have budget u can crossfire 4890 so it will be faster than cross fire 4770..anyway this is a good card, high performance compare to other budget card.I actually waiting for this card but in the end go for single ASUS EAH 4890.K..thats my opinion...
Rated Article: Posted: 2009-07-02 08:53:16

Name: Hamano	Comment: rm380!! Super cheap and its look gorgeous.. *drool*
Rated Article: Posted: 2009-06-28 17:30:44

Name: duncha	Comment: comparable with GTS 250 1gb?
Rated Article: Posted: 2009-06-26 12:08:35

Name: Thomas	Comment: If make it crossfire, its more faster than 4890 20% and so cheap..
Rated Article: Posted: 2009-06-25 21:54:45

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