Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 4770 512MB

I'm sorry but I find the whole Folding@home "craze" to be obsene. Deliberately creating an energy sucking hog just to get a few points for your team is just plain wrong.

If you believe you're helping medical science, and therefore helping people you're better of investing your time and money in a million and one different activities.

I don't see a problem contributing to the system using your "spare" CPU cycles (although this will also increase energy use) but to create a dedicated folder (or more!) to gain bragging rights is twisted.

So with that said, who cares if ATI cards can't fold

Maybe there is a better place on the forums for your little rant? Besides some people see it as a competition just like 3dmark etc.

I don't think it's in the wrong place, lack of folding was said to be a down side to this card over a nVidia if you really care about it, but if you do really care about it you wouldn't be reading an ATI review

Some ATI users don't get any "downtime" on their cards, like my overclocked and overvolted 4870....
I would be happy to leave it doing F@H while I am not gaming, since it will be running at the high speed anyway...

I would be even happier if I could use my ATI as a main display, and my 8800GTS as a dedicated CUDA/PhysX card, and eventually leave that to doing F@H, but that won't happen any time soon....

4770 is looking like a very very good value card.....

So... You get less components, less cooling, more noise, less box extras for more $$.

Whats wrong in this picture?

And then Gigabyte creates this passively cooled 9800GT 1GB Nvidia card for 137 euro.

Not to mention the technotalk: 2oz copper lanes, Samsung/Hynix memory, Japanese solid capacitor, Ferrite Core Chokes, and Low RDS (on) MOSFET. These high quality components help decrease card temperature and further improve the stability and over clocking capability.

Seems like they removed everything from the ati card and put onto this 8900GT Silent Cell (sounds like a terrorist organization)

Gigabyte's custom cooling wasn't designed by Zalman this time, was it? I've got one Gigabyte card with zalman cooler and it runs pretty cool & quiet.

Concerning F@H - since they replaced initial GPU app it has become a waste of ATi's firepower. I've heard there were DC projects which makes better use of ati gpu's, like milkyway@home

Anyway, this article was a funny reading. I thought for a moment Joe wrote it, nice job Mark! :)

We need to clear this up right now. What you have here is not the first "partner" model of a HD4770 card. THIS is the reference model; what bit-tech originally reviewed was a special "media" model, which you CANNOT buy anywhere (please prove me wrong on this).

Also, with this Gigabyte card actually reflecting the true reference model it isn't Gigabyte who has been pulling components off left and right, but ATi instead. And this isn't a custom cooler, either.

Truth be told, THIS review should completely replace the original review of the HD4770, since THIS is the model you're actually able to buy.

Originally Posted by azrael-
We need to clear this up right now. What you have here is not the first "partner" model of a HD4770 card. THIS is the reference model; what bit-tech originally reviewed was a special "media" model, which you CANNOT buy anywhere (please prove me wrong on this).

Also, with this Gigabyte card actually reflecting the true reference model it isn't Gigabyte who has been pulling components off left and right, but ATi instead. And this isn't a custom cooler, either.

Truth be told, THIS review should completely replace the original review of the HD4770, since THIS is the model you're actually able to buy.

Hmm, yes after checking - you're right. (looking at retailers websites)

Response from Bit-Tech?

Azrael is correct and this is starting to annoy me. The Gigabyte card in this review IS THE REFERENCE CARD. You all keep telling us that the "reference dual slot 4770 is cheaper and better". If so then give me a link to an e-tailer in the UK that I can purchase it.

I have purchased two Powercolor 4770's with exactly the same cooler as this Gigabyte one.

I suspect that ATI have been deceiving all the review sites, so I don't blame Bit Tech for this, BUT you guys should know better with your industry knowledge and contacts.

I have been scouring the Internet to purchase this "mystery reference 4770" and I tell you it does not exist in the channel. Tbh I actually prefer the look and performance of this paper launched dual slot reference 4770 but it clearly has not seen the light of day.

Originally Posted by azrael-
We need to clear this up right now. What you have here is not the first "partner" model of a HD4770 card. THIS is the reference model; what bit-tech originally reviewed was a special "media" model, which you CANNOT buy anywhere (please prove me wrong on this).

Not entirely true.
ATI produced two reference models and it's up to Asus, Gigabyte, XFX, Powercolor and so on to choose one of them, since the one seen here on the Gigabyte card is cheaper it is the obvious choice for most as we are talking ultimate cut throat market segment here.
XFX has a 4770 coming soon by the way that will use the more expensive reference design. link

The interesting point here is that this isn't news. I stated this when the original review was put up.

And no, I don't solely blame bit-tech for reviewing "the wrong card". Every other review out there used the same media edition, at least for reviews posted when the NDA was lifted.

I DO blame bit-tech for not following up on this issue when it came to light. There was a great opportunity for an "expose" of sorts. Instead this new review (still) talks about the reference edition and claims that this version of the card is a partner edition.

I got a response that I posted in the comments on one of the 4770 topics stating that AMD's response was along the lines of "it's up to partners to decide how they implement our reference design"

It wasn't that long ago that nVidia cards couldn't do Folding@Home at all, so there we are. How times change.

That said... with the 'beefy' reference cooler (whatever you want to call it) if a 4770 came with 1GB of RAM... I'd buy two. Then again... if nVidia could get their prices down a little more, I'd probably try an nVidia card again - I'm a bit tired of CCC. :|

i am curious, i have a 2900xt and am looking for a cheap upgrade, how would a card like this fair against it as far as performance goes? hopefully one of the editorial staff can shed some light, as the games used in the 2900 review a long long time ago are now different so i have no basis for comparision. any help would be awesome

peace

fatman

Originally Posted by Jenny_Y8S
I'm sorry but I find the whole Folding@home "craze" to be obsene. Deliberately creating an energy sucking hog just to get a few points for your team is just plain wrong.

If you believe you're helping medical science, and therefore helping people you're better of investing your time and money in a million and one different activities.

I don't see a problem contributing to the system using your "spare" CPU cycles (although this will also increase energy use) but to create a dedicated folder (or more!) to gain bragging rights is twisted.

So with that said, who cares if ATI cards can't fold

What an incredibly short sighted statement. What you obviously meant to say was that you don't care if ATI card's don't fold very well (not can't fold). At the very least you could have tried to back your statement up with a logical reasoning.

I suggest you go and post that same comment over in the folding forum to see what kind of response you get, I would think those over there would take a dim view of your opinion. There are a lot of people that have invested a great deal of their own time, effort and money to the project which doesn't deserve to be undermined by comments like this.

Originally Posted by smc8788
I suggest you go and post that same comment over in the folding forum to see what kind of response you get, I would think those over there would take a dim view of your opinion. There are a lot of people that have invested a great deal of their own time, effort and money to the project which doesn't deserve to be undermined by comments like this.

Attempting to save people from cancer/Alzheimers/vCJD by better scientific understanding... or attempting to save the planet by not having heat-belching computers churning 24/7...

Pick one.

The latter project does not deserve to be undermined with comments like yours, either.

Gigabyte's 4770 is a TOTAL FAIL!

Edit: so is ASUS! The exact same ... pile of you know what!

Now now children. Calm down and play nice.

Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter
Attempting to save people from cancer/Alzheimers/vCJD by better scientific understanding... or attempting to save the planet by not having heat-belching computers churning 24/7...

Pick one.

The latter project does not deserve to be undermined with comments like yours, either.

Not wanting to get into a debate which would be more suited to the Serious forum, I'll keep my reply short and leave it at that.

I wasn't in any way undermining such projects in any way (of course, there is not one 'official' project, it is the responsibility of every individual and government on the planet).

It is not a straight choice between the two, but then if you see the world in such black and white terms then it would be difficult to convince you otherwise. In the case of F@H, that computing power and energy usage is being put to good use, while I can think of plenty of examples, which I won't bother to list here, of energy wastage on a huge scale. It's a drop in the ocean, as they say.

So if you really must to sit on your environmentally friendly high horse, then I suggest that you concentrate your attention elsewhere, because your contempt for those that want to make a difference in the world and is sorely misplaced.

I could go into more detail, but this isn't the place for such discussions.

@ Tim - sorry, I'll be off now... :o

Originally Posted by naokaji
Not entirely true.
ATI produced two reference models and it's up to Asus, Gigabyte, XFX, Powercolor and so on to choose one of them, since the one seen here on the Gigabyte card is cheaper it is the obvious choice for most as we are talking ultimate cut throat market segment here.
XFX has a 4770 coming soon by the way that will use the more expensive reference design. link

No, XFX are not using the more expensive design. There is no dual heatpipes to be seen on the top of the cooler and no memory heatsinks either. There are parts (capacitors fo sure) missing, just like in the Gigabyte card. I can't understand where is the "more expensive", or "Premium Reference Design" (as TPU calls it) in the XFX model. They just put a different cooler, but are using the same cheap reference design. As far as I see, nobody is using the premium reference design by ATI.

I fully agree with azrael-. The way the review is written makes you think that Gigabyte screw things up and you can get the premium design for the same amount of money from other manufacturers, but you actually can't. So if you gonna blame Gigabyte for the design, you should blame all the other ATI partners as well.

Everyone complaining that ATI is "deceiving the media/public" is REALLY getting on my nerves. This has been covered MULTIPLE times on pretty much every enthusiast tech site on the net.

ATI produced the reference ATI 4770 (yes, the one with the nice cooler IS the REFERENCE DESIGN). AIBs got a deal on a less expensive cooler from a third party that keeps the card perfectly cool, so they decided to implement that cooler instead to increase the amount of profit they receive from each card (oh no!). ATI isn't deceiving anyone; any card you buy will perform exactly the same as the reference design and, in general, the cards will be cheaper than ATI's MSRP. This Gigabyte card seems to be the exception, so direct your ire towards Gigabyte, not ATI.

Yeah, and probably a third party offered all the partners to remove exactly the same parts on their cards. It's not only the cooler that is the difference. Look at the elements around the power circuit and next to the memory. You can count 9 capacitors missing and a few other parts. And that is not only with the Gigabyte card, but all the 4770s that are on the market.

Because I'm sure you've seen every 4770 on the market and counted every component.

Come on, you're just looking for something to bash, admit it.

You don't need to count the components... the version with the flimsy cooler is the weak one and the version with the exhaust cooler is the alright one.

Connect3D and Gainward are the only ones who don't offer any kind of HD 4770 right now... and the ones that do, that means Sapphire, HIS, PowerColor, Asus, Gigabyte, Club 3D, MSI, Palit and GeCube offer the flimsy version.

XFX is the only one who has a version with 1GB of memory and an exhaust cooler... but not yet out.

hmm, i was very interested by the price/performance of the 4770, but i really wanted something with a single slot cooler (similar to a 4850 but a lot more efficient on the heat/noise front). Hopefully Sapphire will ge their vapor x hands on it eventually and release a single slot, cool & quiet version.. :)