AMD has retaken the crown for superior graphical power with their ATI Radeon HD 5870 video card, and consumers have confirmed that this is the hottest graphics accelerator of the moment. Armed with 1600 shader cores, the 40nm Cypress GPU claims to push video game frame rates well-beyond what NVIDIA offers from their GeForce GTX 285 counterpart. While the list of DirectX 11 video games has just started to grow, with one of the first being a free Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) named BattleForge. Perhaps ATI has created the perfect storm for their Radeon HD 5800-series by offering a price-competitive graphics card with several free games included or available. While NVIDIA toils away with CUDA and PhysX, ATI is busy delivering the next generation of hardware for the gaming community to enjoy. Sapphire factory overclocks the Cypress GPU and adds their own custom cooling solution, named Vapor-X. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 Vapor-X video card 100281VXSR against a cross-section of modern graphics accelerators. 

OK, we're through playing nice with these new ATI 5xxx video cards. The corporate logo for XFX says: "play hard.", so Benchmark reviews is going to take that motto to heart and show what this cards can really do. Almost every single competing card runs at higher than reference clock rates, and they all come that way from the factory. Every single card I compared the HD5770 to, when we reviewed the reference design from ATI, was factory overclocked. That's just the way it is with video cards built on mature GPU technology. Well, every ATI 5xxx card can easily be overclocked using the standard driver package from ATI, Catalyst Control Center, since it includes ATI Overdrive. So let's do it, let's compare apples to apples, and as a bonus, I'll throw in some CrossfireX results, too.

The launch of Radeon HD57xx Juniper-GPU series cards is going very smoothly. ATI learned some hard lessons when they launched the HD4850 a couple years back. All the partners seem to have their cards ready for distribution this time, and there's no price gouging, due to the stable supply. This is doubly important for the HD57xx, since they're in the middle of the pack, performance-wise, and there are lots of competitors. XFX is one of the premium retail partners in the video card industry, although they're a relative newcomer to the ATI camp, and they've supplied Benchmark Reviews a model HD-575X-ZNF7 Radeon HD5750 to review. We recently looked at an early engineering sample of the HD5770, now we have the opportunity to take a look at a production version of the lower priced companion card, the XFX Radeon HD5750. We already know it's not going to challenge the HD5770, but can it beat out its real competition at the lower price point?

Microsoft Windows 7 will deliver DirectX 11 visual quality like never seen before, and ATI has endowed gamers with an unparalleled graphics solution in the Radeon HD 5870. While the Radeon 5800-series is a monumental feat for AMD over the unprepared competition, not everyone can fit the absolute best video card available into their budge. Armed with 1440 shader cores, the 40nm Cypress GPU HD5850 is positioned to offer an excellent value for the upper mid-range and hits the sweet-spot for DirectX 11 gamers. In this article, Benchmark Reviews compares the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 video card, model 21162-00-50R, against a cross-section of modern graphics accelerators.

AMD has leap-frogged NVIDIA by launching the DirectX 11 compatible Radeon HD 5870 video card. Armed with 1600 shader cores, the 40nm Cypress GPU claims to push video game frame rates well-beyond what NVIDIA offers from their GeForce GTX 285 counterpart. While the list of DirectX 11 video games has just started to grow, with one of the first being a free Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) named Battle Forge. Perhaps ATI has created the perfect storm for their Radeon HD 5800-series by offering a price-competitive graphics card with several free games included or available. While NVIDIA toils away with CUDA and PhysX, ATI is busy delivering the next generation of hardware for the gaming community to enjoy. In this article, Benchmark Reviews compares the Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 video card, model 21161-00-50R, against a cross-section of modern graphics accelerators.

Coming right on the heels of the HD5800 series launch, ATI brings us another batch of cards based on class-leading 40nm GPUs and GDDR5 memory. The new cards, Radeon HD5770 and HD5750, use the same architecture as the new HD5800 series, but ATI basically cut the Cypress chip in half to create a brand new video card with hardware specs somewhere between an HD4870 and an HD4890. If you're thinking that's not a bad place to be, but want to see some proof of how the HD5770 performs, Benchmark Reviews is pleased to offer you the results of our extensive testing.

It's OK to arrive fashionably late to a party, as long as you have something to add. ASUS has been offering their MATRIX branded video cards to the public well after the initial buzz has died down, for each GPU launch. The 9800GT and 4870 MATRIXcards were released in 2008, followed by the GTX260 MATRIX in early 2009. ASUS now releases the GTX285 MATRIX featuring the fastest single GPU available, supplied by NVIDIA. Benchmark Reviews looked at the ASUS ENGTX285 TOP back in January, which drew heavily from the NVIDIA reference design. Let's take a closer look at how they've stretched the limits on their latest offering, which is anything BUT a standard design.

The graphics card market is pretty much a two man slugfest at the moment. ATI and NVIDIA trade blows at irregular intervals in a brutal game of strategy. The GeForce GTX 275 was a punch that NVIDIA held in reserve, just waiting for ATI to release their HD4890 card. When launch day came for ATI, lo and behold, NVIDIA had the GTX 275 up their sleeve, ready for production. Essentially, the GTX 275 combines the GPU of the GTX 285 with the memory architecture of the GTX 260 with performance and pricing that neatly slots between the two.

MSI is an established player in the graphics card market, and their take on the GTX 275 pulls no punches. They put together a unique design, featuring twin PWM fans and a 5-heatpipe cooler, for their N275GTX Twin Frozr OC Edition, and one look should tell you that they are serious about performance. Benchmark Reviews is pleased to offer you a detailed, fact-filled look at one of the products at the heart of the sweet spot for gaming graphics.