| XFX Radeon R7770 Black Edition Video Card |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |
| Written by David Ramsey | |
| Tuesday, 14 February 2012 | |
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Page 17 of 17
XFX R7770 Black Edition ConclusionIMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested, which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate. The performance of the card was excellent. Cape Verde GPUs represent the lowest end of AMD's new Graphics Core Next architecture, yet provide performance similar to the previous generation's mid-range cards. The card's power-saving technologies mean that it stays quite and cool. The appearance of the card was striking and original. XFX even made the effort of using a red, lettered top plate so everyone will know what card you have should you display it in a windowed case. I do think the card would look a little "cleaner" with a back plate to cover the exposed circuitry on the rear of the card. The construction of the card seems very solid. As with many graphics cards, too much thermal paste was applied at the factory, but the card still ran very cool under load. AMD's Graphics Core Next GPUs bring new functionality to the graphics card world: extremely efficient power usage, 4K monitor support, PCI-E 3.0 support, and DirectX 11.1. Admittedly some of these features have no immediate use (it's not as if even dual GPU cards saturate a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot), but it's nice to know they're there. The only thing lacking is PhysX support. NVIDIA continues to insist PhysX is an open standard, although nobody else has implemented it yet, and there must be a reason why. Nonetheless, PhysX-enabled games such as Batman: Arkham City bring new levels of realism to the consumer space, and not being able to support this feature well is definitely a drawback. XFX's packaging and accessories bundle is first-rate. Out of the box, the card can be connected to any monitor you may have, regardless of its interface...everything from VGA to the very latest DisplayPort monitors can be accommodated. Unfortunately, the card suffers from the same problem as its Tahiti-based big brothers: a very high price. While the Tahiti cards can get away with this due to their staggering performance, this Cape Verde card finds its performance matched or exceeded by a number of much less expensive cards, some from within AMD's own product line. Although the XFX R7770 Black Super Overclocked Edition with Double Dissipation card benefits from XFX' first-rate hardware (2 ounce copper PCB, solid Japanese capacitors, dust-resistant fans, etc.), it's not enough to justify the much higher price. This card simply isn't competitive in the current market. Pros:
+ Moves low-end performance bar up Cons:
- No PhysX support Ratings:
Final Score: 8.30 out of 10.Benchmark Reviews invites you to leave constructive feedback below, or ask questions in our Discussion Forum.
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Comments
You're right about Surround being limited to 3 monitors, which is probably why AMD has been showing off 5-monitor setups of late. I know one or two people with triple monitor setups, but the only 5-monitor setup I've ever seen was an an AMD press event. Impressive, yes; real-world utility, well...
But the price turns all of that off immediately. If the price were to fall a ~good~ bit, I could see running a pair of them in my A8-3850 Vision PC. The low power usage and lower heat appeal to me.
you know, it is still have driver issue with crossfire
check this AMD Radeon 7970 Crossfire Skyrim Benchmark