New to ATI, have a few questions.

[Xelios]

Hey guys, I have a few questions on ATI cards in general. I really wish I'd paid more attention to them over the past years, but I've become an Nvidia fan unfortunately. The last ATI card I bought was a 9200SE (like 6 or 7 years ago maybe). But here we go.

I know that when Nvidia releases a card, the companies jump on them to get them out ASAP. Then after a bit, you see them deviate from reference boards to more custom ones. Does this happen with ATI as well? I know it sounds like an obvious one, but I need a more definite answer. Also, how long does it take before the custom boards start appearing? I'm in the market for a 5770 right now, and don't want to jump on them too early.

Relating to that question is another one. When the custom PCBs come out do they have different sizes, coolers, and all those things? Because I know that the current 5770s are kind of small, and thus the heat builds up faster in the smaller space. I wouldn't mind having a larger card so it can run cooler. Is this a common practice, or are all of them the same size?

Thanks in advance guys. Appreciate it.

 

[TheViper]

Vendors offer non-reference cards soon after release as well.

Custom boards appear depending on many things. If the reference stock board stays in high demand, modified products will take longer to appear. Right now ALL the HD 5000 series cards are in high demand and sell outs are almost constant.

Custom boards often have different cooler designs, board designs, clock rates, , etc...memory.

 

[hunter315]

ATI like nVidia provides the chips to OEMs who start with reference boards and then start offering overclocked models, aftermarket coolers, and models with different amounts of VRam. Right now all the 5xxx cards are reference boards, there isnt even enough to keep them in stock so im not sure if the OEMs will be releasing modified cards until supply levels increase. It might take a week or two, it might take a couple months, depends how much ATI can ramp up production.

The custom ones are usually still the same size because its hard to fit the components in less space. The 5770 uses about 50 watts less power than a 4870 so it should run quite cool actually, especially since it does have a similar cooler than exhausts the heat out the rear of the case.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Yes they have different cooling option, either different HSF or liquid, or a myriad of other things similar to nV.

For the HD57xx series look at the Sapphire Vapor-X for an interesting non-reference design that's recently hit their site (launching in a few days).
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/news/video/sapphire-launching-hd-5750-vaporx-video-card/
It's a 5750, but expect others in due time (usually after the initial launch slows down a bit, where the AIB spends a few bucks to keep MSRP high).

More on Vapor-X
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/technology.aspx?psn=000801&lid=1

 

[Xelios]

Wow, you guys are fast haha. Thanks to all 3 of you for the info. I thought they just took time till they released, never thought demand was a factor in it. Guess I should have realized that, its pretty obvious.

And hunter, I looked up a bench on the 5770 from I believe it was guru3d, and their card hit 76C at 100% load. Now I'm not sure how realistic 100% is, but its still quite high.

And thanks for those links Ape. I'll definitely give the em a click.

 

[hunter315]

I assume this is the one you were looking at
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/11
Which is pretty toasty, once they get a better dual slot cooler on there it should cool off significantly. 76 is still well within the safe range for a GPU, normally 80-90 is considered hot for a GPU, the 5870s in crossfire in the review here got up to 100C before throttling themselves dual to heat so 76C is well within the safe range for the GPU.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

76C is quite good, most cards running @ 100% workload (usually using FURmark) will exceed 100C, and some will get into the 110C mark, so 76C at 100% load with default fan settings is actually very good.

 

[Xelios]

I assume this is the one you were looking at
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/11
Which is pretty toasty, once they get a better dual slot cooler on there it should cool off significantly. 76 is still well within the safe range for a GPU, normally 80-90 is considered hot for a GPU, the 5870s in crossfire in the review here got up to 100C before throttling themselves dual to heat so 76C is well within the safe range for the GPU.

Oh is that true? And here I thought that 50C on my current card (Nvidia 7600GS) was hot. But I'd assume the cards come with junk compound on them. Changing that would pull off a few degrees.

76C is quite good, most cards running @ 100% workload (usually using FURmark) will exceed 100C, and some will get into the 110C mark, so 76C at 100% load with default fan settings is actually very good.

How often will the card hit 100% load? I'm only running at 1366x768, so I'd imagine it would probably never hit it's max load at this resolution, but you can never be too sure.

 

[TerminatorXT]

Oh is that true? And here I thought that 50C on my current card (Nvidia 7600GS) was hot. But I'd assume the cards come with junk compound on them. Changing that would pull off a few degrees.



How often will the card hit 100% load? I'm only running at 1366x768, so I'd imagine it would probably never hit it's max load at this resolution, but you can never be too sure.

My GTX 295 runs at 53C on idle when my room temp is at 27C
but when my room temp is at its normal 23C it idles at 49C

load with Crysis is in the 80s
and Furmark left on maxed out for about 10 min can touch 100C

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

How often will the card hit 100% load? I'm only running at 1366x768, so I'd imagine it would probably never hit it's max load at this resolution, but you can never be too sure.

It's extremely hard to get a card to reach 100% load nowadays in games or even most other benchmarks, Futuremark's 3Dmark06 and Vantage will crest 100% momentarily, but even then sometimes not. As TXT mentions, Crysis, which is pretty stressful, won't really get you all the way there either, and at your res it's even less likely although still possible with FURmark and such.