Radeon HD 5450 Release!

[Bolbi]

I thought that the 5450 wasn't supposed to launch until early February... But, lo and behold, it's listed on SuperBiiz. Mistake by SuperBiiz? Or is it launching early?

 

[mfarrukh]

Who cares?

 

[OvrClkr]

5450 = FAIL

 

[hallowed_dragon]

Good news for HTPC builders.

 

[Bolbi]

Yes, it's targeted at HTPC users and very light gamers (like me). So I care. However, I'm more inclined to think I'll go for the 5570, supposed to be released mid-February.

 

[OvrClkr]

If you play games do not get anything lower than a 5750.... HTPC owners are not going to spend 60/70.00$ on a 64bit card. I bet that card will cough at 720p.....

 

[hallowed_dragon]

If you play games do not get anything lower than a 5750.... HTPC owners are not going to spend 60/70.00$ on a 64bit card. I bet that card will cough at 720p.....

...and I bet not.

 

[Bolbi]

I bet not, too, especially with the games I play (e.g., Star Wars Battlefront II). I told you I was a LIGHT gamer, lol.

 

[hallowed_dragon]

From Anandtech review of the 4350/4550 cards (which we can safely assume are slower than the 5450)

Both GPUs should decode a single stream 1080p Blu-ray movie without any issues, offloading 100% of the decode pipeline to the GPU; we confirmed that the 4550 works as expected and we're assuming the 4350 is the same given that the hardware is identical.

 

[Bolbi]

So, the reaction to this new card is mixed... But I think we're all anticipating Catalyst 10.1 (at least the ATI users are). That's supposed to be out this week, too.

 

[hallowed_dragon]

So, the reaction to this new card is mixed... But I think we're all anticipating Catalyst 10.1 (at least the ATI users are).

No it is not mixed. Some other members which do not appreciate the target market for the card just happened to be in the area. No one in the right mind will try to play any demanding new game on this card. HD movies will work flawlessly so that makes this card good for its target market.

 

[jaguarskx]

It's a card for a targeted audience who is not really concerned about playing games.

Would I put this card into my HTPC? Probably not since my HTPC serves as secondary gaming PC just in case my primary rig goes down. If the 9600GT in my HPTC were to fail, then I would probably replace it a HD 5670 or HD 5750 which offers good enough price/performance ratio and low power consumption.

 

[OvrClkr]

My point is that you can get something better for a few dollars more. Many users that buy such cards later to be dissapointed by the actual performance.

 

[hallowed_dragon]

My point is that you can get something better for a few dollars more. Many users that buy such cards later to be dissapointed by the actual performance.

Many users buying this cards don't care about games!

 

[OvrClkr]

Agreed, but the one who do should steer clear away!!!

 

[hallowed_dragon]

Agreed, but the one who do should steer clear away!!!

The one who buys this card expecting to game will do so without consulting all the data for this card so IMHO he/she deserves all that is coming.

 

[megamanx00]

I was really expecting the low end cards to have at least 160 shaders, but I suppose since they will eventually be sold at rock bottom prices, AMD wants to squeeze every dollar they can in margins. I think this also suggests that the next gen IGPs will have 80 shaders (double the 40 in the 780/785 and 790GX chipsets), to allow for the funky hybrid crossfire. I think for HTC and light gaming a low profile 4650 or a GT220 would serve better. If you don't need a low profile card then a GT240, Radeon 4670, or 5670 would be better.

 

[yiplong]

Many users buying this cards don't care about games!

Indeed. When asked whether a card is good, we must consider its price and intended purpose. HD 5970 may be one of the fastest video card in the world but it is a piece of crap as far as HTCP is concerned. Its fan noise and large profile make it unfit for such purpose.

 

[Bolbi]

Well, it's been removed. I'm guessing SuperBiiz jumped the gun in this case... Wonder if they'll get fined or anything, and what they'll say to customers whose orders are now delayed 1.5 - 2 weeks!

 

[stuplarosa]

I thought that the 5450 wasn't supposed to launch until early February... But, lo and behold, it's listed on SuperBiiz. Mistake by SuperBiiz? Or is it launching early?

How much was it?

 

[Bolbi]

How much was it?

Some stores, according to Google Shopping, still have it listed. At SuperBiiz, it was about the same price as the lower ones listed on Google Shopping.

 

[crazycuz]

I just bought one on ebay for 54 with 8% bing cashback. mwave has it up on their sight. for all you naysayers... if you want a card that can be passively cooled, low format card that can decode h264 blu ray and bitstream hd than this card is perfect. I'm pretty sure AMD didn't make this card for gamers but for media center users. Too bad it's not getting integrated with the upcoming 890G mb's otherwise I would have waited.

 

[xe77]

5750? Too expensive. I need something as a stop gap until something better integrated/supported/dx11 support gets sorted out with Windows 7.
Currently I'm using a 7600GS (512) from 4+ years ago. I don't even have DirectX10 support or any H264 encoding/decoding at all. 720p video uses a good 60 to 70% of both cores. 5450 is cheap and fanless and I can get 1GB DDR3 with HDMI for $70 CAD. Sold!

 

[Bolbi]

I'm in the same boat as xe77 (only a $60 GPU budget for me); I'm targeting this Gigabyte HD 5450 due to it's factory OC'd core and RAM speeds, and it's 3-year warranty; and hey, it's only $55. I'm just waiting for free shipping... I don't know how much VRAM you need for CAD, but if 512MB is enough I'd recommend the Gigabyte.

 

[nforce4max]

I'm in the same boat as xe77 (only a $60 GPU budget for me); I'm targeting this Gigabyte HD 5450 due to it's factory OC'd core and RAM speeds, and it's 3-year warranty; and hey, it's only $55. I'm just waiting for free shipping... I don't know how much VRAM you need for CAD, but if 512MB is enough I'd recommend the Gigabyte.

I landed a used 3870 OC edition for only $56 while my 8800gtx only cost me $32. The 8800gtx had no cooler and needed to be recapped which ran wonderfully.