ATI Radeon HD 5450: Eyefinity And HTPCs For Everyone?

Radeon HD 5450: The Reference Card

The Radeon HD 5450 is tiny, easily a half-height card sporting a bundled I/O bracket that can be swapped to fit in full-size enclosures. It is less than seven inches long, and the PCB is less than two and a quarter inches tall.

At first glance, you could almost mistake the new Radeon HD 5450 for the 4550 its replacing. An AMD representative even boasted that the 5450 shares the same dimensions as the 4550, allowing board partners to use the same coolers if they want, keeping costs for new development to a minimum.

The heatsink on the reference card is beefy--likely one of the most attractive looking designs we've seen on a low-end passive card. As you will see in our temperature testing, it also does a more than adequate job of keeping the 5450 GPU cool.

This reference model includes DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs, but manufacturers will have some leeway as to what to equip. Alternate models will likely come from the factory without a DisplayPort connector, even though this type of configuration would remove the option of a triple-monitor configuration.

It's difficult to believe this tiny GPU carries 292 million transistors. Anyone remember the original Intel Pentium CPU? It consisted of 3.1 million transistors. That means that this miniscule Radeon GPU employs more than 94 times the number of transistors used to build Pentium processors. It boggles the mind.

  • popaholic
    For the all the idiots out there, yes it can run Crysis, slightly.

    Whats the point of releasing a new graphics card thats worse than older cards? It runs Dx11 but there's no way it could even run a supported game.

    Reply
  • The links to the article pages are either missing or directed wrongly. For example, the "Power and Temperature Benchmarks", "Conclusion" pages are missing or directed wrongly.
    Reply
  • cangelini
    serokichimThe links to the article pages are either missing or directed wrongly. For example, the "Power and Temperature Benchmarks", "Conclusion" pages are missing or directed wrongly.
    Try refreshing the page. Should be working correctly now!
    Reply
  • robertking82881
    well those that are not gameing but want direct x11 can pick this up
    Reply
  • acasel
    a crossfire config with this video card + overclock will make this article much better in a gamers point of view...
    Reply
  • cleeve
    acasela crossfire config with this video card + overclock will make this article much better in a gamers point of view...
    Not really, look at the specs. In CrossFire these cards would cost $100 for a total 160 shader cores. They still wouldn't hold a candle to a single $100 5670 when gaming, which has 400 shader cores all by itself.

    CrossFiring the 5450 would be a total waste.
    Reply
  • masterjaw
    Passively-cooled 5450 in crossfire = fail

    How do you expect it to handle the increase in temps? Even if you got some good airflow inside the case, that won't be sufficient.
    Reply
  • footsoldier
    Kinda failed product, ATI..focus on price drop plssss! But still, ATI rocks
    Reply
  • skora
    How selfish you all are thinking THG only does gaming cards!!!! When ATI cuts the hardware (shaders/ROPs) to the bone, its not about gaming. Its for the HTPC and multi-monitor office crowd and thats it. It's a niche card and looks to do that admirably.
    Reply
  • shubham1401
    Lol...
    They needed a i7 and 1200W PSU to test this card... :)

    Useless...Either get a good card or stick with integrated.
    Reply