AMD Radeon HD 7770 And 7750 Review: Familiar Speed, Less Power

Features
By Chris Angelini
published

These are the lowest-end cards built using AMD's new Graphics Core Next architecture. Is 28 nm manufacturing, a fresh design, and new functionality enough to warrant upgrading existing value-oriented champs like the Radeon HD 6850 and GeForce GTX 460?

Benchmark Results: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

While we generally consider this to be a processor-bound title, shifting down to lower-end graphics cards definitely applies a more taxing workload to the 3D subsystem. Both the Radeon HD 7770 and 7750 handle High detail settings at 1680x1050 well enough. The Ultra setting is significantly more demanding, but given the pace of this title, not entirely unplayable.

The Radeon HD 7770 easily beats Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 550 Ti, but comes in behind the 256-bit GeForce GTX 460 1 GB, which in turn slightly trails the Radeon HD 6850. Meanwhile, the Radeon HD 7750 pretty much matches pace with AMD’s old (but still quite capable) Radeon HD 5770, itself losing to the GeForce GTX 550 Ti under High details and then passing it at Ultra quality settings.

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
153 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Derbixrace
    the 7750 will be a GREAT card compared to the 6670 for those who have a shitty 300w PSU and wants a nice GPU.
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer
    I hope the price of 7770 comes down to $130. That is where this card belongs.
    Reply
  • phamhlam
    If the 7770 is the same price as the 6850. I think we have the best value card right here. The 6850 was a great budget card but this card will change that.
    Reply
  • dragonsqrrl
    "Although other cards beat it in encryption and decryption performance, the Radeon HD 7750 easily secures a second-place finish in the SHA256 hashing test."

    I think you mean AES256.
    Reply
  • jprahman
    The fight shaping up between all these new AMD cards and Kepler is looking to be a good one. Time to just sit back with some popcorn and enjoy the show... while planning a new build for when the price war breaks out.
    Reply
  • esrever
    Seems ok, New stuff ussually cost more. The 6770 being more expensive than the 5770, the 6870 being more expensive than the 5850 ect.

    I'd expect prices to go down once supply goes up and demand goes down.
    Reply
  • confish21
    What a sad release. I'm not even excited for Pitcairn now! I foresee the $170 6870 to hold its own.
    Reply
  • This is ridiculous. Man this sucks, i've been waiting for the 7770 since early last year, and this crap is what they release?

    What_were_they_thinking?
    Reply
  • wicketr
    Well....here's hoping for a good 7850/7870 release on March 6th. Not much here worth spending money on IMO.
    Reply
  • buzznut
    This is unfortunate, considering the naming scheme. The 4770, 5770, and 6770 were/are all good budget cards that performed above where they were priced. Bang for buck has always been the draw here, but that 7770 is overpriced. Hopefully AMD will see this fumble; I agree at $120-130 this card makes a lot more sense.

    I'd actually like to see the HD 7750 at a lower price too, as we know these prices will drop over time but I still think this is slightly high for launch.
    Reply