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We already knew the Sapphire HD5770 Flex was one of the best value for money cards on the market and nothing has changed our minds today. Sure, the GTX460 delivers a wicked level of performance, but the Flex edition is a really versatile product which delivers affordable multiscreen capabilities to the masses.
If you caught our recent review of the XFX HD5970 Black Edition Limited 4GB in CrossfireX, you will already be aware of the insane levels of performance high end AMD graphics solutions can bring to the gaming table. Back in the real world however there are not going to be many people who can afford to spend £1,800 on a pair of video cards.
Purchasing a HD5770 Flex and a HD5770 Vapor X will only set you back £275, and the three liyama ProLite E2472HDD LED screens can be bought for £150 each. £725 for three monitors and a dual graphics card solution is easily within the grasp of a sizeable portion of the audience reading KitGuru today. If you already happen to own a HD5770 then this makes even more sense.
The Sapphire Flex and Vapor X make for a great Crossfire pairing … they are efficient cards which don't require a lot of power and they run cool while generating low levels of noise. You won't need a 1200W power supply and while we used a very high end processor today to minimise CPU limiting, you can comfortably use a modestly priced processor, such as the Intel 760, 860 or 950.
Our testing shows that a single HD5770 Flex struggles a little when powering games at 5760×1080 but by simply adding another low cost model the scaling is very good indeed. The second card can also allow for Anti Aliasing to be enabled, depending on the specific demands of the game engine.
The Flex still remains one of our first choices for a versatile, low cost graphics card. We have been using one now for months and have found it a fantastic product for a work based environment. By simply spending another £120, we can now see that those three screens can be used for a bit of fun outside work hours.
Kitguru Says: The Sapphire Flex is one of our favourite cards of 2010 and we still think it is one of Sapphires best products to date.
Well this makes a lot more sense to me than 2 XFX 5970 Black Editions. you could basically get this setup and a full PC with screens for the same price as two of the XFX cards.
Sure performance is much higher, but is it really needed? not sure I could tell the difference between 2aa and 8aa and 50fps or 150fps.
Great idea, the HD5770s have dropped alot from 170 ish to 130 or so in recent months, makes for a good pairing.
Only thing that put me off the XFX cards (well apart from the price) was the power drain and noise levels. A great showcase of XFX engineering capabilities, but not very realistic.
Still, good for different audiences. Wonder how many Flex editions sapphire have sol,d I saw it took them quite some time to get them to market after the first batch of reviews.
I already have plans to sell my monitor and get three matching screens. Then next year get a new system. I dont think its a great time to buy HD5770, not with new range out very soon.
Any ideas if Sapphire will bring out a new 6770 (or whatever they will call it) with Flex support? I might hang on till the new cards are out. I already have a HD5770 but might sell it.
I really rate the flex. its all about pricing and they aren’t charging much more for the 3 screen technology support. Displayport monitors still cost major cash. This opens the path to cheap, but good panels.
It is hard to argue with the price of that system (well apart from the 980x). using a 920 or 950 would drop the system price by 500 quid. Overall well worth approaching this angle. I was impressed with XFX 5970 CFx article, but the money outlay was ridiculous.
Really like these cards, the price is right !
Its hard to knock the price for the performance. Just a bit time to be buying 5 series cards I think
The flex was destined to be 180-190 quid. months ago. 140 seems a good deal, especially for a work environment. While im not sold on it as a gaming platform, with 2 cards it seems quite good.
They are sure to make a 6770 with flex support like this. the 5770 flex came out too late really. a bit like the nvidia boards in recent weeks. its too little to late.
very good review, those screens look great for the price. Cant get over that for 150 quid. I remember spending 800 on a 22 inch crt years ago.
lol yah, I spent a grand on a CRT for my first macintosh, a long time ago. its a good time to buy tech
The GTX 460 killed the 5830 and caused probs for 5850. HD5770 seems to be doing well at this price.
What a great system idea. handles most games well too.
I think people who spend over 500 on a video card are nuts. you dont need it.
500? I think people who spend over 300 are nuts. its not needed unless you are waving the epenis or trying to break benchmark figures. most games run fine on a GTS450.