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When building a low noise media/gaming center there really are only a handful of suitable options. If gaming is your main priority then a single slot HD5770 will deliver better performance than the products tested today, with noise level penalties. If your budget is tight and you don't care about gaming then the HD5550 is a good solution.
The HD5670 in the right hands (XFX and Sapphire) can be passively cooled and will still deliver enough performance to enjoy a game on your television set when the need arises. We have highlighted today that the HD5670 can handle 720p gaming with relative ease, although more intensive DX11 titles such as Lost Planet 2 really will need a Crossfire configuration if you don't want to deal with image quality compromises.
After reviewing many high end boards, it is rather refreshing to test products which dont need fans or power connectors. These cards consume very little power and remain reasonably cool, even when loaded. The fact that programs such as Cyberlinks PowerDVD 10 Ultra and Espresso can also use their power to help with encoding and decoding really adds value to the discrete solution.
When you factor in that one of these is currently retailing for £85 inc vat, they really are difficult to ignore, especially if you are building a media center for High definition playback and want the highest possible reproduction at 1080p. Some of the credit has to go to AMD, because Catalyst 10.10 really does deliver an unparalleled HD experience.
KitGuru says: Built for media, IQ is top drawer.
Gotta love these boards. they look just as nice as Sapphires, which is going to piss them off 🙂
Love them, im building a new media pc and I think ill send dabs a few quid tmoorrow.
The heatsink looks quite big on the back of the PCB. would that be an issue for some smaller chassis designs?
@ Jonathan – I wouldnt think it would be a problem. only thing would be on an mini itx board, if the slot was close to the cpu slot and the cpu cooler was a little wider than reference. Tough one to call for all situations, but generally, no.
Need to talk my parents into this for christmas, my old nvidia board is knackered.
Onmly downside with one of these is that in a year it will be not able to power anything. maybe you could pick another up early next year, but im not sold. I like the silent operation and media IQ performance, but for gaming , not a good move imo.
People buying this probably wont even be gaming at 1080p. that is maybe a little misleading, although I apprecaite its good testing for TV resolutions. 720p is this market, and the hardware is fine.
Also this is ideal for media HD playback. blueray, MKV etc. and you get the benefits of AMDs driver options for noise reduction etc. onboard solutions just dont cut it for this. its a better buy than the 5550 which is so weak.
no power connectors and fans. This excites me more than a 5970 :p
Once you go fanless, you never go back.
hm… looks really nice, and with the current price at 65 euro’s, it is impossible to ignore.
and will get one of these asap, as my passive 5450 is starting to die TT_TT.
also, maybe ill zip-tie an 80mm fan at (very) low rpm to keep the card a few degrees cooler, without adding to the sound
So much about these gadgets revolves around style and being
an early-adopter. It is very compact to carry and easy to operate as well.
With this mobile phone you will be able to program it to recognize your own handwriting alone.
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button!
I’d without a doubt donate to this brilliant blog!
I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this site with
my Facebook group. Chat soon!