The frequency of graphics card releases now compared to two years ago is just jaw dropping. There used to be three models, a low-end, mid-range and high-end model. And while we still have that base structure today, there are so many models that fit into each category. These days we have high mid-range cards and low high-end boards amongst the main three categories. The reason for this is because of the amount of power these cards offer. The latest board to hit the market is the Radeon HD 4770 which expands upon the Radeon HD 4700 series from ATI. The weird thing is that it's a series that we haven't heard about a whole lot leading up to its release, especially in the new model market. - TweakTown

Gigabyte Radeon HD 4770 512MB Board Style Review

While looking at the package there isn't anything we haven't seen before from Gigabyte. We have the metallic purple and white setup which is pretty calming with a picture of a woman wielding a gun and manages to take up most of the package. As for information, we have the Gigabyte and ATI logo running across the top. Moving down, we have mention that the card carries with it GDDR5 memory. Moving to the bottom we have the model, in this case the Radeon HD 4770 and we again see mention that the card uses GDDR5 memory and that there's 512MB of it. Turning the box, we have the typical run down of information.

Having a look at the card we can see that it's pretty mid-range looking and one of the first things we notice is that the card's not quite as long as its higher end brothers. And we can also see that Gigabyte has opted for a smaller cooler that doesn't take up a huge amount of space on the card. Having a closer look at the cooler, we can see that there isn't a whole lot to it. Apart from the fan that sits on top and the shroud that goes around it, below it we can see a heatsink that sits directly on the on the Radeon HD 4770 core. Closer to the front of the card we have our CrossFire connectors that let us run up to three of these cards together.

While the Radeon HD 4770 stock clocks are 750MHz on the core and 3200MHz on the memory, Gigabyte has decided to ramp up the memory clock speed to 3400MHz. The big thing about this board is that while it's mid-range and carries a 128-bit memory bus, it does utilize GDDR5 memory which is something new. The biggest feature of the board would have to be the manufacturing process on the GPU. Utilizing 40nm technology the card should run nice and cool while also drawing less power. The 40nm technology will also ultimately mean higher clock speeds thanks to less heat, which is always a good thing.

ATI has done what they do best, create a graphics card that offers good value for money. So in typical ATI style, it's not the fastest board on the market, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the $109 price point. While we compared it to all these cards, the main thing we want to know is what exactly the card is capable of and the type of user who should buy this. Well, this card is going to suit a large line-up of people, anyone with a 22inch monitor and wants to game with mid to high detail is going to love this card. For the price you really can't go wrong, and just game below mid-range widescreen resolutions.

It's good to see Gigabyte has bumped the memory speed up, but what this does for overall performance we don't know since it's the first Radeon HD 4770 we've looked at. And no doubt the memory increase will give us a small performance increase as well, which is always appreciated. As for their bundle, it's all very standard for a mid-range card. All in all we have got a good model that lets the company dip its toes into 40nm technology. No doubt in the near future we will see those higher end models make use of the same technology bringing heat, power and price down while bringing performance up.