Final thoughts
Appreciating that the Radeon HD 5770 is ostensibly half a Radeon HD 5870 in every meaningful way, the examination of two-board performance indicates that the 5-series GPU design is particularly suited to a narrower per-card memory-bandwidth setup.The cumulative fps from the two cards is the same as Radeon HD 5870, in spite of the imperfect scaling exhibited by CrossFireX. Overall power-draw remains very good, and multi-monitor support is enhanced with another GPU, of course.
Multi-GPU usage also makes sense for NVIDIA cards, too, as the GeForce GTX 260 is able to spit out handsome numbers if coupled with another - all for less outlay than a single-board GTX 295.
Sounding a note of caution, CrossFireX, as with any multi-GPU solution, may be prone to sub-standard performance in games that don't receive the kind of attention as many of the big-name titles in our suite. The two cards also make noticeably more under-load noise than a single high-end model, should that worry you.
A look at launch-day pricing shows that the average selling price of an HD 5770 is around £125. However, two Sapphire or XFX HD 5770s can be purchased for around £225, combined, which make them significantly cheaper than the £300 for the HD 5870, and not much more than the HD 5850.
Having tested a plethora of AMD cards in recent weeks, we'd recommend users consider two HD 5770s at the expense of any other >£200 card. The mid-range Radeons combine performance and features in equal measure, and, obviously, you can always purchase one now and then add another at a later date.
Bottom line: Multi-GPU setups always bring another angle that often disrupts the buying advice doled out in previous reviews. The two-card Radeon HD 5770, whilst not perfect, offer a compelling alternative to every high-end card.
HEXUS Rating
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the ATI Radeon HD 5770 CrossFireX is evaluated with respect to our 'high-end components' criteria.
AMD
ATI Radeon HD 5770 CrossFireX
HEXUS Awards
AMD
ATI Radeon HD 5770 CrossFireX
