14 DAY TRIAL // While NVIDIA has been developing 3D technologies for gamers, ATI has been marketing a different technique for providing immersion, namely the multi-display solution known as the Eyefinity. This technology allows a Radeon HD card to spread its image across three or even six different displays, enabling a different experience when playing games. The other use of the technology is, naturally, to expand workspace in business or professional setups, thus enhancing productivity. Aiming to cater to this need, PowerColor has developed a rather unusual version of the Radeon HD 5770.
What may surprise end-users is that this new device has neither triple-display nor six-display capabilities. Instead, the card has only five mini DisplayPort connectors, which make it an Eyefinity 5 device. In fact, PowerColor is now, officially, AMD's only partner to have released an HD 5770 card with support for multi-display scenarios of more than three. Off course, the fact that the company didn't go all the way and put in real Eyefinity 6 may seem strange but, in fact, the product doesn't exactly need all six display outputs. This card isn't meant for gaming, nor does it have the necessary performance specs to even handle the high resolutions needed by Eyefinity 6 gaming setups.
More specifically, the powerColor HD 5770 Eyefinity 5 has 1GB GDDR5 memory, a 128-bit memory interface, a GPU clock of 850Mhz and 800 Stream processors. The memory itself has a clock speed of 4800Mhz. Furthermore, the graphics card uses a well-known Arctic Cooling cooler and will most likely become available in about two weeks time.
"As the first graphics solution supports up to 5 displays, the PowerColor HD5770 Eyefinity 5 delivers an immersive HD gaming performance with wider field of view and increases productivity at the same time," says Ted Chen, CEO of TUL Corporation.
According to Fudzilla, the price tag of this graphics adapter will hover between 150 Euro and 160 Euro, depending on the retailer or e-tailer. This makes it more expensive than a standard HD 5770 by roughly 25 Euro.