14 DAY TRIAL // Now that the competition between ATI and NVIDIA has finally flared up, both of their manufacturing partners have begun to create more unusual video board models in order to cope with the added pressure. XFX is now joining the crowd, only instead of just playing with the aesthetics and clocks, it also made a point of improving versatility and functionality by making its new models more compact. To be more specific, the outfit created a pair of Radeon HD 5770 graphics cards with single-slot coolers.
As far as performance numbers go, it could be said that both video controllers are identical. They feature 800 stream processors and 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM whose clock speed is of 4,800 MHz. The models are also similar through their 128-bit memory interfaces and their GPU clock of 850 MHz. Furthermore, a 6-pin PCI Express power connector will be needed in order to keep the devices operational.
The connectivity capabilities are the only noticeable differing factor between the two new arrivals. One of them is equipped with a pair of DVI outputs and a single mini DisplayPort, making it possible to connect three displays at once. The other board, however, appears even more unique, with only mini DisplayPorts to show for itself, five to be exact. As for overall functionality and feature support, it can be assumed that, in addition to DirectX, all the technologies usually encountered on ATI cards are supported, such as CrossFireX and ATI Stream, to name a few.
The products are known as HD-577X-ZMF3 and HD-577X-Z5F3 and, according to a report published by PC Watch, will officially start selling around the middle of the ongoing month. When they do, they will probably become quite interesting choices for the mainstream segment, especially by virtue of their high amount of memory. Their prices will be of $200 and $207, respectively.