Shootouts

The Budget Showdown - ATI vs. NVIDIA

By Kenny Yeo - 22 Mar 2010

Conclusion

Conclusion

When we were first presented with the first Evergreen card, ATI boldly stated that they have plans to roll out the entire range within a half-year time span, and that is exactly what they have done. With the release of the Radeon HD 5450 and HD 5570, the circle is almost complete. However, the two latest cards from the red camp have their hits and misses. Let us explain.

As our tests have shown, the most basic model of the Evergreen family, the Radeon HD 5450, is not ideal for any modern gaming. Despite the low settings we were using, the Radeon HD 5450 never once looked comfortable in our tests, generating frame rates well below the minimum threshold of 30fps. The final verdict on it is that it is perhaps more suited for crunching HD videos rather than 3D games.

But then again, the card has a launch price of only US$49 (S$68), which means as far as graphics cards are concerned, it's really affordable. And while it may not allow you to get any kind of gaming done, one could also think of it as a relatively cheap means of attaining a triple display setup.

The Radeon HD 5450 isn't as versatile as we'd have liked it to be, but the Radeon HD 5570 is a really good, all-rounder low-profile card.

The Radeon HD 5570, however, is a much more interesting card. No doubt it'll be fantastic at handling HD videos, but it is also capable of getting some light gaming done, so long as you keep the settings and resolutions down. But perhaps more impressive is the fact that it was designed from ground-up as a half-height, low-profile card. And if you consider its performance, it is easily one of the most powerful low-profile cards that are currently available on the market, which makes it supremely ideal for HTPC enthusiasts.

On the subject of price, the Radeon HD 5570 has a launch price of about US$80 (S$112), similar to the more expensive range of NVIDIA's GeForce GT 220. And from a performance standpoint, there really is no comparison, seeing how the Radeon HD 5570 was consistently quicker than its rival across all benchmarks. In fact, discounting the slightly high operating temperatures (again understandable given its tiny cooler), this new Radeon HD 5570 is quite simply one of the most accomplished low-profile cards in the market.

Of course, if you look hard enough you'll be able to find low-profile versions of the GeForce 9600 GT and 9800 GT, but such cards will not only cost more, but will also need much more power and generate more heat such that the performance gain is not worth it.

Final Ratings

The ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB GDDR3

The ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB GDDR3

The ATI Radeon HD 5570 1GB GDDR5

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