AMD Radeon HD 7750 & Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition Review: Evading The Price/Performance Curve
by Ryan Smith & Ganesh T S on February 15, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- HTPC
- GCN
- Radeon HD 7000
Video Post-Processing: GPU Loading
We saw in our coverage of discrete HTPC GPUs last year that noise reduction loaded up the GPU, and as such, was even disabled in the low end GPUs for want of shader resources. Starting with this review, we are planning to tabulate GPU usage under various post processing scenarios instead of running decoder benchmarks. GPU-Z gives us the necessary data for this purpose.
A 1080i60 H.264 clip (same as the one used in the discrete HTPC GPU article last year) was decoded with the LAV Video Decoder (DXVA2 Copy-Back mode) using EVR-CP as a renderer in GraphStudio Next's Decoder Performance section. Various post-processing options were turned on and off in CCC and the GPU usage recorded in each case.
| Video Post Processing GPU Usage: 1080i60 H.264 | |
| AMD Radeon HD 7750 (1GB GDDR5) / Catalyst 12.1 | |
| LAV Video Decoder DXVA2 (Copy-Back) v0.46 / EVR-CP | |
| Post Processing Algorithm | GPU Load |
| No Video Post Processing | 19% |
| Vector Adaptive Deinterlacing + Pulldown Detection | 25% |
| Edge Enhancement | 22% |
| Noise Reduction | 48% |
| Dynamic Contrast and Colour | 25% |
| All Post Processing / 'Enforce Smooth Video Playback' Disabled | 62% |
We also put some Full SBS / Full TAB 3D clips (which are basically 2 x HD resolution) through the same process. Those progressive clips resulted in around 70% of the GPU being loaded with all the post processing steps enabled.
It is not yet possible to use the madVR renderer from within GraphStudio Next, but, in future HTPC / HTPC GPU reviews, you can expect to find similar benchmarking with the madVR renderer (now that it is possible to use madVR along with hardware accelerated decode for AMD GPUs also). That said, we see that up to 62% of the GPU is loaded using just EVR-CP. It is not clear how much room is left for madVR processing, and we hope to address that question in future reviews.
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mattgmann - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
Don't forget, when the 4870 pricing was low, at the end of 2008, BOTH AMD and Nvidia were settling price fixing lawsuits. These companies have cheated before; they'll do it again.Hubb1e - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
"Recessions are good for the rich... not so good for everyone else. "Really? So when the stock market lost 40% of its value and the rich lost 40% of their net worth, that was good for them?
The rich can ride out a recession better than the poor because they don't live paycheck to paycheck, but it sure as hell wasn't good for them.
Galidou - Sunday, February 19, 2012 - link
Maybe we can see 4870's with maximum performance/die size in mind pricing failure because it was performing close to the big die from Nvidia gtx2xx. Or maybe we can see the ''double performance from last gen'' tactic from Nvidia a fail when it means building a super big die with low performance/size ratio just to get that double performance motto... It was all a question of ''goal to attain'' from each company. One goal paid off more than the other that time.From an Nvidia's fanboy perception, the first will be true and the second unthinkable. From an ATI fanboy, the first will make no sense and the second will suit them well. From someone with no choosen side, both can be true.
But these 7770 and 7750 here, makes no sense, such small die with such performance for that price.....
Malih - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
I agree, smells fishy, usually at this point nVidia would lower their card price.The latest price competitive part from AMD is the 6800 series. Probably have to wait for the 8800 series?
Kjella - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
I know, I bought a 5850 before the MSRP hike for around $279 + VAT in 2009 and I just checked, it clearly beats a 7770 so a >$159 value today, maybe close to the $200 card being launched in March. The 6xxxx series I thought was just because they had to scrap the 34nm process and deliver essentially a refined 5xxx series, but now they're on 28nm and there's not much bang for the buck for those of us that already have a gaming card from the 4/5xxxx series. I hope this is just a temporary situation until nVidia gets their Kepler out, or I might just sit out another generation...eminus - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
AMD has AMD (Accute Money Deficiency) right now so they need every penny they can gain.Cygni - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
It seriously seems that the 4850/4870 was an incredible purchase. In 2009, you could get a 4850 for $99 dollars. And it STILL holds up to the top range cards.I mean we all know that Nvidia and AMD are playing the profit game 10 times harder than the performance game in this sector, simply because games can't press the limits of the hardware, but it's still impressive.
just4U - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
I bought 4 cards in the 4x lineup..First a 4850 for $170, Second a 4870 for $199 Third a 4870 1G for $229 and lastly a 4830 for 140.. While I live in Canada I don't think prices ever came that low unless you got one helluva good deal.. $99 pricing for the 4850 wasn't the norm even late in its production run.
BPB - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
I got mine real chaep at launch! BestBuy mispriced them. Still, not too much later there were good deals again and I got one for my daughter's desktop. These cards in CF still hold up well for 1920x1200 gaming. I would like to upgrade to better performance and lower power, but AMD is making that hard dollar-wise.Jorgisven - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - link
Indeed. Best Buy had a 25% off all Visiontek cards the week of the 4850 launch, so I got mine at launch for $150. I then caught an amazing deal on a 4870 a few months later ($129 shipped), sold my 4850 for $140. I basically bought both for a net $140.I've been waiting for a good AMD card, but just haven't seen one. I've been tempted by the 560 Ti or 570, but they're still too expensive for my taste, and don't offer enough of an advantage to spend the cost of a PS3 on upgrading from an already decent GPU.
I'm rather disappointed with Red as of late.