PowerColor PCS+ HD 5770 Vortex Review - PAGE 1

With a wide variety of mid-range graphics cards on the market there's no shortage of options available to the mainstream user, and with so many choices it can be quite a task digging though all the available options to find what best fits your needs. So, with the market filled to the brim, companies have to push the boundaries of the reference design and create something that is unique, eye catching and perhaps most important performs above the rest, all in an attempt to stand out from the crowd.

There are a few means that companies have at their disposal to push a card beyond the reference specifications. First they can increase the clock speed, effectively offering better performance for a very small premium. Another such option is to add a aftermarket cooling solution to reduce the operating temperature of the graphics card and reduce the sound output as well. Both of these options work extremely well, and consumers who would prefer not to do the overclocking themselves flock to such cards for the extra performance.

The card from PowerColor that we are going to be looking at today utilized both methods to offer a product that is faster and cooler than the reference models. The graphics card is the new PowerColor PCS HD 5770 Vortex. This model comes clocked 50MHz beyond stock and also has a improved cooling solution. However, what really makes this card unique is the manually adjustable Vortex fan. According to PowerColor the simple act of adjust the height of the fan can reduce back pressure, improving the efficiency and reducing the noise level.

Specifications: