Introduction

Over the last months AMD has presented a full lineup of DirectX 11 compatible products, from the high-end dual-GPU HD 5970, down to the low-end HD 5450. Only recently they have added another member to their lineup named Radeon HD 5550. It was a low key launch without big fanfare, for a product that tries to fill a gap in the $60-$75 segment, where NVIDIA's GT 220 and GT 240 are positioned.

HIS has developed their own HD 5550 PCB design equipped with GDDR5 memory, while many other AIBs use only slower DDR2 or DDR3 memory. The result is the HIS Silence HD 5550, a completely passive card that emits no noise, which makes it a prime candidate for a quiet media PC system. Unfortunately the memory and passive heatsink add quite a bit to the pricing, so the HIS card clocks in around $70. But 10 bucks extra for a noiseless experience doesn't seem too unreasonable?