# MSI Radeon HD 5770 Hawk



## W1zzard (Feb 2, 2010)

MSI's new HD 5770 Hawk is designed to deliver extra features to overclockers. Its TwinFrozr dual fan offers plenty of cooling power to keep the card cool during overclocking, yet runs extremely quiet. As added bonus for tweakers, MSI has included easy to use V-Check voltage measurement points on their PCB and an overclock out of the box.

*Show full review*


----------



## Zubasa (Feb 5, 2010)

Not very impressive at all for this price premium.

Nice review anyways.


----------



## heky (Feb 5, 2010)

W1zzard i am confused, on page 4 of this review, you state this:


> This is AMD's new Cedar GPU, it comes with 1040 million transistors and is produced on a 40 nm process at TSMC Taiwan. The die size is 170 mm².



But on the review of the sapphire HD5770 Vapor-x, you state:


> This is AMD's new Juniper GPU, it comes with 1040 million transistors, and is produced on a 40 nm process at TSMC Taiwan.



Does this mean, the cards use different GPUs, or is it just a mistake(Typo)?


----------



## Mussels (Feb 5, 2010)

heky: typo for sure.


----------



## W1zzard (Feb 5, 2010)

typo .. fixed


----------



## Sasqui (Feb 5, 2010)

That's an insane OC on the memory...    I can't get more than 1300 on my 5870, I think the GDDR5 chips are identical.

I didn't see anything about bumping the Vmem, or perhaps I missed it.


----------



## W1zzard (Feb 5, 2010)

vmem wasnt changed and can not be changed via software


----------



## Mescalamba (Feb 5, 2010)

I would love to see GPU only OC compared to GPU+memory OC.  Cause I think GDDR5 are quite overspeced for this GPU - eg. you gain nothing by OCing it.

Not much headroom for price paid.. I wonder, why only 1.35V? 1.45 - 1.5V would be much better.. (maybe make that just BIOS unlockable, so BFUs cant fry it).

Its nice card, nice review.. but it bit doesn´t seem worth its price. Vapor-X Sapphire seems a bit more friendly.


----------



## W1zzard (Feb 5, 2010)

1.35V is the limit of the voltage regulator used, no way to unlock it via bios. you could probably do a soldering hardmod on the controller to get more


----------



## Mescalamba (Feb 5, 2010)

W1zzard said:


> 1.35V is the limit of the voltage regulator used, no way to unlock it via bios. you could probably do a soldering hardmod on the controller to get more



I know, my point is, if they want to make cards for OCers, they should do it properly. This is bit "half-done".


----------



## MKmods (Feb 5, 2010)

While the cooler is really nice, the price is too dam high..


----------



## Kitkat (Feb 6, 2010)

Mescalamba said:


> I know, my point is, if they want to make cards for OCers, they should do it properly. This is bit "half-done".



i think most ppl will GET that its not an extreme card. the aftermarket cooler (quiet) is all your paying for u get the "super oc" software because its easy to burn a cd...  but the price is still kinda high but they can do that under the Just because act or 1770.


good review wiz


----------



## plopke (Feb 6, 2010)

*Sapphire Vapor-X or Hawk*

Hello are there any temperature readings from the 5770 vapor-x and Hawk review?

My goal is having a quiet gaming machine and still wondering if I should get one of the following:
Sapphire 5770 vapor-x , MSI 5770 Hawk , 5770 Asus CuCore or just a 5770 Asus with the egg shaped cooler.

My knowledge is very limited so have some other questions to.

You can just use ATI's latest drivers even if the PCB , and coolers are completly custom ?

Not really a fan of MSI and Sapphire(it shipping vapor-x cards with wrong bios , does not improve that fact ). But willing to give them a second change.

PS Any reviews of Asus CuCore 5770 coming?


----------



## 20mmrain (Feb 6, 2010)

Nice review although not to hot on the card!

I am all about loving the ATI 500 series as being a 5870 owner myself but..... AMD's refusal to allow any overclocking of these chips is just ridiculous. Sure the distributer are getting a little better with that but.... not by much. Most of the 5000 series can overlcok like a SOB if they had room to gal ope. But because ATI and friends don't let them do it is very disappointing!

The only reason I can see why they AMD/ATI doesn't wan't us to be bale to do any real overclocking with them is because of maybe a refresh down the road. I mean why let us overclock our cards really hi that would hinder the sales then of the refresh. If we could just overclock to the same speed.

Although I wonder if Femi turns out to be as powerful as they say..... I don't think a souped up 5870 to a 5890 will be able to cut it on just a faster clock speed alone!

Personally I think ATI needs to loosen up on the reigns a little bit! Let us see what these cards can actually do!

190 bucks for a not so souped up 5770 .... verdict..... not worth the money!


----------



## MKmods (Feb 6, 2010)

plopke said:


> Hello are there any temperature readings from the 5770 vapor-x and Hawk review?
> 
> My goal is having a quiet gaming machine and still wondering if I should get one of the following:
> Sapphire 5770 vapor-x , MSI 5770 Hawk , 5770 Asus CuCore or just a 5770 Asus with the egg shaped cooler.
> ...



ANY of the 5770s are fine for a gaming comp. The VaporX and Hawk coolers are the best of the bunch though and are quieter as well.(personally I like the Hawk , but not the price)

The reference 5770 coolers arent loud under normal use but if you crank up the fans for extra cooling thats where the noise becomes quite loud.

Always use the latest drivers from ATI no matter (the different cooler has nothing to do with drivers)

They say the Sapphire cards are all fixed so a bios change shouldnt be needed.


----------



## fahali (Feb 9, 2010)

> Compared to other HD 5770 cards we see a higher idle power draw. This is because the card's idle memory clock is 1200 MHz, just like under load. I'm not sure if this is a feature or an oversight by MSI.



This is an oversight by MSI. They failed to implement the 2D mode running with 157/600 MHz. There is an BIOS update available from MSI. 

For those of you capable the german language:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,704314/Test-MSI-Radeon-HD-5770-Hawk-die-beste-HD-5770-auf-dem-Markt-Update-2D-Modus-gefixt/Grafikkarte/Test

Best
fahali


----------



## Athlonite (Feb 15, 2010)

nice cooler but that's it and WTF nothing on the ram again I'd like some little BGA sinks on those rear chips please you want to try and touch one while your benching the card it'll burn the skin off your finger, 

and why only one cf connector and NO interconnect cable what the hell is MSI thinking for $190 I'd expect alot more in the box.

My HIS has 2 CF connectors and came with an interconnect cable a DVI ~ VGA dongle a dirt2 voucher and 2x4pin molex to 1x6pin power cable and with a beefy enough PSU i could use four in my system whilst with MSI you'll be limited to 2.

 all i got to say is go back to the drawing board MSI and this time listem to what your customers want in an ocing card


----------



## Cool Mike (Feb 19, 2010)

*Purchased MSI 5770 Hawk From Newegg - $179.99*

I will recieve my Hawk Friday, feb. 19th. from the reviews I should hit 1050 core
1400+x4 memory with relative ease. I'll check back later with my results. i also plan on measuring core and memory voltages.
would be sweet if I could hit 1100 core with stability.

update.
Recieved Hawk. High quality card. Excellent cooling. Running 1050 Core and 1400x4 memory with no issues. bumped Core voltage to 1.299 in after-burner. 
Also ran core at 1075 with 1.325 but begin to have issues after 1 minute in furmark. Excellent card...


----------



## mkchiu (Mar 10, 2010)

How low does the voltage go in Afterburner?

Has anyone tried RBE on the Hawk, and does RBE work with the Hawk?


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 10, 2010)

mkchiu said:


> How low does the voltage go in Afterburner?
> 
> Has anyone tried RBE on the Hawk, and does RBE work with the Hawk?





No idea about first question but I'm pretty sure RBE works with the 5series cards now so you should be good in regards to that.


----------



## mkchiu (Mar 10, 2010)

Thanks, I'm only interested in a response from someone who has actually tried RBE with on Hawk and preferably has verified results (via increased performance or direct voltage measurement).

I have one "5series" card I plan to return.  RBE most definitely does not work on it.

ED:  I forgot to mention I found hexus review of the Hawk while searching for something else--it mentions Hawk + Afterburner is 1.100 to 1.350V for the record.


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 10, 2010)

Are you using this version of RBE?

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=116427&highlight=RBE

Also the card you bought supported software voltage control?


----------



## mkchiu (Mar 13, 2010)

For the record, I verified RBE 1.25 works on a Hawk I ordered.


----------



## Footman (Mar 31, 2010)

mkchiu said:


> For the record, I verified RBE 1.25 works on a Hawk I ordered.


Yes works for me too....

On a side note I am a little disappointed with my 2 Hawk 5770's in crossfire I am able to hit 970mhz on the core with 1.35V and fan at 100%.

Question: Is there a logical reason why crossfire Hawks should overclock worse than single cards???

Also Wizzard in your review you mention sound levels lower than the Sapphire VaporX 5770 (I also owned 2 of these and they overclocked to 960mhz on the core with stock volts)... I can safely say that the Sapphire VaporX cards that I had were quieter than the Hawks, these are extremely noisy in my Raven 2 case at anything over 70% fan speed.... You have the vapor X at higher noise levels than the hawks, perhaps you can explain how you test noise levels, do you leave the fan at auto or turn it to 100%???

Cheers.


BTW first post on this forum so be gentle <grin>


----------



## W1zzard (Mar 31, 2010)

noise testing procedure is in the review, card is left at idle with default fan profile and loaded with gputool at default fan profile too. you can also use crysis if you dont like gputool


----------



## Cool Mike (Mar 31, 2010)

*Two Hawks in xfire*

I have two in crossfire also. I found that overclocking two has limits. I believe this is due to additioal heat. I have a well ventilated case and am able to overclock to 1010 core 1325 memory. Furmark stabile with 60-70% fan speeds. The 5770 in xfire scales well. I am very happy with the hawks. High quality card.


----------



## Footman (Mar 31, 2010)

W1zzard said:


> noise testing procedure is in the review, card is left at idle with default fan profile and loaded with gputool at default fan profile too. you can also use crysis if you dont like gputool



Perhaps the fan profile with the Hawk is less aggressive on Auto....

BTW is it usual to have single cards that overclock better than the same cards in crossfire?


----------



## Athlonite (Mar 31, 2010)

as no two cards are the same then OCing will vary for both


----------



## Mussels (Mar 31, 2010)

Athlonite said:


> as no two cards are the same then OCing will vary for both



and then you add higher temps with crossfire, and the extra power draw - having a cheapo motherboard and PSU will hold you back there.


----------



## Athlonite (Mar 31, 2010)

That is also true OCing should only be done in the right environment ie: quality kit and a case with lots of air flow or water cooling so no cumquat2000 or Kamacuzza components


----------



## Footman (Mar 31, 2010)

Cool Mike said:


> I have two in crossfire also. I found that overclocking two has limits. I believe this is due to additioal heat. I have a well ventilated case and am able to overclock to 1010 core 1325 memory. Furmark stabile with 60-70% fan speeds. The 5770 in xfire scales well. I am very happy with the hawks. High quality card.



Guess I'm unlucky then, I have Raven 2 case so ventilation is good, at 80% fan temps do not go any higher than 78C. Still even with 1.35V I get artifacts at 980mhz, 970 is stable. However I do get 1400mhz from my memory.....


----------



## Footman (Mar 31, 2010)

Mussels said:


> and then you add higher temps with crossfire, and the extra power draw - having a cheapo motherboard and PSU will hold you back there.



Perhaps but I have AsRock X58 Extreme motherboard and CoolerMaster Silent Pro 1200W (Gold) so doubt that either of these is holding me back....


----------



## Footman (Mar 31, 2010)

Athlonite said:


> That is also true OCing should only be done in the right environment ie: quality kit and a case with lots of air flow or water cooling so no cumquat2000 or Kamacuzza components



Haha...


----------



## Cool Mike (Mar 31, 2010)

Thought I would throw this in. Had a DFI lanparty X48 with hawks in crossfire. The top (closest to CPU) hawk ran 12C hotter than the bottom. This was really hurting my overclocking. Installed the trusty Gigabyte UD3P and all's well now. 33-34C top and 32-33 (Idle)bottom now. Are your temps the same for both 5770's?


----------



## DRDNA (Mar 31, 2010)

Cool Mike said:


> Thought I would throw this in. Had a DFI lanparty X48 with hawks in crossfire. The top (closest to CPU) hawk ran 12C hotter than the bottom. This was really hurting my overclocking. Installed the trusty Gigabyte UD3P and all's well now. 33-34C top and 32-33 (Idle)bottom now. Are your temps the same for both 5770's?



I find that the primary PCIe card runs a little hotter than the other.


----------



## copenhagen69 (Mar 31, 2010)

great review as always .... bitter sweet moment


----------

