PowerColor PCS+ HD5550 Video Card

For every new chip design comes a fleet of new products. The launch of ATI's 5000 series powerhouses is already becoming old news. In the wake of leading edge technology there is always a turbulent sea of opportunity both for chip makers, partners and consumers. The turbulence there is caused by mid-range and budget products developed on new technology competing with high-end and mid-range products from past generations. One card released in this wild market is PowerColor's PCS+ HD 5550. The HD 5550 is based on the same "Redwood" GPU as ATI's mid-range 5670. While the 5550 was released by ATI as a low end form factor card, PowerColor model AX5550 512MD5-PP has beefed up the clock, memory, board and cooler to put some power into something most of us can afford.

Chip manufacturers must constantly improve their technology to stay competitive. The main ways they do this is by shrinking their designs and making more chips at once. It is unlikely that the revenues gained through selling only high-end graphics cards can justify developing the technology and buying the tools needed to make the GPUs. Based on numbers reported in Steams May 2010 hardware survey, gamers are divided almost evenly into the high-end, mid-range and budget video card categories. The high-end cards outnumber the budget cards by a few percent with mid-range falling at an even third. Based on these numbers it pays to use new technology to offer a full range of cards better than the previous generation. The HD 5550 is built on the same 40nm technology as the HD 5970, but with less transistors. It uses the same chip as the faster HD 5670 but has been throttled back, downgraded or otherwise binned into a budget category. But as every hardware enthusiast knows, "Have new chip, will overclock!"

Knowing the potential to be unlocked from a scaled down GPU, PowerColor routinely overclocks their PCS+ card before sending selling them. They also add value that you can't get by doing your own overclocks. They have added the necessary support hardware and chips to help the accelerated ride be even smoother as well as beefed up the memory (like you were gonna do that on your own). It's also likely that they have spent more time testing their overclocked stability that you would be willing to spend at home. Since Benchmark Reviews likes to push things to the limit we will show how the PCS+ version compares to reference speeds as well as see if we can squeeze even more out of the HD 5550.

About the company: PowerColor

PowerColor, established by Tul Corporation in 1997, is a graphics industry leading brand name now and well known for its outstanding performance and innovative technology. As a leading provider of graphics card, PowerColor offers powerful, reliable and cost-effective solutions to customers worldwide.

PowerColor is the platform of choice for avid PC gamers and video prosumers looking to get the best possible performance out of the latest graphics processors from ATI. PowerColor graphics cards deliver every-last-drop of super-charged performance from ATI's most advanced visual processing units (VPU). Running a PowerColor graphics card, today's gamers are able to unleash the 3D graphics performance of their favorite game playing it the way it was meant to be played.

PCS+ AX5550 Features

The HD 5550 is based on the same GPU as the HD 5670 and HD 5570. Since it has reduced performance it falls into a budget category and was aimed at HTPCs, low-profile and diverse application needs. A good market strategy helps users with older cards be able to afford the features made available by the new generation allowing them to stay viable and current while maintaining good cost of operation. The following diagram shows how ATI has approached the value segment.

PowerColor PCS+ Features:

• Factory Overclocked
• Quiet Operation
• Lower Temps than reference

HD 5550 Video Card Features:

• 627 million 40nm transistors
• TeraScale 2 Unified Processing Architecture
  • 320 Stream Processing Units
  • 16 Texture Units
  • 32 Z/Stencil ROP Units
  • 8 Color ROP Units
• GDDR5 memory interface
• PCI Express 2.1 x16 bus interface
• DirectX 11 support
  • Shader Model 5.0
  • DirectCompute 11
  • Programmable hardware tessellation unit
  • Accelerated multi-threading
  • HDR texture compression
  • Order-independent transparency
• OpenGL 3.2 support
• Image quality enhancement technology
  • Up to 24x multi-sample and super-sample anti-aliasing modes
  • Adaptive anti-aliasing
  • 16x angle independent anisotropic texture filtering
  • 128-bit floating point HDR rendering
• ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology
  • Three independent display controllers
    • Drive three displays simultaneously with independent resolutions, refresh rates, color controls, and video overlays
  • Display grouping
    • Combine multiple displays to behave liake a single large display
• ATI Stream acceleration technology
  • OpenCL support
  • DirectCompute 11
  • Accelerated video encoding, transcoding, and upscaling
    • Native support for common video encoding instructions
• ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU technology
  • Dual GPU scaling
• ATI Avivo HD Video & Display technology
  • UVD 2 dedicated video playback accelerator
  • Advanced post-processing and scaling
  • Dynamic contrast enhancement and color correction
  • Brighter whites processing (blue stretch)
  • Independent video gamma control
  • Dynamic video range control
  • Support for H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Adobe Flash
  • Dual-stream 1080p playback support
  • DXVA 1.0 & 2.0 support
  • Integrated dual-link DVI output with HDCP
    • Max resolution: 2560x1600
  • Integrated HDMI 1.3 output with Deep Color, xvYCC wide gamut support, and high bit-rate audio
    • Max resolution: 1920x1200
  • Integrated VGA output
    • Max resolution: 2048x1536
    • 3D stereoscopic display/glasses support
  • Integrated HD audio controller
    • Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
    • Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats
• ATI PowerPlaypower management technology
  • Dynamic power managementwith low power idle state
  • Ultra-low power state support for multi-GPU configurations
• Certified drivers for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP

AX5550 512MD5-PP Specifications

Since the HD 5550 shares the same chip as the HD 5670 and HD 5570 the specifications are nearly identical. The architecture is also the same but with a reduced clock and 20% fewer stream processors. As a whole there seems to be about a fourth of the power left from the high-end cards.

Closer Look: PowerColor AX5550

PowerColor does a great job of packaging their products. The PCS+ line usually uses blue, black and white colors with designs that center around the cooler.

ATI's original concept of the HD 5550 was a half-height card that provided the full range features of DirectX 11 in a half-height, small card. The first thing I noticed about PowerColor's AX5550 was that it was based on a full height PCB. Out of the box this changed my whole perception of what I was about to test. I knew that they must have sacrificed the low profile HTPC market to put some real juice into that card.

The cooler housing is similar to if not the same as the one that comes on their AX5570. The card is fairly narrow, using a single PCI bracket, but the fan housing still hogs more than a single PCI slot.

My only annoyance with the card is the unusually long power cable that runs the fan. It was long enough to stick out over an inch past the back of the board and was not wrangled at any point. Luckily I had a large case and didn't have to worry much about it, but it could be a real hassle in a smaller case. I really liked the proportions on the cooler. It has nice right angles, a curved back, and the housing does not cover the entire board.

This PCB was much cleaner than some of the boards we have gotten in the past from PowerColor. Other than that there was nothing to mention on the backside. The components and tech are the same as used in previous cards in the 5000 series.

The HD 5550 comes with HDMI, DVI adn VGA ports. I find it funny that the VGA port is labeled CRT. Anyone still use one of those? The PCI chassis connector is only attached to the DVI and VGA ports while the HDMI is floating. The card was sturdy enough that I don't expect any issues.

Here's a shot from the end that goes inside the case. You can see the length of the power cable. I had it wrapped around a capacitor to keep it tucked away, but it didn't want to stay put.

Above is a bottom shot of the board. The heat sink is mostly made of aluminum with a small core of copper directly above the GPU. It doesn't take much to cool a lower power chip.

Finally, here's a top shot of the heat sink showing cutouts to allow better air flow over the fins. It also shows how bare a budget card appears. A smaller chip requires much less support hardware.

Video Card Testing Methodology

VGA Testing Methodology

Benchmarks and test settings are chosen to be as demanding as possible for the lowest card in the series being tested. The rest of the cards are then compared using these settings. According to the May 2010 Steam Hardware Survey, 56% of the systems use DirectX 10, 17% use DirectX 10 and 11 compliant GPUs while 7% are dedicated DirectX 11 machines. The most popular gaming resolution is 1280x1024 (17-19" standard LCD monitors) closely followed by 1680x1050 (20-22" standard LCD).

Since the HD 5550 GPU is aimed at the value range performance market this review used applications and settings targeted at these bulk populations. In addition the range of cards tested is larger than normal. There are still a significant number of gamers who still use DirectX 9, low display resolutions and aging hardware who should consider an upgrade. New games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are keeping pace with technology trends and do not even offer many low end resolutions. The range of cards tested in this review will help show the differences in performance and show what gains can be had by upgrading.

The 5000 series of products was designed for DirectX 11 and they perform comparatively better in DirectX 11 applications than in DirectX 10 applications. As such the results posted here may be considered conservative for the ATI cards.

At the start of all tests, the previous display adapter driver is uninstalled and trace components are removed using Driver Cleaner Pro. We then restart the computer system to establish our display settings and define the monitor. Once the hardware is prepared, we begin our testing. In each benchmark test there is one 'cache run' that is conducted, followed by five recorded test runs. Results are collected at each setting with the highest and lowest results discarded. The remaining three results are averaged, and displayed in the performance charts.

Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P
• Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE CPU HDZ965FBGIBOX
• System Memory: OCZ Gold 4GB 800MHz DDR2
• Disk Drive: SAMSUNG HD251HJ (232 GB)
• PSU: Antec EA500 EarthWatts 500W PSU
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional

Benchmark Applications

• 3DMark Vantage v1.0.2 (All settings at Entry)
• Street Fighter 4 Benchmark (DX10, High Quality, 8x AA, 16x AF, Low Self Shadow)
• Resident Evil 5 Benchmark (DX10, Super-High Quality, 8x MSAA)
• Devil May Cry 4 Benchmark Demo (Ultra Quality, 8x MSAA)
• Unigine Heaven Benchmark 2.0 (DX10, 2x AA, 4x AF, Low Shaders)

Video Card Test Products

Three settings were used to test the PowerColor PCS+ HD 5550. The first test was run by using the card at the factory clock speeds set by PowerColor. A second set of testes were run using the AX5550 at the default clock speeds specified for the HD 5550 by ATI. For fun, the PCS+ HD 5550 was pushed to clock speeds rivaling the HD 5670 to see how the GPU holds up while running at the top of it's potential.

• PowerColor AX3850 256MD3-H (666 MHz GPU/1650 MHz RAM - Catalyst 10.4 Preview)
• PowerColor AX5550 512MD5-PP ( 650 MHz GPU/900 MHz RAM - Catalyst 10.4 Preview)
• PowerColor AX5670 1GBD5-NS3H (775 MHz GPU/1000 MHz RAM - Catalyst 10.4 Preview)
• ASUS EN9800GT/DI/512MD3 (600 MHz GPU/1500 MHz Shader/1800 MHz RAM - Forceware 197.13)
• Palit GeForce GTX 260 Sonic 216SP (625 MHz GPU/1348 MHz Shader/1100 MHz vRAM - Forceware 197.13)

3DMark Vantage GPU Tests

3DMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed to test the DirectX10 graphics card performance. FutureMark 3DMark Vantage is the latest addition the 3DMark benchmark series built by FutureMark corporation. Although 3DMark Vantage requires NVIDIA PhysX to be installed for program operation, only the CPU/Physics test relies on this technology.

3DMark Vantage offers benchmark tests focusing on GPU, CPU, and Physics performance. Benchmark Reviews uses the two GPU-specific tests for grading video card performance: Jane Nash and New Calico. These tests isolate graphical performance, and remove processor dependence from the benchmark results.

3DMark Vantage GPU Test: Jane Nash

Of the two GPU tests 3DMark Vantage offers, the Jane Nash performance benchmark is slightly less demanding. In a short video scene the special agent escapes a secret lair by water, nearly losing her shirt in the process. Benchmark Reviews tested this DirectX-10 scene at 1280x1024 and 1680x1050 resolutions using Entry quality settings and a 1:2 scale. This combination provided the highest level of graphical demand possible for the lowest performance card in this test series.

The video card market has a glut of options for consumers. To some an HD 3850 may still seem like a new card. But the mid range performance cards of this generation output twice the performance. Excepting the 9800GT and GTX 260 the performance at both resolutions provide an even gradation in performance. The 3850 starts at 24.5 FPS and the 5670 comes in at 50.4 FPS. The in-between results were at almost even increments of 6 FPS each ordered by the reference 5550, the factory AX5550 and the overclocked 5550. The 1680x1050 results echoed the results from the lower resolution but with all results reduced by about 10 FPS.

3DMark Vantage GPU Test: New Calico

New Calico is the second GPU test in the 3DMark Vantage test suite. Of the two GPU tests, New Calico is the most demanding. In a short video scene featuring a galactic battleground, there is a massive display of busy objects across the screen. Benchmark Reviews tested this DirectX-10 scene at 1280x1024 and 1680x1050 resolutions using Entry quality settings and a 1:2 scale. This combination provided the highest level of graphical demand possible for the lowest performance card in this test series.

The New Calico test provides a different perspective on performance since it uses many more objects than most tests. In this case the 3850 is lags far behind scoring in the teens and the GTX 260 stays far in the lead scoring 79.7 FPS and 64.5 FPS. The 9800 GT fares much better and is the highest of the mid-range cards at 51.5 and 40.5 FPS. PowerColor's factory clocked card scores right in the middle at 37.2 and 29.3 FPS with the reference speed close behind. Surprisingly the overclocked 5550 comes within 2 FPS of the full blown 5670. That's great performance for an overclock.

The 3DMark Vantage results are typical of the remainder of the tests, but the differences between cards is much higher.

Street Fighter 4 Benchmark Results

One of the most popular fighting games of the 90s gets a 3D face-lift to become Street Fighter 4. The Street Fighter 4 benchmark utility was released as a novel way to test your system's ability to run the game. It uses a few dressed-up fight scenes where combatants kick the crap out of each other. Feet, fists and magic fill the screen with a flurry of activity. Due to the rapid pace, varied lighting and the use of music this is one of the more enjoyable benchmarks. Benchmark Reviews tested at resolutions of 1280x1024 and 1680x1050 and High Quality settings. In order to accommodate the HD 3850, Self Shadow was set to Low to obtain consistent frame-rates.

A couple nuances should be noted about the benchmark. First, while testing there seemed to be a tendency for the benchmark to push frame-rates to increments of 30. While initially choosing quality settings the frame-rates initially tended towards 30 FPS until a critical limit was reached in quality settings. Once the quality settings were high enough the frame-rates jumped to around 60 FPS. There seemed to be no middle ground. In other words, the benchmark seemed to try to run at either 0, 30, 60 or 90 FPS.

Second, there also seemed to be a caching effect. When changing resolutions the benchmark would often run at the same frame-rates as the previous test as if it did not acknowledge the change in resolution. This would occur despite changing te OS resolution, restarting the benchmark and rebooting the computer. After enough retries and fiddling the benchmark would finally snap to the expected performance as if acknowledging the change.

When choosing quality settings the shader settings seemed to make the most difference in performance between cards. The cards without dedicated shader clocks ran much lower in both tests. The HD 3850 and AX5550 ran between 25 and 40 FPS across both resolutions. The 9800GT and GTX 260 ran from 60 to 85 FPS across both resolutions. In contrast to the 3DMark tests, the 3850 permed as well as or better than both the reference and factory clocked versions of the 5550. The overclocked HD5550 saw marked improvements and even beat the 5670 at the higher resolution.

Based on the nuances mentioned above, these results should be taken lightly.

Resident Evil 5 Benchmark Results

Built upon an advanced version of Capcom's proprietary MT Framework game engine to deliver DirectX-10 graphic detail, Resident Evil 5 offers gamers non-stop action similar to Devil May Cry 4, Lost Planet, and Dead Rising. The MT Framework is an exclusive seventh generation game engine built to be used with games developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and PC ports. MT stands for "Multi-Thread", "Meta Tools" and "Multi-Target". Games using the MT Framework are originally developed on the PC and then ported to the other two console platforms.

On the PC version of Resident Evil 5, both DirectX 9 and DirectX-10 modes are available for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista Operating Systems. Microsoft Windows 7 will play Resident Evil with backwards compatible Direct3D APIs. Resident Evil 5 is branded with the NVIDIA The Way It's Meant to be Played (TWIMTBP) logo, and receives NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision functionality enhancements.

NVIDIA and Capcom offer the Resident Evil 5 benchmark demo for free download from their website, and Benchmark Reviews encourages visitors to compare their own results to ours. Because the Capcom MT Framework game engine is very well optimized and produces high frame rates, This review uses the DirectX-10 version of the test at multiple resolutions. Super-High quality settings are configured, with 8x MSAA post processing effects for maximum demand on the GPU. The results from the fixed benchmark were collected and displayed in the chart below.

For the Resident Evil test the cards performed similarly to the Jane Nash test with the 3850 performing closer to the group. This time there was a larger separation between the budget cards and the mid range cards. At 1280x1024 the 3850, reference 5550 and PowerColor factory 5550 were all under 30 FPS while the overclocked 5550 and 5670 performed in the mid 30s. at both resolutions the GTX 260 was in a class of its own. Do to logistics the 9800 GT was not able to be compared in these tests, but based on past experience and benchmarks it would have likely performed slightly below the 5670.

The Area 4 test is an echo of what was seen in the area three results only with slightly different numbers. This is another testament to the validity of the other tests and repeatability of the benchmark. Based on these results the overclocked performance of the HD 5550 is impressive since it stays within one or two FPS of the mid-range cards.

Devil May Cry 4 Benchmark

Devil May Cry 4 was released on PC in early 2007 as the fourth installment to the Devil May Cry video game series. DMC4 is a direct port from the PC platform to console versions, which operate at the native 720P game resolution with no other platform restrictions. Devil May Cry 4 uses the refined MT Framework game engine, which has been used for many popular Capcom game titles over the past several years.

MT Framework is an exclusive seventh generation game engine built to be used with games developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and PC ports. MT stands for "Multi-Thread", "Meta Tools" and "Multi-Target". Originally meant to be an outside engine, but none matched their specific requirements in performance and flexibility. Games using the MT Framework are originally developed on the PC and then ported to the other two console platforms.

On the PC version a special bonus called Turbo Mode is featured, giving the game a slightly faster speed, and a new difficulty called Legendary Dark Knight Mode is implemented. The PC version also has both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 mode for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista Operating Systems.

It's always nice to be able to compare the results we receive here at Benchmark Reviews with the results you test for on your own computer system. Usually this isn't possible, since settings and configurations make it nearly difficult to match one system to the next; plus you have to own the game or benchmark tool we used.

Devil May Cry 4 fixes this, and offers a free benchmark tool available for download. Because the DMC4 MT Framework game engine is rather low-demand for today's cutting edge multi-GPU video cards, Benchmark Reviews tests with 8x AA (highest AA setting available to Radeon HD video cards) and 16x AF. The benchmark runs through four test scenes, but scene #2 and #4 are the ones that usually offer a challenge. Displayed below is our result for the test.

This is the first confirmatory test where the HD 3850 outperforms the reference clocked HD 5550. Scene two is the more difficult scene to render, and the lowest result is the reference 5550 at 36.0 and 31.1 FPS. The 3850 then follows with the factory 5550, overclocked 5550, 5670, and 9800 GT after. As usual the GTX 260 is untouchable.

Scene #4 is slightly less demanding but again provides a different scene optimized differently. In this case the 98000 GT is more evenly matched with the overclocked 5550 and the 5670. Here is clearly seen the differences between segments. The value cards, mid range cards and high end cards show a clear separation in performance and demonstrate why there is such a large pricing difference. But between generations and between brands the overlap is substantial and benchmarks like these help to make the performance to pricing comparison easier. Again, the over-overclocked HD 5550 from PowerColor competes with the mid-range cards from both brands showing an excellent performance to cost ratio.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark Results

The Unigine "Heaven 2.0" benchmark is a free publicly available tool that grants the power to unleash the graphics capabilities in DirectX-11 for Windows 7 or updated Vista Operating Systems. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode, emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

The distinguishing feature in the Unigine Heaven benchmark is a hardware tessellation that is a scalable technology aimed for automatic subdivision of polygons into smaller and finer pieces, so that developers can gain a more detailed look of their games almost free of charge in terms of performance. Thanks to this procedure, the elaboration of the rendered image finally approaches the boundary of veridical visual perception: the virtual reality transcends conjured by your hand. The "Heaven" benchmark excels at providing the following key features:

• Native support of OpenGL, DirectX-9, DirectX-10 and DirectX-11
• Comprehensive use of tessellation technology
• Advanced SSAO (screen-space ambient occlusion)
• Volumetric cumulonimbus clouds generated by a physically accurate algorithm
• Dynamic simulation of changing environment with high physical fidelity
• Interactive experience with fly/walk-through modes
• ATI Eyefinity support

Due to the repeatability of this benchmark, the comparisons that result are extremely reliable for the chosen test settings. Here again the HD 3850 beats out the reference clocked HD 5550 and is comparable even to PowerColor's PCS+ HD 5550. The 9800GT makes a stronger showing compared to the Capcom series of tests. As a final validation of the overclock, the extra overclock on the HD 5550 makes it still comparable to the HD 5670.

PowerColor HD5550 Temperatures

Since PowerColor replaced the traditional fan with a heat sink, steady state temperatures could become critical. The best cooling occurs when there are lots of cold molecules banging against a hot surface. Fans work well because they create a turbulent stream of air which is cooler on average due to the rate at which it is drawn into the case. A passive cooler relies on convection to move the air which means less turbulence and warmer air since the refresh rate is slower.

The test system used has two fans which force air into and out of the case as well as a CPU cooler with a mounted fan. By chance the fan on the CPU cooler is situated such that the air is drawn from right next to the video card. Fluid flow is quite complex, but this arrangement most likely improves the cooling of the video card and will likely result in lower than normal temperatures on the video card.

When taking measurements the video card is first idled in 2D mode to obtain an idle temperature using GPU-Z.Then Furmark 1.7.0 is used to stress the GPU and raise the card temperatures until they are steady. Temperatures are again recorded from GPU-Z under this stressed scenario. Tests were performed using reference clock speeds of 550 MHz on the GPU and 900MHz on the memory, PowerColor factory clock speeds of 650 MHZ on the GPU and 900MHz on the memory, and an extreme overclock of 825 MHz on the GPU and 1000 MHz on the memory. During testing the ambient temperature remained steady at 21°C.

FurMark does do two things extremely well: drive the thermal output of any graphics processor higher than any other application of video game, and it does so with consistency every time. While I have proved that FurMark is not a true benchmark tool for comparing video cards, it would still work very well to compare one product against itself at different stages. FurMark would be very useful for comparing the same GPU against itself using different drivers or clock speeds, of testing the stability of a GPU as it raises the temperatures higher than any program. But in the end, it's a rather limited tool.

During all tests there were no stability issues with any of the clock settings. The temperatures recorded for the PowerColor PCS+ AX5550 512MD5-PP are recorded in the table below.

When Benchmark Reviews tested ATI's reference sample HD 5670 it recorded an absolute of 38°C at idle and 60°C under load which was 15°C and 37°C above ambient. The HD5550 uses the same chip but a different board and cooling configuration. The idle temperatures are higher but the loaded temperatures are comparable or less. The PCS+ product line claims to be cooler than the reference design, hopefully Benchmark Reviews can get a reference from ATI to use as a true comparison.

PCS+ Power Consumption

Much of the confabulation in the media regarding energy and environment centers around "being green". While the science predicting the fate of our planet has yet to mature, the idea that something must be done remains resolute. It is unclear whether the planet requires humankind to take radical measures to survive, like population reduction, or whether it has more resilience than we ever thought possible. What is clear is that we should live responsibly until those things are determined.

To measure isolated video card power consumption, Benchmark Reviews uses the Kill-A-Watt EZ (model P4460) power meter made by P3 International. A baseline test is taken withouta video card installed inside our computer system, which is allowed to boot into Windows and rest idle at the login screen before power consumption is recorded. Once the baseline reading has been taken, the graphics card is installed and the system is again booted into Windows and left idle at the login screen. Our final loaded power consumption reading is taken with the video card running a stress test using FurMark. Below is a chart with the isolated video card power consumption (not system total) displayed in Watts for previously tested products:

The AX5550 test system used 64W at idle without a video card. The temperatures recorded for the PowerColor PCS+ AX5550 512MD5-PP are recorded in the table below.

Compared to the ATI reference HD 5670 the power consumption is higher. This may partly due to the larger board and redesign of the PCS+ version compared to ATI's smaller reference. Larger boards mean longer pathways, more resistance and more heat. The energy lost in heat has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is from the PSU. While the numbers are not horrendous (compared to NVIDIA's newest cards that suck 700W), it still puts the budget card in the same range as the more powerful 57xx and 47xx series cards. It's a value card off the shelf but will cost about the same to operate.

PowerColor Video Card Final Thoughts

The main thing I have to say about this card is, "HOLY OVERCLOCK!!!" I have never personally experienced this much performance gain in my overclocking days. Based on what the card was designed to do I think a 50% gain in CPU clock is gigantic, and the 10% gain on the memory was substantial. I have only operated the card this way for a few days which include many hours of benchmarking, several hours of gaming, and about an hour of solid stability testing. During that time I have not had a single glitch.If I tried to go any higher on the clocks I got some application crashes, lots of glitches, and erratic video performance. Moving back down to my "over-overclock" made things stable again. However, as with all of our tests, others may have different results. It could be that in a hotter climate or one more hour of pushing that the chip would have buckled, but I am extremely happy and impressed with the overclocking performance.

It's only slightly disappointing that the card won't fit in a smaller HTPC. The temperatures and power consumption were acceptable for that application. It will still make a killer PC for running a home theater, just needs more room. ATI Stream technology frees the CPU from much of the video producing making it available for other important jobs like recording or encoding video (as would be required for a back end HTPC setup). I anticipate that this will also be a great card for general productivity. You can easily add multiple monitors using ATI's Eyefinity, and the new chip easily has as much horsepower as high end cards from one or two generations ago. The PowerColor PCS+ HD 5550 is perfect for users who need to upgrade or maintain performance while adding all the features from DirectX 11.

As far as gaming is concerned, this card will play newer games, especially DirectX 11 games, just fine. With every new release of DirectX there is always skepticism over the rate at which new games will truly take advantage of the new features. I'm confident in the adoption rate of new technology as well as the release rate of new games. Many new games are backwards compatible with older video cards, but a budget card in the current generation will bring you a small (or comparable) performance boost as well as keep you viable for much longer before needing to upgrade again.

PCS+ HD5550 Conclusion

Let it be said once again, "HOLY OVERCLOCK!!!" The performance of the HD 5550 when running at the reference clock speeds set by ATI could be considered disappointing, perhaps abysmal. But that's to be expected from a budget card near the bottom wrung of it's generation. When PowerColor beefed up the the reference design with more memory and faster speeds the performance improvement was more than modest. The card could actually be used to play DirectX 11 games, though at low resolutions. When the card was pushed to the edge of its capability it rivaled the mid-range cards. The card would game (well enough) and the other tasks were not an issue. When considering the entire population of PCS+ HD 5550 cards it is best to base any purchase decisions on the performance of the card when set at PowerColor's factory specifications. As such it should still be considered a low end card, but it will likely be at the top of its class with potential for more.

Most of the new cards come with a fairing that covers the entire PCB with one or two embedded fans (some fancy graphics on the outside). I personally prefer the look of an exposed heat sink. PowerColor's PCS+ HD 5550 iis somewhere in between with a minimal fairing mounted on top of the heat sink. I think it provides a good look that gets the job done; exactly what you want from a value card. Other version of the HD 5550 use a completely passive cooler arrangement where the heat sink covers the entire surface of the PCB. There are some really ugly designs out there, and this is not one of them. Compared to the reference HD 5550 design the PCS+ HD 5550 looks like it belongs in a different class. It has a full height PCB and looks buff compared to the reference design.

The heat sink is mostly aluminum with a small copper pad right over the GPU. This provides a good balance between cost and performance since copper costs more. All the parts were mounted solidly to the PCB and the board was cleaner than other boards we've seen from PowerColor (all manufacturers have infrequent problems). There was a small nuisance with an extra long power cable for the fan. While attached the cable could be pulled about an inch past the back end of the PCB. There was plenty of room in the test system, so the cable didn't get in the way. In a system with less room it could be a real annoyance. Aside from that everything was fastened firmly and constructed out of suitable materials. Not many frills but plenty of function.

Budget cards are often budget cards because features and performance are reduced compared to the top end cards. Somehow ATI managed to design the Evergreen family such that each chip, from the top to the bottom, provides the same full feature set of DirectX 11. Some users buy new cards so they can have better graphics while they play games. Some users need horsepower for rendering video. There is a class of users that just want to add a second display or get better performance for a specific application. For ATI's 5000 series it is almost as if they have separated the feature list from the performance list allowing you to make a choice based on your specific needs.

PowerColor model AX5550 512MD5-PP has not yet hit store shelves, but the standard Radeon HD 5550 sells for $64.99 at NewEgg ($44.99 after rebate). Expect the enhancements on the card to raise the bill about $10. This puts the price point in the same range as the GT220, 9500GT, and HD 46xx series cards. On performance it will trounce the GT220 and 9500, and it will beat the GT240. At reference speeds it will probably keep pace with the 4670 and be faster when overclocked. When factoring in the added features of DirectX 11 it seems to hold the better value out of similarly priced options. You can get the same and better performance with the extra features.

Since the market fluctuates and the tests can only be performed on a single card, things can change quickly in the way Benchmark Reviews evaluates cards. At this time the PowerColor PCS+ HD 5550 seems like an unusually capable card that beats it's class and challenges it's superiors. Technology advances so fast it can be hard for prudent consumers to decide when and what to buy. This card scored very well in all categories and will likely be well worth the effort spent to obtain the card. It is a definite, "Yes" on the purchase list.

Pros:

+ Quiet operation
+ Improved performance
+ Decent operating temperatures
+ Great overclock potential
+ All DirectX 11 features supported
+ Excellent value

Cons:

- Requires 2 PCI slots
- Full size PCB

Ratings:

• Performance: 9.50
• Appearance: 8.50
• Construction: 8.50
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 9.50

Final Score: 9.0 out of 10.

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