Specifications

In 2007, this desktop could have cost more than $1200.  Given the longterm plans followed by many corporations, it behooves them to check out ways to increase the lifespan of a given piece of equipment. Updating the OS may be just the key.

Build and Design
The most noticeable thing about Dell’s OptiPlex 755 is its diminutive stature.  Small for a desktop, the machine takes up significantly less space than even a mini-tower.  It’s definitely bigger than a  Mac Mini, but not by too much; it’s just a bit bigger than Dell’s own Studio Hybrid desktop.  Just like the Studio Hybrid, the little OptiPlex can be set on its side or end, depending on how your desk is arranged.

It’s obvious that Dell has been working on cramming a lot of components into a small chassis for some time; opening the OptiPlex up shows very little free space wasted inside of the case.  Dell used a combination of notebook and desktop parts to put together the OptiPlex 755; while there’s a full-on desktop hard drive, offering more and faster storage for cheaper, they managed to fit in an optical drive by going with a laptop-style tray drive.  Interestingly, the tray drive can be pulled out; it’s conceivable that much like Dell’s laptop media bay, you can probably shove a 2.5-inch hard drive in there and double up on storage.  One of the biggest reasons the OptiPlex could be made so small is that, similar to the Mac Mini, Dell used an external power supply that removes a lot of bulk and not an insignificant amount of heat.

Unfortunately, all that stuff crammed inside can still generate fairly high temperatures; to alleviate some of that, Dell put vents in the front, top and rear of the device.  There’s also a couple of fans inside to force air in and out.  As a result, the OptiPlex isn’t the quietest little desktop we’ve tested before.  It’s not loud, but the fans do generate a noticeable whir.

The OptiPlex 755 is light, which isn’t too surprising for such a small desktop, even if there is a lot of technology shoved inside.  It still manages to feel heavier than it looks, but it’s very easy to move around and deploy.  Getting inside the case isn’t much of an issue; Dell has really started to embrace screwless designs and this is no exception.  A little blue knob on the back of the 755 turns just a bit to the right, unlocking a lever inside of the machine.  A side panel pops off, granting access to the computer’s interior.

There’s essentially no free space inside of the machine, save for an empty RAM slot. Despite the cramped environments, however, moving around inside is fairly easy.  Chances are the only things that would ever need replacing or upgrading on this machine are the hard drive and the RAM, and Dell’s engineers had the foresight to make access to them clear and unobstructed.  Since the hard drive is a traditional 3.5-inch desktop drive, it does manage to sit over forty odd percent of the room in the chassis.  In an attempt to keep the processor maximally cool, a plastic sleeve sits over top of it, connecting it to the external vents and channeling the air from the fans in a direct path over the heatsink.

One interesting note about the Optiplex 755’s design is that it isn’t precisely square.  The back frame of the machine starts out straight, then bends upward as it nears the top.  The side panel is shaped to snap on, but between the not quite squareness and the little knob, it can be a touch difficult to get the panel back on.  It’s worth a double check to make sure the door is secured before moving the machine anywhere.

Inputs and Expansion
The front of the OptiPlex has what has essentially become the basic desktop standard: analog audio in and out, and two USB 2.0 ports.  As mentioned earlier, there’s a tray-loading laptop optical drive on the front, just like on Dell’s notebooks.  It would be interesting to see if this could be used as a traditional media bay as on their notebook lines.

The back of the machine is an interesting mix of old and new ports, with five more USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet in, analog audio in and out, serial and parallel ports round out the add-on port selection.  There’s also DVI-I out video as well as the plug for the external power supply.

Performance
Here’s where it’s interesting.  While an older business computer, the drive had fairly recently been reimaged to its Windows XP Professional installation.  While it performed well enough, it actually performed equally as well under Windows 7, and felt like it started faster, to boot.

wPrime CPU performance comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 overall system performance comparison results (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 overall graphics performance comparison results (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune results:

Windows 7 superbly on the 755.  It’s not so suprising that the hardware in general managed to push it, but that even with the relatively anemic GMA 3100 (not to be confused with the X3100), Windows 7’s desktop manager and Aero effects all ran fine.

Power and Noise
The OptiPlex 755 isn’t designed to be a low-power machine, not by a long shot.  Still, for being a solid performer, it manages to come in at a respectable point in the field.  When off, the system will often still pull down a watt of electricity.  Right after shutdown, this will spike up to 8 or 9 watts for some reason, then go back to 1.  Idling, the system consumed an average of 46 watts of power; even taxing the system only pushed to a little under a hundred watts.  It’s not quite eco-friendly, but not too bad, either.  Being confined to such a small space, however, means that the hardware will putting out some heat, and that means fans and airflow.  The OP755 performs adequately in this space; the fans are audible, yet not overpowering.

Conclusion
The Dell OptiPlex 755 is a decent little machine, despite being a couple of years old.  It’s ultra small form factor lets it sit on smaller desks and cramped cubicles without taking up too much room, and the 3.5-inch hard drive means it can be upgraded to 1 or even 2 terabytes of storage.  Using a notebook tray-loading optical drive in the front proved to be a smart move for Dell; while most desktop computers that use this or similar form factors are forced to forego using optical disks, the 755 doesn’t.

Even though it’s around two years old and possessing very weak 3D performance, the OptiPlex 755 manages to run Windows 7 very well. The OP755 is indicative of many business desktops: low to moderate computational ability paired almost non-existant graphics.  Despite all of this, Microsoft’s newest operating system runs fine.  It’s clear that they’ve learned from at least some of their mistakes committed during Vista’s initial launch.  Maybe this time around business won’t need to be so hesitant and reticent to upgrade to Redmond’s latest efforts.

Pros

• Very small form factor
• External power supply
• Runs Windows 7 admirably

Specifications

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 @ 2.13GHz (3MB L2 cache)
• Memory: 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Hard drive: 1TB SATA @ 7200RPM
• Optical drive: Slot loading Blu-ray rom / DVD+/-RW
• Sound: Integrated HD audio with 2.1 integrated speakers
• Video card: ATI HD3650 with 512MB VRAM
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless networking: 802.11a/b/g/draft-n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• Power supply: 150 watt external
• Warranty: 1 year limited warranty

Lenovo’s new IdeaCentre A600 starts at $699; the suggested retail price of this configuration is currently $1399.

Build and Design
The A600 is Lenovo’s first step into the all-in-one fray, but they certainly know how to make up for lost time.  Every aspect of the computer is well designed, with lots of little touches here and there that add a polished and finished feel to the overall look.  The machine is striking, and cuts an interesting figure — while many all-in-ones seem to curve forward, the A600 does the reverse.  The screen, protected by a sheet of glass, sits perpendicular to the desk or table, with the base flaring down and behind.  It’s an interesting and definitely noticeable effect, but it does preclude the option of mounting the A600 directly to the wall, something many all-in-one owners enjoy doing.

Openings on the IdeaCentre, like those for speakers and air vents, aren’t covered by simple grills. Stylish yet whimsical carvings serve in their place, giving the machine a more refined feeling unmatched by most desktops.  The A600 measures an inch thick at its thinnest point, giving Lenovo initiative to claim that it’s the world’s thinnest all-in-one desktop.  As a result of this unique design, with a thin, flat screen on top of a thicker, curved bottom, the A600 needs a stand on the bottom that juts forward in order to maintain its balance.  Fortunately the stand itself is pretty functional, with a heavy-duty hinge letting users tilt the all-in-one forward a few degrees. That might come in handy if users were to end up mounting it on a shelf or something higher up.  Unfortunately, the way things are attached makes the A600 unwieldy to carry at best; some sort of handle or indentation in the back, similar to their ThinkVision displays, would go a long way to making this all-in-one easier to move around.

Lenovo added a webcam to the top middle of the display, a device that’s increasingly being added to notebooks, desktops and even monitors.  Stereo microphones sit next to it on either side and stereo speakers sit at the bottom.  What’s interesting, however, is the way in which Lenovo takes advantage of the webcam’s capabilities. One of Lenovo’s strengths has always been its own branded software that it includes on every computer it sells; in this respect, the A600 is no different.  Bundled with the webcam drivers is a VeriFace facial recognition utility that lets users log in just by sitting in front of their computer.  To my utter surprise, it works exceptionally well.  Although the software recommends users take off things like hats, it worked find with or without it and ignores the fact that you might forget to shave.  Additionally, the A600 monitors the webcam for room brightness and automatically adjusts the backlighting of the display to what it thinks is comfortable for your eyes, though this can be overridden.  As part of its added health software, Lenovo monitors how close you sit to the A600 — again, through its webcam — and if you get too close for too long, a box pops up in the lower right hand corner asking you to adjust your posture.  Yes, mom!

Looking at the A600 head on, no buttons are visible.  This is because there’s only one physical button on the entire computer — a power button, on the left hand side.  Lenovo did add four capacitive touch “buttons” to the lower right on the front of the display: raising and lowering brightness, cutting off the backlight, and ejecting a disc from the optical drive.  The left side of the machine shows off the inputs, card reader and power button.  There’s also a hard drive access light, which is somewhat mystifying since no one’s going to be able to see it when they’re sitting in front of the computer, and no one’s going to care when they’re not.  The right side features a slot-loading optical disc drive; in this case it’s a combo Blu-ray read / DVD+/-RW.  Much as Kevin mentioned in the first look of the A600, it’s very easy to miss when glancing over the machine since it blends in well with the overall design.

The back of the machine is just about as sleek as the front, with the carving designs continuing at the top and bottom.  An orange band sits along the top of the display’s rear, an interesting but attractive design choice that matches with the orange trim around the keyboard and mouse.  In addition to the rest of the ports, there’s also a small subwoofer; audio performance isn’t amazing but better by far than most all-in-ones.  As it sits, unless users need to hook up an Ethernet or coaxial cable (for the tv tuner), only one cord is needed to get started: plug in the power and you’re good to go.

Display
The display, as mentioned earlier, is covered with a sheet of glass that runs edge to edge.  It’s nice that Lenovo went with a glass solution instead of plastic; while it does add weight, it also adds a feeling of luxury where plastic would cheapen it.  Unfortunately, the glass does add a fair amount of extra reflection to the screen as well as some slight optical distortion.  Viewing angles are pretty good, and while there is inversion at extremes, tilting the display forward takes care of some of it.

Inputs and Expansion
Despite being a space efficient all-in-one, the A600 doesn’t suffer from a shortage of ports and expandability.  Aside from the Blu-ray capable optical disc drive on this particular model, Lenovo also stuffed in six USB2.0 ports (two on the side, four on the rear).  The left side also features audio in and out connectors, a FireWire port and a memory card reader.  In addition to the USB ports in the back, there’s also a gigabit Ethernet jack and coaxial in that serves the hybrid TV tuner.  Lenovo was wise enough to use a tuner that can access both NTSC and ATSC so whether users are stuck on basic cable or already making the digital transition, it’ll work out fine.

Performance
Most all-in-one desktops suffer in the performance arena.  In order to fit both a display and all of the traditional computer components into such a small area, manufacturers are forced to use lower-power notebook components which are rarely the equal of similar components used in most desktops.  Fortunately, though, the A600 doesn’t disappoint.  System performance with the Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD3650 is very good for both regular users and power-users that might enjoy using the computer for typing documents in the early evening, and switching to some light gaming or HD movie watching late at night. The system can handle most previous generation games without a problem as long as the resolution is scaled back from 1920×1080 down to 1280×720 and minor tweaks are made to the detail settings. For its intended market the system is more than capable for what it will be put through on a day-to-day basis.

wPrime CPU performance comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 overall system performance comparison results (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 overall graphics performance comparison results (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune results:

Keyboard and Mouse
The included wireless keyboard (with touchpad), wireless laser mouse, and 3D motion controller all feel great compared to some of the “free” components usually included with some computers. The keyboard is one of the nicer wireless units we have seen in the office, sporting a very thin profile, and featuring mouse controls with an onboard touchpad. The keyboard is designed to work on your lap or being held with both hands for navigation, with the touchpad on the right side (with left and right buttons) and a button on the left side that works as a left mouse button for selecting items. The coolest feature of the A600 IdeaCentre by far is the media remote/gyroscopic mouse/VOIP handset/game controller. It can work as a presentation controller, moving the pointer around the screen with basic gyroscopic control, with left and right mouse buttons located near the center of the remote. It also has full controls for Windows Media Center and can function as a wireless handset to make calls through VOIP software, with a microphone and speaker built into it. Finally it acts as a Wiimote style controller for various included games, using the gyroscopic control to interact with games.

Unfortunately, the “Wii”-esque games were a bit of a letdown, with the motion being jerky at best and completely unresponsive at worst.  That isn’t to say the remote doesn’t work well, however, since every other function it possesses performs superbly well.  Considering that one of the target audiences for this desktop is as a multimedia computer or HTPC, including a remote at all is a brilliant strategy; the fact that it’s a gyroscopic mouse is well is, frankly, awesome.

Power, Heat and Noise
The A600, despite being a capable machine and possessing a 21.5″ 1080p display, manages to be fairly power efficient.  With the backlight at minimum, the machine pulls down just 54 watts of power; idling with max brightness, that jumps up to 82 watts.  Under a full load, the A600 will use up to 96 watts of power and with everything maxed out, around 116 watts.  That still isn’t too bad since most users will rarely max out the brightness, CPU and GPU.  Along with not using too much power, the A600 doesn’t put out too much in the way of waste heat.  Unlike some very hot displays we’ve tested recently, at max brightness, the middle of the screen was a cool 84 degrees Fahrenheit, and that was just about the warmest spot on the machine.  Things aren’t quite as rosy when it comes to noise; the A600 uses a full-on 3.5″ hard drive, which is simply noisier than most notebook drives.  As a result, you can hear the drive being accessed from time to time.  Additionally, the fans in the unit never kick off completely; in an utterly quiet room you’ll definitely hear it.

Conclusion
The Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 is one of the freshest desktops we’ve seen in some time.  It has a great design, and cuts a striking view, especially in profile.  The combination of a full HD (1080p) display as well as a hybrid ATSC/NTSC television tuner give extra value to this all-in-one; you can use it as a computer, TV, DVR, media center or any combination of the above.  The peripherals like the wireless keyboard and mouse set are very high quality and offer some surprising features: a touchpad and extra left mouse button on the keyboard and switchable DPI on the mouse.  The 4-in-1 remote control, an optional accessory, isn’t perfect by any means, but it goes a long way to making the system easier to use from a distance and is still a lot of fun.

The system isn’t perfect, though, and carries a few flaws.  A downside to its unusual design, the A600 is awkward to move around.  The glass covering the screen is beautiful and protective, but bounces reflections back and forth, so using it in a room without much in the way of light control may be a difficult task.  Additionally, it would be nice to see Lenovo offer something like the TV tuner as an option on one of the slightly-lower priced models; with prices ranging from $700 - $1400 US there’s definitely room for further stratification.  Still, overall the A600 is a fantastic machine and represents a good value for the price.  Regardless of whether you’ll use this in your living room, bedroom or office, the IdeaCentre is a great buy.

Pros

• Beautiful design
• Optional remote brings a lot of extra features
• Full HD resolution
• Power efficient

Cons

• Fan never turns off quite all the way
• Noisy hard drive
• Awkward to move

Be sure to check out our FULL review of the IdeaCentre A600 here!

Build and Design
The A600 IdeaCentre is sleek and elegant, with a lot of thought and planning put into the design by Lenovo. The front bezel is comprised of glass which also covers the screen to protect it from fingerprints and scratches. Underneath the screen is a speaker bar that tucks back towards the hinge, which besides looking great also is a functional space to push your keyboard up into for storage. The top and side edges are mostly closed off, textured with a rough matte finish at the top, and changing to a smooth glossy finish at the bottom near the ports and slot-loading optical drive. Along the bottom edge and a small band on the rear cover are the only vents for the case, with straight slots or right angle corners making up the holes. I am almost ashamed to admit it, but it took me a while to spot the slot-loading optical drive. It blends in very well near one of the panel transition lines, and fits with the design of the computer. Overall I think the A600 is probably one of the best looking All-In-One desktops I have seen.

Build quality of the case and included accessories is well above average. The front glass panel covering the screen feels very durable and will likely hold up well over time. There are some minor optical distortions on the glass surface that you can see when the screen is off or showing black backgrounds that looks odd, but it is not visible in any other situation. The case is made from thick rugged plastic, with no flex or creaking even when you are lugging the entire computer from room to room. The screen hinge lets you pivot the display forward about 15 degrees or back 5 degrees and stays put to the adjusted position.

The included wireless keyboard (with touchpad), wireless laser mouse, and 3D motion controller all feel great compared to some of the “free” components usually included with some computers. The keyboard is one of the nicer wireless units we have seen in the office, sporting a very thin profile, and featuring mouse controls with an onboard touchpad. The keyboard is designed to work on your lap or being held with both hands for navigation, with the touchpad on the right side (with left and right buttons) and a button on the left side that works as a left mouse button for selecting items. The coolest feature of the A600 IdeaCentre by far is the media remote/gyroscopic mouse/VOIP handset/game controller. It can work as a presentation controller, moving the pointer around the screen with basic gyroscopic control, with left and right mouse buttons located near the center of the remote. It also has full controls for Windows Media Center and can function as a wireless handset to make calls through VOIP software, with a microphone and speaker built into it. Finally it acts as a Wiimote style controller for various included games, using the gyroscopic control to interact with games. I personally think Lenovo should advertise this as the all-in-one remote with included desktop computer, since it is clearly the main attraction.

Performance
System performance with the Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD3650 is very good for both regular users and power-users that might enjoy using the computer for typing documents in the early evening, and switching to some light gaming or HD movie watching late at night. The system can handle most previous generation games without a problem as long as the resolution is scaled back from 1920×1080 down to 1280×720 and minor tweaks are made to the detail settings. For its intended market the system is more than capable for what it will be put through on a day-to-day basis.

PCMark05 overall system performance comparison results (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 overall graphics performance comparison results (higher scores mean better performance):

Stay tuned for the full review of the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 which will be up shortly. Lenovo has really been making strides to come out with new and exciting hardware, to help change the public perception that they are business-only with the ThinkPad and ThinkCentre name handing over their heads. Considering the low price of $1,149 that the flagship version of this computer is selling for right now, it is no doubt that this might be a trend setting All-In-One in the future.

The Lenovo L2440P widescreen LCD is one of the new Eco-friendly displays coming out of the business computer maker. From the ground up these monitors have the environment in mind, which is reflected even in the packaging, made up of 65% recycled material. This LCD sports light booster technology to have 33% less mercury content while also saving you up to 50% of the energy cost with lower power consumption.  With WUXGA resolution, HDCP support for HD movie content and multiple video inputs is there anything this monitor cant do?

Specifications

• 24.0-inch (609.6 mm) viewable image size
• Native resolution: 1920 x 1200
• Brightness: 300cd/m2
• Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
• TN Panel, 5ms response time
• 170 Degree Horizontal Viewing, 160 Degree Vertical Viewing
• Supports High Definition Content Protection (HDCP)
• VGA and DVI inputs
• Compliance with ENERGY STAR 4.1 requirements
• 35W Typical Power Usage/50W Max
• Four USB ports
• Dual input allows attachment to two systems
• Meets 100 mm VESA standard for mounting
• Detachable base for wall or arm mounting (other mounts sold separately)
• Optional sound bar
• Available in business black
• Kensington Lock slot for security
• MSRP: $349
• 3-Year limited warranty

Build and Design

Lenovo business monitors have a down to basics design and color scheme. Some might call the design bland, but I really like the simple approach. The stand footprint is a half circle that gives the monitor a good deal of support and the backbone of the stand is large enough to support the monitor, while carefully concealing any wires. The unimposing color layout is dark grey and blends in with other computer hardware around my desk.

Unlike some monitors that use glossy trim all around the panel, the matte finish is easy on the eyes and doesn’t distract you with reflections or glare. I just wish the “business black” finish matched my ThinkPad, so I could have the perfect color-coordinated desk at work.

For the OCD crowd that hates indicator lights, the power light is dim enough to not bother me during the day, and if you are viewing the screen head on it isn’t focused towards your eyes. This is coming from someone who frequently uses electrical tape to cover lights that some manufactures go overboard with.

Build quality is excellent with solid plastic trim all around and a stand that can easily support the weight of the monitor without sagging. The footprint is large enough to keep the display planted even if someone trips and falls into your desk. While most people will probably keep the display mounted in a single spot for its entire useful life, the matte finish would hold up well against scratches and bumps if you moved it around frequently.

Mounting Options
The Lenovo L2440p widescreen monitor includes a pretty nice stand which offers height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustment. Tilt range is 0 degrees forward and 30 degrees back, while the swivel range is 45 degrees side to side. Pivoting range is 90 degrees to move the screen into a portrait viewing mode and the height adjustment is just under 4.5”.

On my desk I currently use the Ergotron LX dual arm desk mount which attaches to the VESA 100mm mounting point on the back of the monitor. After using this stand for well over a year, I don’t know if I could ever move back to a stock or factory stand. Something about being able to raise the monitor a foot and pivot it over to a coworker’s desk makes it completely worth it.

Image Quality
Image quality on the L2440p display is very nice considering it uses a low-cost TN panel instead of a PVA or IPS style used on more expensive models. Color quality and white levels were very good, even sitting next to my T60 Thinkpad with the IPS Flexview display. Viewing angles were a non-issue for my work environment, with clear and accurate viewing window in all angles that I used the screen on my desk.

Black levels are good and backlight bleed is minimal on the edges. I frequently watch movies in the office and scenes set in a dark area (space) show up very well without looking washed out. During the first week using the monitor I did notice a slight difference in backlight brightness between the left and right side of the screen, barely seen when viewing solid colors across the desktop. This went away as the monitor was used more on a daily basis. In our bright office setting I found the most comfortable brightness level to be between 40-50%.

Top down	Bottom up
From the left	From the right

Heat and Power
As more businesses start trying to cut back on power consumption they are turning to more power friendly devices. This 24” monitor is rated to draw 35 watts during normal use, with a max of 50 watts with full backlight brightness. Actual power readings from the wall during our testing was 37 watts at 40% and 52 watts at full brightness. Compare this to the standard 22” Lenovo L220x that draws 43w watts at the lowest brightness and 80w at the highest.

Heat output from the L2440p with the lower power consumption is minimal, with the top of the monitor feeling slightly warm. In our office with the room temperature set to 74 degrees the average temperature across the top panel was 80-85 degrees. Come summer months the lower power usage and lower thermal output really makes a difference when you are fighting with the buildings AC systems.

Conclusion
If you are in the market for a large power friendly monitor the Lenovo L2440p is one to consider. The monitor has a really nice TN panel which is better than most I have seen, with a broad viewing range where you don’t see the limitations of the low-cost panel. Power consumption was excellent for a 24” monitor, drawing 40% less power at any given brightness settings when compared to a 22” display. The starting price of $349 is in line with other 24” displays on the market making it hard to find a reason not to buy one of these.

Pros

• Low power consumption
• Good color and black levels
• Reasonable viewing angles for a TN panel

Cons

• “Business Black” doesn’t match my ThinkPad

ATI released their newest video card today, the Radeon HD 4770.  While high end video cards like the Radeon HD 4870X2 and GeForce GTX 295 tend to get all the press and glory, it’s the less expensive half of the market that drives sales.  All too often, users on a budget are forced to settle with low frame rates or really low resolutions in their games.  ATI is looking to change all of that with the 4770, offering consumers high performance for their dollar.  Read on for our full review.

Specifications

• GPU: 40nm RV740
• Core clock: 750MHz
• Memory: 512MB GDDR5 @ 800MHz (3200MHz effective)
• Digital output: 2 x DVI-I
• Analog output: 1 x S-video
• Power: 1 x 6-pin PCI Express
• Interface: PCI Express 2.0 x16

The suggested retail price of the ATI Radeon HD 4770 is $109, though AMD is pressuring partners to offer a $10 mail-in rebate, bringing the eventual price down to $99.  It’s been some time since a sub-$100 video card has offered any amazing value, which makes the HD 4770 a fairly exciting product.

Build and Design
This is a reference card from ATI without any third party manufacturer branding on it, so it’s hard to say what potential cards  might be introduced by board partners.  This version used a solid red circuit board with a red cooling setup and the same cylindrical fan we’ve seen on the past several video cards.

The card does use a two slot cooling design in order to keep the card from overheating; while effective, it would have been nice to see a single-slot design employed, instead.  All the board partners I could find are already shipping cards that technically take up a single slot but have large heatsink assemblies attached directly to the GPU instead of using a convoluted air tunnel.  The downside to that implementation means that hot air won’t get funneled out of the case, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

The card itself is relatively short, compared to many cards that have passed through lately.  Midtower cases shouldn’t have too much of a problem, thankfully, as the card clocked in at right around nine inches or so.  Internally, the card uses a new variant of ATI’s R700 GPU, the RV740.  RV740 is the first card offering chips built on a 40nm manufacturing process (meaning this GPU is built on a smaller process that traditional CPUS - a first).  Aside from being able to physically fit more transistors into a discrete area, smaller processes also tend to allow for greater power efficiencies and lower operating temperatures.  In addition, the chips should be less expensive for AMD to produce, hopefully resulting in even lower prices that get passed on to consumers.

Once again, the power connector for this card is on the end of the board, rather than resting in the middle.  On the opposite side of the board,  two DVI-I connectors flank the almost-useless S-video output. In terms of expansion, the HD 4770 does have two CrossFire connections which means up to four different cards can be chained together in a quad-CrossFire setup.  Users pursuing such a feat would almost certainly be disappointed, however, due to the reduced memory and bandwidth available.

Performance
AMD is suggesting that this card offers stellar performance both for the price and for the power consumed, so let’s take a look a see how it holds up.  The suggested competition for this card is the GeForce 9800GT, which, granted, is getting on in age but still being sold all over and at the matching price point.  We’re going to take a look at it up against the slightly retouched GeForce GTS 250 in a 1 GB variety.  While the GPUs themselves will trade blows, the HD 4770’s limited memory bandwidth will definitely come into play at higher resolutions, especially when gamers start piling on things like anti-aliasing.

Our test system used an AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU, an ASUS M4A79T Deluxe motherboard, 4GB of Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM, an OCZ Vertex SSD and of course the card itself.

3DMark Vantage results:

Bioshock results:

Bioshock unsurprisingly ran beautifully on the HD 4770, with even minimum framerates far above the line where it stops being easy on the eyes.  This benchmark sets the tone for the rest of the review, with the GTS 250 1GB edging out the HD 4770 512MB by between five and ten percent.

Call of Duty: World at War results (4x AA/AF):

Call of Duty 5 showed similar promising results on the lower midrange card, with an average framerate of 55 frames per second at 1680×1050 resolution.  In this test we kept the anti-aliasing down to 4x and the anisotropic filtering off.  Without meaning to, this may be slightly misleading since it’s at the higher resolutions/AA/AF that the memory limitations inherent in the 4770 will stand out, and they just won’t be seen here.

Left 4 Dead results (8xAA/no AF):

Left 4 Dead isn’t exactly a graphically complex game, so it’s not too hard for graphics cards to run against.  L4D has so many utterly random components to the game that it’s always difficult to gauge how well a video card is performing at any given time.  Our benchmarking took place on the first level, where zombies tend to horde a little less than normal.  Still, both cards did well here, and surprisingly, the HD 4770 kicked the pants off of the GTS 250.

Crysis v1.2 results (no AA/AF):

Crysis Warhead results (no AA/AF):

The Crysis games always do a great job of stressing out the latest video cards great and small.  If there’s anything to learn from this benchmark, it’s that the 4770 won’t be playing any of the Crytek engine games without stepping down to the lower end of the detail spectrium.  Pushing detail levels down is typically easier on a graphics card than resizing you’re revoluion.  More to the point, though, the 4770 did perform admirably, garnering almost forty frames per second at higher resolutions once the details were turned down to less than half of their maximum levels.  Still, the game looked more than good enough to play through, despite the limited nature of the graphics card.

Power, Heat and Noise
In addition to the high performance for dollar ratio, ATI also goes on and on about the power efficiency found in this card.  At idle, our system ran around 128 watts of power.  The kicker, though, is when the graphics card sped up to maximum output: even then, the test system would only draw around 205 Watts.  With power comes heat, however, and the HD 4770 handled it with aplomb.  At idle, the card hovered around 46 degrees Celsius.  Once the OpenGL FurMark benchmark was up and running for a good half an hour, the temperature had only increase to a max of 67 degrees Celsius.  This is pretty low for graphics cards but more importantly for ATI specially, since most of their recent video card releases have run very, very hot.

To keep heat down, there needs to be a fan or twelve, and in this case it’s the same cylindrical fan we’ve been seeing on several graphics cards lately.  MSI’s version of the ATI HD 4890 performed very well in the cooling arena, with increased temperatures meeting gradually increasing fan speeds.  Since the card increased the fan speeds gradually and not all at once, it was hard to pick up the fans getting louder at all.  Unfortunately, the HD 4770 seems to suffer from short, staccato bursts.  As the temperature of the GPU begins to rise, the fan will suddenly kick in, run for three or four seconds, and quit out just as suddenly as it came.  This is extremely distracting, since at full blast the card sounds like a blow dryer.  It’s hard to keep up an assault on thecard for this, however, since it’s not an official board from a major board partner, and firmware can always be tweaked.  Fortunately, for those users stuck with loud and annoying fans, there are always applications out there than can help overcome and change the fan speed settings.

Conclusion
Overall, the new ATI Radeon HD 4770 offers tremendous value for the money.  At under $100, users get the oppotunity to play almost any game at lower settings and most older ones even higher.  In addition to its great gaming performance, the HD 4770 is fairly power efficient, needing less than 80 watts to run the board. At first the naming convention is a little hard to understand, since the performance of the HD 4770 puts it in the middle between the HD 4830 and the HD 4850.  It makes sense, however, looking at the card from more of a physical standpoint, as it does have a different GPU, different manufacturing process and different targeted market segment.

ATI makes the point that during the recent economic downturn, users are increasingly looking toward the lower end of the market segment to fulfill their computer needs, and it looks like they’re right.  With a rebate pushing the price down to less than one hundred dollars, consumers can purchase a relatively cheap card that will push over 30 frames per seconds in a high resolution game of Crysis on medium settings.  Compared to the cards and price points of just a yeer ro so ago, it’s shocking how good today’s deals are.

If nothing else, ATI has shown that they’ve got the chops to take on NVIDIA in essentially any of the market points they control and win.  The exceptional value for the price is evident and if a user were building a new computer today, it’d be hard to go wrong with this card.

Pros

• Low power consumption
• Not too hot
• $99!

Cons

• Fan kicking on/off is striking
• Dual-slot cooling design
• Lower memory bandwidth compared to other cards

Ever since ATI introduced the Radeon HD48xx cards in the summer of 2008, users have scrambled to choose sides in the graphics card debate.  What really shook things up was the price at which ATI introduced the newest cards, offering the performance of rival NVIDIA’s top GPUs at much lower price points.  Up until now the HD4870 has been ATI’s most powerful single GPU solution.  ATI has retooled the RV770 GPU found in the 4870 and 4850 cards and reintroduced it in the all-new HD4890.  With a reported increase in stability and reduced signal noise, is the HD4890 a sufficient competitor to the GeForce GTX 275?  Read on for our full review.

Specifications

• GPU: 55nm RV790
• Core clock: 850MHz
• Memory: 1024MB GDDR5 @ 975MHz
• Digital output: 2 x DVI-I
• Analog output: 1 x S-video
• Power: 2 x 6-pin PCI Express
• Interface: PCI Express 2.0 x16
• Warranty: one year limited parts and labor warranty

The overclocked MSI R4890-T2D1G-OC has a GPU clocked at 880MHz and carries a suggested retail price of $259.99.  The R4890-T2D1G reference version in this review, tuned to 850MHz, comes in slightly cheaper.

Build and Design
Lately, MSI has been jumping on the netbook and nettop bandwagon, introducing model after model.  It’s easy to forget that they produce a lot of motherboards and video cards for all sides of the market.  In this case, it’s the HD4890, ATI’s newest high-end graphics card.  The card itself is sturdy and well designed, though heavier than it looks.  I didn’t get a chance to directly measure the weights but it actually feels heavier than the GTX 275, despite the fact that it’s over an inch shorter.  Like most MSI products, the circuit board is a brilliant red color, as is the bottom of the heatsink assembly and fan.

The cooler is painted black on top with a picture of a menacing ogre or troll on top.  Similar to the EVGA GeForce GTX 275, the fan here is a cylindrical multi-blade model that helps cool the unit without getting too loud.  This 4890 is the first card to use ATI’s new GPU, the RV790.  The new GPU microarchitecture is essentially a tweaked version of its predecessor, the RV770 found in the 4870 and 4850 cards.  While the basic components of the chip and card are the same, there are a few differences.  Among the changes are an improved layout that allows for better power distribution as well as a significant clock speed increase.  To counter the increased signal noise resulting from higher clock speeds, ATI added decoupling capacitors, which account somewhat for the increased transistor count and die size.

As mentioned in the specifications, the reference design for this card calls for a clock speed of 850MHz and a memory clock of 975MHz.  Board partners will also be releasing overclocked variants, ranging anywhere from 880MHz to 900MHz and above.  The RV790 reportedly lends itself very well to overclocking, with some users reporting overclocks of well over 100MHz on the card.  Rumors are already flying that at least one manufacturer is planning an HD4890X2 with memory ranges of 2 - 4GB GDDR5, though it is certainly still up in the air.

The card itself is pretty large, physically, though not as large as the HD4870X2 or even the GeForce GTX 275.  MSI’s HD4890 measures up to just a hair under ten inches, which may cause some users a few issues especially in small cases.  A bigger issue, however, is the placement of the power adapters on the end of the card.  Even though the card may not be as long as some, having to connect the PCI-E power cables can be problematic, with hard drives and SATA cords in the way.

Performance
So what do nearly a billion transistors do in terms of performance?  The price point of this card looks to pit it squarely against NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 275, and fortunately we just took a look at an example from EVGA.  Our test system includes an AMD Phenom II 955 CPU, an ASUS M4A79T Deluxe motherboard, 4 GB of Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM, an OCZ Vertex SSD and of course the Radeon HD4890 video card.

Granted, the EVGA GeForce GTX 275 card that we got in is an overclocked version, though not by much.  The MSI Radeon HD4890 wasn’t overclocked for any of the benchmarks, though users looking for some extra oomph shouldn’t have any difficulty in upping the card’s clock speeds.

3DMark Vantage results:

The 3DMark tests foreshadow how the rest of the benchmarks seem to be going: the two cards trade blows back and forth, with no clear victor.  PPU tests are disabled during 3DMark Vantage since otherwise it skews the CPU score results and weights the overall score incorrectly.

Bioshock results:

Despite the age of the game, it still scales well and therefore can be used to benchmark even new systems.  The cards are fairly neck and neck here, except for the significantly higher maximum framerate found in the GTX 275 on WXGA settings.  It’s probably safe to say that this is going to be a fluke, considering how similar the rest of the table is.

Call of Duty: World at War results (4x AA/AF):

The trend continues on here with the cards faring fairly close together, save for the average score on 1920×1200 resolutions.  Still, the HD 4890 remains competitive with the GTX 275, and both cards give a smooth performance, rendering the games easily playable.

Left 4 Dead results (8xAA/no AF):

Left 4 Dead runs well on ATI video cards and it shows here, with the HD 4890 coming out on top in four out of the six metrics.  Despite this, the average scores have a difference of less than ten percent, just like most of the other benchmarks in the review.

Crysis v1.2 results (no AA/AF):

Crysis has been the stress test for seeing how much game a video card can handle for some time, now, and it doesn’t help that the game is optimized to run better on NVIDIA cards, not ATI cards.  Despite this, the MSI 4890 performs admirably, giving average framerates of well over thirty frames per second in each of the three different tests.  Once again, however, the overall scores are less than ten percent better or worse than the competition’s offering.

Crysis Warhead results (no AA/AF):

Crysis Warhead gives pretty similar results to Crysis, save for the fact that its high (now called “Gamer”) settings are a little tougher on video cards than the original game showed.  One thing to keep in mind is that neither card can run this game at high resolutions smoothly at all times.  In this case, MSI’s HD 4890 dropped down to 17 frames per second at certain points during the game.  Granted, the average was above thirty, but users would still experience jerkiness and/or slowdown during really intense scenes.

Power, Heat and Noise
The reference HD 4890 has lower idling power draws and higher maximum power draws than the HD 4870, and this seemed to bear out in our tests.  At idle, the card still drew an extra 66 watts over the system minimum.  When maxing out the graphics card, the test machine pulled an extra 187 watts.  Gamers wanting to push the limits and overclock their cards will likely see some additional power draws.  Recent ATI cards have opted to let the card run hotter by keeping fan speeds down, making the cards run a lot quieter than they otherwise might.  This trend continues into the HD 4890; even when maxing out the card, fans only ramped up to 36% of maximum speeds.

When the computer first starts, the fans are impossibly loud, but they quickly spin down to almost silent.  At idle, the fans run around 26% of total, keeping the card at a really toasty idle temperature of 60 degrees Celsius.  After running for twenty minutes or so with FurMark, the card only managed to get to 71 degrees Celsius.  For users who don’t mind the noise, the fans can be dialed up a good bit faster; while it’s a lot louder, it’s also a lot cooler.

Conclusion
ATI has a solid performer on their hands with the Radeon HD 4890.  It’s certainly competitive against its closest twin on competitor NVIDIA’s side, leaving the choice of cards down to features aside from performance.  While NVIDIA grants users access to a relatively robust set of applications that take advantage of the computational abilities found in their GPUs, ATI gives users a lot of customization over how their cards work.  Fan speeds and clock speeds are all mutable, and early reviews peg the 4890 as a very worthy card if overclocking is among a user’s hobbies.

With prices almost the same and performance not much different, users are forced to look outside the box to decide which card to buy.  It might be brand loyalty, it might be the yearning for great new GPU-enhanced programs, it might be how well the card overclocks.  It comes down to which card meets a specific user’s preferences, and with two very similar and yet very different options from which to choose, it’s hard to pick the losing team.

Pros

• Runs quiet by default
• Good performance on most games
• Great overclocking potential

Cons

• Power adapters on ends of card make it difficult to connect in smaller cases
• Card either runs hot and quiet or cool and very loud
• One year warranty not as great as some other options