General |
|
+ |
- |
The entry level derivate of the
RV870 architecture leaves us with mixed feelings. On one side for CHF
90.- (est. EUR 69.-) as
retail price, the
EAH5550 can be a good choice to upgrade a very old graphics card when
building a new computer that should have a low price tag. You will be able to play old games
smoothly and for the more recent titles you'll have to lower the
resolution as well as the details and filtering options in order to make
them playable. On the other side
such cards aims at HTPC use but for this the fan simply is too noisy. |
|
- One slot cooling system
- Low profile |
- Noisy |
|
|
|
|
Performance |
|
+ |
- |
The EAH 5550 is certainly not a
graphics card for hardcore gamers with an average of 13 fps in high end
gaming. But if you lower the graphics details and the resolution to
1280 x 1024, then you will be able to enjoy playing your games smoothly.
With 46 fps under DIRT 2, the game performs ok. We also tested the video
playback ability, and the card performed well. Only for the MPEG-2 HDTV
video playback it did two times less than his competitor the GT430. |
. |
- Casual Gaming |
- HD Gaming
- Video Playback MPEG-2 HDTV |
|
|
|
|
Overclocking |
|
+ |
- |
Of course we tested the
overclocking capabilities of this card. For us it doesn't matter if it's a low end or
high end card. We managed to run 3DMark 11 Performance with 868 MHz on
the core and 1'134 MHz for the memory, which a 318 MHz clock increas
regarding the CPU and 334 MHz for the memory. This is an overclocking of
way more than 50 % overclocking which causes the card to score
significantly higher in 3DMark11. It was even able to beat the NVIDIA GT
440 then which is quite a bit more expensive. |
|
- 868 MHz GPU / 1'134 MHz Memory
- 50 % OC
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recommendation |
|
+
|
- |
We recommend the
ASUS EAH5550 for
an office PC or a HTPC which is thanks to the video playback performance
and the ability to perform casual gaming nicely at an attractive price
tag. Meanwhile the fanless version would be the better choice as
this card is very noisy. |
|
-
Office PC
- HTPC |
|
|
|