Discrete graphics accelerators for laptops are not a rarity for a long time. However, it is very convenient for those who are constantly on the road, or for those who value mobility and save space. Discrete GPUs for laptops are much weaker than their desktop counterparts, as laptop resources are limited.
Manufacturer of graphics cards AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series in 2009-2010 introduced a line of mobile graphics devices that have become a decent "stuffing" for laptops. The chips for these boards were created on the basis of discrete cards for computers, which makes the 5000 series more advanced in overclocking and potential than the 4000 series.
General description of the series
Compared to the 4000 series, AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series GPUs have been significantly improved in terms of performance. It was in this line of video cards that support for the eleventh version of DirectX was added, the presence of which greatly simplified the work with all applications of the operating system and with many games.
The uniqueness of this series is that only with its appearance it became possible to transfer audio files in HD format. You can also encode video in this format and watch movies in high quality.
Radeon HD 5850
The junior representative of the 5800 line has a video chip, which was originally intended for the development of video cards on desktop PCs. 128 bits provide high bandwidth for working with a whole gigabyte of memory and the supported GDDR3 format. There is an option with support for GDDR5, which will significantly increase the performance of the video card. There is also an analog board with 512 megabytes of memory.
It is possible to connect up to six monitors, forming a single display, using the built-in Eyefinity technology. Although, by standard, a laptop can only support three monitors, including its own. Discrete AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series cards have high power characteristics, so you should choose a laptop with proper cooling to prevent overheating. This option is a consequence of high performance, which allows you to enjoy the detail and well-drawn picture.
This chip is capable of operating at frequencies up to 2000 megahertz and consume 39 watts. The process technology is 40 nanometers, which indicates the size of the laptop - it should be no more than 16 inches.
When testing in games released the same year, the card proved to be quite worthy, giving out, on average, from 30 to 40 frames per second at medium and high settings.
Radeon HD 5870
The flagship AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series has high performance and full support for DirectX version eleven. In 2010, when this graphic processor was released, the video card was considered the most powerful and fastest of mobile. It was developed based on the chip for the Radeon HD 5770 discrete desktop board.
As well as the previous representative of the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series, this graphics card had two memory options and the GDDR format - it all depends on what kind of RAM is on the laptop. There are 40 texture units and 16 rasterization units. The clock frequency of this GPU is 700 megahertz.
The removable graphics cards AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series are 20% more productive than the cards of the previous series, because in this line the manufacturer decided to focus on data processing and performance.
As for games, this video card is a winner, since even with maximum graphics settings and fourfold smoothing, peer games work with an update frequency above 30FPS.
The video card operates at a frequency of up to 1000 megahertz and consumes 50 watts, which is much more than the previous model. It makes sense to buy a laptop with such a card if decent cooling is built in. The technological process is 40 nanometers, and the power of computing information reaches 1.12 terraflops.
At low graphics settings, this video card produces more than a hundred frames per second, and at high settings, frame rates do not fall below 30.
Radeon HD 5770
Another video card of the last line, which is able to work with DirectX technology of the eleventh version. This is a huge plus for mobile graphics cards, as this technology allows you to seamlessly work with all applications of the operating system and run more or less demanding games.
There is also support for Avivo HD technology, which aims to improve the conversion of HD video files. There is also support for Eyefinity, which is famous for all AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series graphics accelerators.
The chip, code-named Madison-XT, has a clock speed of 650 megahertz. Video memory runs at frequencies up to 800 megahertz. 1024 megabytes of graphics memory and a 128-bit bus can provide fast data processing with high bandwidth.
At 627 million transistors, there is a 40-nanometer process, which consumes about 30 watts. Due to the type of GDDR5 memory, the number of shader cores has increased to 400 pieces, and of the frequency is 560 megahertz.
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series Drivers
Usually, the entire set of necessary drivers is provided by the laptop manufacturer. A disk is included in their package. If for some reason there is no disk, then you can download drivers for the video card on the website of the manufacturer of the laptop or manufacturer of the graphics processor.
Drivers for a discrete card will fully reveal its potential and use all available functions.