A video card is the most powerful (and most expensive) component of any computer. Modern models of graphics cards with more or less impressive power cost a lot of money. But it’s not necessary to purchase a fresh adapter. Many "oldies" are still very even nothing. For example, ATI Radeon 9550 can still show a "class". Although not in the most modern games. Nevertheless, it makes sense to consider this graphics accelerator in more detail. But first, a few words about the manufacturer.
A little bit about the company
ATI was established in Canada in 1985. Until 2006, the manufacturer actively produced graphics accelerators, motherboards, and other things of the same format. However, in 2006, such a giant as AMD turned its attention to a promising company. And since then, the ATI brand has disappeared. An industry monster has absorbed a small company. And the guys from ATI began to produce video cards under the AMD brand. ATI Radeon 9550 appeared after the merger. But no one will say that this video card turned out to be weak or of poor quality.
Since 2006, AMD’s success in the graphics card market has increased significantly. And this happened precisely after the acquisition of ATI. This company knew a lot about good graphics accelerators. At present, AMD video adapters are very popular. Demand for them is stable. Nevertheless, the red brand is still far from products from nVidia. And now let's take a closer look at the ATI Radeon 9550 graphics card. This adapter was considered budget in its best times. But this did not affect its performance.
Specifications
Video cards of this level could not boast of high technical characteristics. But this did not stop them from demonstrating good performance. So, the ATI Radeon 9550 Series has on board a chipset made using 14 nm technology. This means that the manufacturer managed to place a larger number of crystals on a smaller area of the microcircuit. It became possible to increase the performance of the video card and reduce its size. The amount of available video memory is 256 megabytes. For basic tasks and some games this is enough.
But what can surprise an ATI Radeon 9550 user? Characteristics of operating frequencies - this is the "trick" of this video card. The memory operates at a maximum frequency of 400 megahertz. This is higher than all competitors of this class. Also, the core frequency is 250 megahertz. It is these parameters that affect the performance of the entire device. And it does not matter how much video memory the graphics accelerator has. It's all about frequencies. And in this regard, this adapter is doing fine. That is why he can still work even with modern games.
Overclocking capabilities
Who would have thought that a budget graphics card could overclock? But this is true. ATI Radeon 9550 x1050 Series refers specifically to such video cards. However, it is worth considering that overclocking video cards (especially from AMD) is necessary with a high degree of caution. The fact is that video cards of this level are often deprived of an adequate cooling system. And during overclocking, the temperature of the chipset, core and memory bus increases. Therefore, before overclocking, you must definitely install a good fan on the graphics accelerator. And for AMD products, this is really true, as they are popularly called "stoves." Indeed, the heat dissipation of these adapters is gigantic.
So what can you squeeze out of the ATI Radeon 9550 x1050? The answer to this question is ambiguous, since many aspects need to be taken into account. For example, the core frequency. It can be increased to 350 megahertz through acceleration. As for the frequency of the memory bus, it can increase to 650 megahertz. These are impressive results for the “old man”. However, it must be taken into account that the increase in frequencies is achieved by increasing the voltage. Therefore, it is not worth messing with these characteristics. You can completely lose the video card. The proprietary overclocking utility from AMD will help determine the right frequencies. Everything is simple and clear there. And it simply won’t give a card to overclock above the established maximum.
Positive reviews
Any product must be checked in real conditions. But stores are unlikely to provide buyers with such an opportunity. It remains to rely on the feedback of those who have already become the owner of the product. What do people say about the ATI Radeon 9550? The video card is quite old, which means that it is purchased by those who want to save money. These people know what they are doing. Therefore, the reviews are adequate. Most users are satisfied with this video card. She copes well even with such demanding tasks as video encoding. Games are also on her shoulder. The owners note that they even play World of Tanks without problems (albeit at the minimum graphics settings). And for some time now, this particular MMO has become very demanding on video cards. Also, people note that the graphics accelerator easily copes with playing video in Full HD standard. But the newfangled 4K is no longer pulling. But now he is not particularly in demand.
Negative reviews
There are very few of them. The main drawback of the graphics adapter, according to users, is the high temperature of the chipset. Even at factory frequencies there is strong heating. And this is without any acceleration. So when working with this graphics accelerator, you should take care of a good cooling system immediately after its acquisition. Another disadvantage is obsolete architecture. The latest graphics technology is no longer available for this video card. Even the notorious DirectX 12 is not supported. But there is nothing you can do. The main thing is that the video card works fine even after so many years. It is perfect for a budget home computer. You can save a lot on the most expensive component.
Conclusion
So, we examined the entry-level graphics adapter ATI Radeon 9550 from AMD. What can be said about him? This is a great graphics accelerator with its pros and cons. But the first is noticeably larger. The video card is suitable for those who want to assemble an inexpensive and moderately powerful computer for home or office use. If you believe the reviews, a PC with Radeon 9550 on board will work stably (if you attend to the cooling system on time). In modern realities, it makes no sense to overpay for modern video cards. Performance, of course, will be much higher. But what to do with it? Only play cool toys. And the above card is designed specifically for work.