ATI Radeon HD 4550

Budget graphics for media, not gaming

THE ATI RADEON HD 4550 OFFERS superb video playback, multiple-monitor support, and usable-if-unimpressive 3D performance at an entry-level price. This compact card is a perfect addition to a home theater PC, particularly if you want to play HD video, but garners should considet the next card up in ATI's lineup.

The compact HD 4550 draws all its power from the PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot it plugs into, making it a good choice for PCs with small power supplies.The card is passively cooled and completely silent, using a large metal heat sink instead of a fan.

The card we tested featured a dual-link DVI connector as well as both HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.There's onboard eight- channel sound when using the HDMI output, which is more convenient than Nvidia's HDMI-equipped cards, which require you to run an audio cable to your motherboard.

Along with 512MB of DDR3 RAM, the 4550 has DirectX 10.1 3D support and the excellent Unified Video Decoder (UVD) 2, which accelerates decoding of both DVD and high-definition or Blu-ray content. This takes the decoding load off the computer's processor, allowing smooth playback of video content on inexpensive, midrange computers, even at 1080p resolution. Both HD video and upscaled DVD content played back flawlessly, with vibrant color and no visual artifacts, on our 1.8C11z Core 2 Duo test system.



The 4550's excellent video- playback support and silent operation make it an outstanding choice for use with a home theater PC. If you spend any time gaming, however, you'd be far better served by the Radeon HD 4670, which offers more than double the 3D performance—at half the cost of a single game.
—Denny Atkin

ati.amd.com