AMD Radeon HD 4670: Ruling from Top to Bottom
by Derek Wilson on September 10, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Non-G DDR3? Sure, Why Not
For a while now we've been seeing either DDR2 or GDDR3 on most graphics cards. The future standard looks to be GDDR5 at this point (with 4 being skipped due to its not-that-much-better-ness when compared to GDDR3), but currently board makers are faced with an interesting situation: DDR3 is coming down in price due to its adoption on the desktop.
The push to GDDR3 was to fill the need in the graphics industry for faster DRAM, so it came along a little ahead of DDR3 and has served us well for the past few years. DDR3 is now finding traction in the desktop world and prices are starting to come down as every major platform will support DDR3 going forward. Performance is apparently fairly similar at the speeds DDR3 can hit (we don't really have a way of testing this ourselves right now, but this is what AMD is telling us), so price is really the only differentiator.
The future: GDDR5 at the high end and DDR3 at the low end for graphics cards
Cheaper DRAM means cheaper boards, especially on the low end where we won't see really high speeds where GDDR3 or GDDR5 would be required. This is a good thing as it will hopefully bring performance down to the mainstream faster.
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UNCjigga - Thursday, September 11, 2008 - link
On top of that, the 4650/4670 appears to be the perfect choice for SFF and HTPC builders. The low power requirements and lack of PCIe power connector make it perfect for sub-400 watt power supplies. Other reviews around the web have mentioned that the fan on the reference card is very quiet. I wouldn't be surprised to see a fanless "silent" option for the 4650 soon.I'll probably put one of these in my Shuttle xpc, as it seems more than capable of 720p gaming.
yyrkoon - Thursday, September 11, 2008 - link
I'm with Derrick here, and would rather have an NV 9600GT. That is actually what I own now(an eVGA double slot 9600GT with rear exhaust). It uses about 18W more idle, 20-25W more while gaming, and it is roughly twice as fast as my old 7600GT. Above measured with a kill a watt power monitoring device at the wall.I guess that the better experiences I have had with NV parts,and the fact that I have owned mostly NV parts in my personal systems(since at least the late 90's) has made me at least slightly partial. I must admit that this card does look tempting, and if I had not just bought a 9600GT, I would give it some consideration. One thing for sure though, what ever I bought from this side of the camp *would* have to be made by Sapphire . . .
derek85 - Saturday, September 13, 2008 - link
There is also another factor to consider. HD4670 does not require any external 6/8pin PCIE power connectors, which makes it more ideal for people with older or OEM power supplies. Otherwise I agree with you on this that 9600GT is still a very viable and competitive alternative.scruffypup - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
The main issue I have,.. you used a price for the 3870 that is about 1 year old now,.. $199 which a casual reader would then infer that the 3870 is a worse price/performance pick,... if you are going to use september 2008 prices for the other cards,.. use September 2008 prices for the 3870 so you can paint the picture on a more level playing field. That adds to the reader's ability to see what price/performance to choose from.Otherwise, my feelings are, at least we have some benchmarks for this card. I am a bit disappointed since it is so pared down from the 4850/4870 in areas, which makes it unable to really compete in some ways with prior generation for similar price.
DerekWilson - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
in the text of the article i mention that you can find the 3870 for ~150 ... which reflected the majority of what i saw on google yesterday.today i took a look and i can now find plenty of 3870 hardware for ~$120. which is much closer to the $100 price of the 9600 GT.
But I'd still pick a 9600 GT over a 3870 at those prices, so it really doesn't change the recommendation.
pattycake0147 - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
Call me blind but I read through the article twice and I didn't once see a $150 price point mentioned for the 3870. If I just missed it point it out to me please.pattycake0147 - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
While you're at it go ahead and take a look at this. As you mentioned in the article, shop around.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
I've gone ahead and added a "Current Street Price" line to the table to help put things in perspective. Prices at the time of writing were grabbed from Newegg.kmmatney - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
Any overclocking potential on this card?AssBall - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - link
I would also be interested in this, as my 3850 seems to overclock nicely, and 10% more performance out of a budget card is very nice if you can swing it.