HIS ATI Radeon HD 4670 IceQ
HIS ATI Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 512MB
Manufacturer:HIS
UK Price (as reviewed):£68.99 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed):$64.99 (ex. Tax)
Core Clock: 750MHz
Memory Clock: 2,000MHz (effective)
Memory: 512MB GDDR3
Warranty: Three years (parts and labour)
With all our recent coverage of ultra high end graphics launches like the Nvidia Geforce GTX 295, GeForce GTX 285 and ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2, bit-tech has hardly been the most credit-crunch friendly website around. While we’ve been focusing on the ultra high end hardware that we all dream of owning, the reality is that many of us can’t spare a few quid to buy luxury loo roll because of the way the economy is, let alone a few hundred quid to splash out on a new graphics card.
This is where “mid range” cards like the HIS Radeon 4670 IceQ that we’re looking at today come into play, claiming to offer decent performance at a price tag well south of £100. We first looked at ATI’s Radeon HD 4670 architecture back in September 2008, but without the knowledge of e-tailer pricing. Now the cards have been on sale for a solid five months, it’s time to find out if HIS’ offering is a mid-range, credit crunch buster, or in need of government backed bail-out.
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Like many of the partner cards we look at here at bit-tech, HIS has chosen to replace ATI’s basic stock cooling solution with its own custom GPU cooler, switching out the diminutive copper stock cooler for a dual slot, paddle fan based cooler. In fact, the cooler used here, originally designed by Arctic Cooling, is something of a golden oldie, having been used by HIS on its cards in one iteration or another for over four years – a quick look back at Tim’s review of the HIS X700 Pro IceQ from March 2005 reveals an almost identical cooler.
As the saying goes though, “If it ‘aint broke, don’t fix it,” — HIS has used the familiar paddle fan and funnelled shroud in conjunction with a chunky aluminium heatsink to drive hot air created by the GPU directly out the rear of your case, something that the teeny stock 4670 cooler isn’t able to do.
However, there’s no extra cooling for the 4670 IceQ’s 512MB of GDDR3, with the chips left open to the air due the low thermal output of the 59W RV730XT GPU. HIS has chosen to ship the card with an unchanged core clock of 750MHz, while the memory clock has been increased to 1,000MHz (2,000MHz effective). Whether this will any improvement in performance over the standard 900MHz (1,800MHz) memory frequency we originally tested remains to be seen.
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Other than the slightly raised memory speed though (which barely counts, as it was supported by stock cards at release), there’s been no attempt to factory overclock the HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ – a disappointment considering the improved cooling afforded by custom heatsink fan solution.
Bundle-wise, the HIS Radeon 4670 IceQ is pretty barebones, with just a quick start guide, driver CD, DVI to VGA and DVI to HDMI adapters, although frankly we’d rather board partners packaged less with their cards and kept the price down than bundle them with tons of (usually un-used) hardware and software.
Warranty:
HIS offers a three year limited warranty on all of its products that covers parts and labour. During the first year, this warranty is held with the retailer where you purchased the card and the remaining two years are handled by the manufacturer.
One thing that is definitely noteworthy is the fact that the warranty doesn’t start when you purchase the card, instead it starts from the day when the card was manufactured – that’s not ideal if the card is going to sit in a warehouse for six months. Despite that though, a good thing with HIS’s warranty terms is that you’re able to transfer this warranty should you choose to sell the card at a later date – this should sweeten the deal a little bit even if you’re put off by when the warranty term starts.
1 — HIS ATI Radeon HD 4670 IceQ2 — Test Setup3 — Far Cry 2 — DirectX 9.04 — Far Cry 2 — DirectX 10/10.15 — Fallout 36 — Call of Duty: World at War7 — Value and Final Thoughts
ATI Radeon HD 4670 Graphics Card Review — Page 11 of 11
By Nathan Kirsch •
Power Consumption and Final Thoughts
Power Consumption
For testing power consumption, we took our test system and plugged it into a Seasonic Power Angel.
For idle numbers, we allowed the system to idle on the desktop for 15 minutes and took the reading. For load numbers, we measured the peak wattage used by the system while running the game Call of Duty 4 at 1280×1024 with high graphics quality.
Power Consumption Results: As expected the ATI Radeon HD 3670 was very power efficient at idle as the entire system consumed just 132W. This is very impressive for a discrete graphics card and was 12.6% lower than both the GeForce 9600 GT and GeForce 9600 GSO. The GeForce 9600 GSO and Radeon HD 4670 are both currently $79, so keep an eye on those two cards.
Final Thoughts and Conclusions:
The ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card is aimed at the mainstream market, which means those wanting to spend less than $100 on a graphics card. For that price range the Radeon HD 4670 offers some serious bang for the buck and the card that it most closely lines up with from a consumer perspective is the GeForce 9500 GT.
For a user that doesn’t want to worry about getting a new power supply or needing adapters the GeForce 9500 GT and Radeon HD 4670 are the two top picks that one should be looking at. After using both of the cards on the test system here on our bench it is clear that the Radeon HD 4670 raises the performance bar for what one can expect for this price range. At 1280×1024 resolutions the Radeon HD 4670 does great even with the Anti-Aliasing cranked up. Those with monitors supporting 1600×1200 resolutions will be able to play games, but the image quality will have to be set to medium rather than high in the majority of newer game titles.
Other than the price tag the power consumption numbers on the card really stand out and that needs to be talked about. NVIDIA and AMD have both done a great job getting the idle power consumption numbers down and the Radeon HD 4670 graphics card is no different. At idle our test system had a total power consumption level of just 132W, which is impressive considering it has the fastest Intel quad-core processor money can buy and a water cooler on it.
The Radeon HD 4670 is very efficient at idle and the cooler does a great job keeping it nice and cool. Under load with stock and overclocked clock frequencies the Radeon HD 4670 once again broke the 80C mark, which is pretty toasty. AMD has told us that this is nothing to worry about and below the max spec for the card, but personally I’d like to see some lower temperatures. With that being my biggest gripe about the card it is obvious that AMD has done a great job on the Radeon HD 4670!
With more than two-thirds of all desktop graphics sold today being priced under $100 it seems that ATI has done it again and produced a card that has sent shivers down the spines of the people that set prices over at NVIDIA. In light of this launch NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO graphics cards are now selling for $79 after a $35 mail-in-rebate. The GeForce 9600 GSO and Radeon HD 4670 are pretty close on the gaming front, but NVIDIA has support for CUDA ([email protected]) and PhysX. This might sway those that want to fold, but for general consumers and those that don’t want to mess with rebates it doesn’t matter too much.
In the end the consumer wins as for $79 you can get a great performing graphics card that has the same performance as a DirectX 10 card that cost hundreds of dollars just two years ago.
Legit Bottom Line: AMD keeps on rolling out solid performing products at a price you can’t ignore. The Radeon HD 4670 graphics card is a great card for mainstream systems and will be till the next generation cards come out.
Questions or comments?
View this thread in our forums!
Overview of video cards HIS Radeon HD 4670 1 GB in CrossFireX mode GECID.com. Page 1
::>Video cards
>2009
> HIS h567QSS1GP
18-09-2009
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Hightech Information System Limited (HIS) products are known primarily for the original cooling systems that are equipped with its graphics adapters.
Third-party coolers can significantly reduce noise and make cooling more efficient. nine0003
The IceQ (Ice Quiet) series of video adapters has long been well-deservedly popular due to its almost silent and more efficient operation than standard cooling systems.
There are currently five different versions of IceQ cooling available. All cooling systems of this series are positioned as a practical replacement for «reference» solutions. The differences between the revisions of the coolers are an increase in heat dissipation and a different noise level. A small bonus is provided especially for modding fans — the plastic casing will be highlighted in the light of ultraviolet lamps. nine0003
In this article we will consider a video card equipped with the «basic» version of IceQ and increased video memory — HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 1GB DDR3 PCI-E.
Consider its specification:
|
Manufacturer and model |
HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 1GB DDR3 PCI-E (h567QSS1GP) |
|
Graphics core |
AMD ATI Radeon HD 4670 (RV 730 XT) |
|
Conveyors |
320 unified flow |
|
Supported APIs |
DirectX 10. |
|
Core (shader domain) frequency, MHz |
750 |
|
Size (type) of memory, MB |
nine0002 1024 (GDDR3) |
|
Real (effective) memory frequency, MHz |
850 (1700 DDR) |
|
Memory bus |
128 bit |
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Tire standard |
PCI Express 2.0 X16 |
|
Maximum resolution |
Up to 2560×1600 (Dual-link DVI) |
|
Outputs |
2x DVI-I (2x HDMI/VGA via adapters) |
|
HDCP support |
Yes |
|
Drivers |
Latest drivers can be downloaded from: |
|
Manufacturer website |
http://www.hisdigital.com/ |
1 (Shader Model 4.1) 
264, VC-1, MPEG2 and WMV9 The video adapter comes in a dark cardboard box. A small «window» shows the proprietary IceQ cooling system. From the inscriptions on the box, you can find out that we have an adapter based on the ATI-AMD Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor with a PCI Express x16 slot and equipped with 1 GB of video memory. The manufacturer claims that this cooler is 11% more efficient than the «reference» solutions and the emitted noise does not exceed the threshold of 24 dB. In order to bring some clarity to this issue, it is necessary to say that quiet coolers are considered to be those with a noise level of less than 21 dB.
Therefore, it is not clear why to focus on the noise level for this product. nine0003
The back of the package contains the full specifications of the ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor and system requirements for normal PC operation. It is recommended to use power supplies from 400 W for a single configuration and from 550 W for operation of video cards in CrossFireX mode. The manufacturer also mentioned the main features of the graphics adapter — a two-slot cooling system, proprietary IceQ cooling technology and the glow of plastic parts in ultraviolet light. nine0003
In addition to the video adapter, the delivery set includes:
- DVI to VGA adapter;
- DVI to HDMI adapter;
- user manual;
- CD with drivers and software;
- company logo sticker.
There are no CrossFire bridges in the box, but we don’t need them to work in joint mode — video cards are connected only by software.
IceQ’s cooling system is quite simple — a massive heatsink covers most of the adapter, and cooling is provided by a fan that blows air through the heatsink’s fins.
Heated air is expelled outside the case through openings on the interface panel.
The installed heatsink is quite high, so two expansion slots must be allocated in the case for the video adapter.
The fan is connected using a two-pin connector, and there is no possibility to monitor and control its speed. nine0003
The accelerator is equipped with a fairly standard set of ports — there are two universal DVI connectors and an S-Video connector. Thanks to the included adapters, you can get analog VGA output and digital HDMI from DVI ports.
The cooling system uses a VGA Silencer from Arctic Cooling, one of the leading manufacturers of cooling components. The cooler is a separate product and can be used with third-party adapters that are included in the compatible list. nine0003
The base of the radiator is polished by milling, and the quality of processing can be assessed as «good». The graphics core is in contact with the heatsink using thermal paste produced by the same Arctic Cooling company.
Thus, the buyer receives a kind of tandem of branded and well-proven technologies.
The heart of the cooling system is the heat sink, which, like the fins, is made of aluminum — not the best option, but given the moderate heat dissipation of the GPU, it is quite acceptable. nine0003
PCB design by HIS engineers. There is quite a lot of empty space on the board, which, we hope, will not adversely affect performance. The GPU is powered by a fairly simple two-phase converter.
There are many places on the back of the adapter to place information stickers. The manufacturer considered it necessary to indicate only the serial number and the test mark.
GPU includes 320 stream processors, 32 texture units and 8 ROPs. The operating frequency of the core is 750 MHz, and a 128-bit data bus is used to access the graphics memory.
The board contains eight Samsung K4W1G1646D-EJ11 video memory chips of the GDDR3 standard with an access time of 1.
1 ns, which corresponds to an operating clock frequency of 900 MHz (1800 MHz DDR).
Due to the PowerPlay function, the graphics adapter’s frequencies change depending on the load of the video system. During idle times, the GPU frequency is reduced to 500 MHz, and the video memory frequency is reduced to 600 MHz. The temperature value of the shader core is quite interesting, since AMD-ATI video cards do not have a shader domain, RivaTuner simply incorrectly determines this parameter. Information about the speed of rotation of the cooling fan is also transmitted incorrectly. nine0003
Despite the change in the speed readings of the «reference» cooler in RivaTuner, its rotational speed remained unchanged. The established opinion about the quiet operation of IceQ cooling systems is not entirely true. Against the background of the operation of the system unit during testing, the hum of the video card cooler was constantly clearly distinguishable. But the ability to remove heat is commendable, the core temperature did not rise above 67 ° C.
Radeon HD 4670: available throughput
In the article “Video cards under $100” (“Home PC”, No. 12, 2008), we wrote about the appearance in the budget segment of models that can rightly be called powerful and productive. These include, first of all, the Radeon HD 4670, which became the hero of this material. At a price of up to $90-100, given the disappearance of the Radeon HD 3850 from store shelves, it simply does not have worthy competitors.
Help
Zmist
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- 0.0.1 Radeon HD 4650
- 1 Radeon HD 4650
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- 1.0.1 ASUS EAh5670/DI/512M/A, EAh5670/DI/1GD3/A
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- 2 ASUS EAh5670/DI/512M/A, EAh5670/ DI/1GD3/A
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- 2.0.1 F4670P-G3-210-FS)/HD4670-1GB (F4670P-D3-310-FS)
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- 3.0.1 Gigabyte GV-R467D3-512I
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- 4 Gigabyte GV-R467D3-512I
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- 4.0.1 HIS HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB (128bit) GDDR3 PCIe
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- 5 HIS HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB (128bit) GDDR3 PCIe
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- 5.
0.1 HIS HD 4670 IceQ HDMI 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe
- 5.
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- 6 HIS HD 4670 IceQ HDMI 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe
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- 6.0.1 HIS HD 4670 iSilence 4 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe
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- 7 HIS HD 4670 iSilence 4 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe
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- 7.0.1 PowerColor PCS HD4670 512MB GDDR3 (AX4670 512MD3-P)
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- 8 PowerColor PCS HD4670 512MB GDDR3 (AX4670 512MD3-P )
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- 8.0.1 Sapphire HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-00)
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- 9 Sapphire HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-00)
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- 9.0.1 Sapphire Ultimate HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-15)
REGISTER!
Verdict
Like the HD 4670, the Radeon HD 4650 graphics cards are based on the low cost, high performance RV730 GPU. The difference between them lies in the operating frequencies and the type of installed memory.
So, the HD 4650 is equipped mainly with DDR2 chips, sometimes GDDR3, which operate at 1000 and 1400 MHz, respectively (the older brother has 2000 MHz and 150 MHz for the core in stock). It is the memory that is the «bottleneck» that does not allow the full potential of the GPU. Given that the price difference between the Radeon HD 4650 and HD 4670 is about $10-20, the purchase of the former seems dubious to us. Therefore, in this material, it was decided not to dwell on testing the unsightly junior representatives of the line, limiting ourselves to a description of this series as a whole. nine0003 ASUS EAh5670/DI/512M/A, EAh5670/DI/1GD3/A
$78/91
Product provided by TechnoPark; “Navigator”
volume and memory type 512 MB/1 GB GDDR3
Frequency (Kolo/Memory) 750/2008 MHz, 750/1600 MHz
Possible acceleration 830/2200 MHz, 812/2110 MHz
Effective CO; HDMI is implemented on the board; cost
The fan is noisy
Verdict /
ASUS uses an inexpensive cooler from Arctic Cooling to cool the representatives of the Radeon HD 4670 model range, which copes with its task perfectly.
It provides heat dissipation from the GPU and airflow of the PCB as a whole, which will allow you to overclock these adapters well. EAh5670/DI/512M/A and EAh5670/DI/1GD3/A differ from each other not only in memory capacity, but also in operating frequencies. In the first one, the chips operate at 2008 MHz (which is 8 MHz higher than in other models, thanks to which the brainchild of ASUS is slightly ahead of its rivals in the nominal mode), in the second — only at 1600 MHz. Therefore, EAh5670/DI/1GD3/A noticeably loses not only to the 512 MB version, but also to devices from other manufacturers equipped with 1 GB of video memory. The advantages of the video cards under consideration include the HDMI connector brought to the rear panel, although its proximity to the outdated D-sub is surprising. nine0003
Force3D HD4670-512MB (F4670P-G3-210-FS)/HD4670-1GB (F4670P-D3-310-FS)
$ 75/87
Produced SEROL DISTRIBUTION
512MB/1GB GDDR3
Frequency (core/memory) 750/1746 MHz; 750/1746 MHz
Possible overclocking 830/2060 MHz; 790/2052 MHz
Efficient cooling system; low cost
The 512 MB version has a lower video memory frequency
Verdict /
Video cards manufactured by Force3D are equipped with rather interesting aluminum coolers, somewhat reminiscent of the well-known Zalman VF700.
They work quite quietly, while providing airflow to the PCB and memory chips. Due to low fan speeds, the temperature of the GPU in the load reached 70 ° C, but this value is very far from critical. I wonder why the manufacturer significantly lowered the working memory frequency in the case of the 512 MB version of the adapter (from 2000 to 1746 MHz). However, the models under consideration have a good overclocking potential, so overclockers can easily make up for this omission. nine0003 Low cost coupled with good performance make Force3D HD4670-512MB (F4670P-G3-210-FS) and HD4670-1GB (F4670P-D3-310-FS) graphics adapters one of the most interesting purchase candidates in this segment.
GIGABYTE GV-R467D3-512I
$ 92
Product granted by the GIGABYTE representative in Ukraine
903 512 MB GDDR3
9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000
9000
0003
Possible overclocking 827/2412 MHz
Efficient single slot CO; HDMI is soldered on the board; good overclocking result
Very noisy fan
Verdict
This adapter is one of the few in the test that is equipped with a single-slot cooling system.
At first glance, a relatively large fan should be silent and do its job well, but in practice, the Gigabyte GV-R467D3-512I turned out to be the loudest participant in our testing. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the manufacturer has deprived users of the ability to regulate the speed of the turbine. Of course, this provides excellent heat dissipation efficiency from the GPU, as evidenced by good overclocking results and temperature chart data, but few people will like this approach to designing graphics adapters. nine0003 Possible overclocking 838/2396 MHz
Higher nominal frequencies; powerful CO; silence at work
Not detected
Verdict
The Hightech Information System (HIS) IceQ line of graphics adapters is well known to our readers. Representatives of this model range are distinguished by a high-quality quiet cooling system and often increased frequencies.
The HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB (128bit) GDDR3 PCIe is no exception — the default GPU is boosted to 780 MHz (nominal — 750 MHz). The regular turbine, although it operates at minimum speed, but even in this situation it turns out to be very effective. The overclocking of the adapter in question also pleased us — 838/239 obeyed us6 MHz (chip/memory respectively). In addition to everything, this video card has a very democratic cost and quite deservedly receives the award «Editor’s Choice: Best Quality» .
HIS HD 4670 ICEQ HDMI 1GB (128BIT) DDR3 PCIe
$ 90
Product provided by the HIS representative office
9035 777 1 GDDR3 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000. /1746 MHz
Possible overclocking 870/2204 MHz
Quiet and efficient cooler; democratic value; overclocking potential
Reduced video memory frequency
Verdict
HIS offers more than just overclocked IceQ cards.
The manufacturer also produces adapters that do not differ in characteristics from those recommended, leaving the task of increasing frequencies to users. The HD 4670 IceQ HDMI 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe model is distinguished by an increased amount of video memory, which automatically means lower performance compared to 512 MB versions. However, in the process of boosting, we achieved excellent results: the card worked stably at 870/2204 MHz, while the temperature and noise levels turned out to be among the best in the test. nine0003 HDMI-out on HIS graphics adapters is traditionally implemented through an adapter supplied in the kit. In general, we have only positive impressions of this model.
HIS HD 4670 ISILENCE 4 1GB (128BIT) DDR3 PCIE
$ 90
Product of the HIS representative office in Ukraine
5503,77,774 9000
9000 (Frequences) (Frequences) /1746 MHz
Possible overclocking 822/2150 MHz
Silent CO; increased video memory
Reduced operating frequency; cooler not powerful enough
Verdict
The iSilence 4 series graphics cards are equipped with a passive cooling system from Zalman.
This approach allows us to produce completely silent solutions and additionally attract buyers through the name of the manufacturer of the pre-installed cooler. However, the CO installed on the HIS HD 4670 iSilence 4 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe card is far from the best choice, since effective heat dissipation from the mid-range chip requires heatsink ventilation. On the test stand, the processor cooler coped well with this task, but potential buyers should, if necessary, organize additional ventilation of the system unit. nine0373 Possible overclocking 783/2320 MHz Efficient cooler; very quiet in operation; HDMI and DisplayPort soldered on the card
Fan speed not adjustable
Verdict
The video card from PowerColor turned out to be the quietest among the test participants. The GPU is cooled by a familiar two-slot cooler installed on inexpensive solutions from this manufacturer, heatsinks are glued to the memory chips.
This adapter is made on a redesigned non-reference design PCB and boasts implemented HDMI and DisplayPort interfaces. nine0003 PowerColor PCS HD4670 512MB GDDR3 was only overclocked to 783/2320 MHz from the nominal 750/2000 MHz. We hope that this result is typical only for the specimen in question, since the safety margin of the standard CO allows us to count on much higher rates. Perhaps this model is one of the best HD 4670, but when buying do not forget about the price. At the moment, it is slightly higher than that of competitors.
Sapphire HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-00)
$ 85
Product granted Compass
Volume and Memory Type 512 MB GDDR3
Frequency (Nucleus/Memory) 750/2000 MHz
M.222/22/22/22/22/22/22/ price; excellent overclocking potential
Noisy fan
Verdict
This model is practically no different from the original AMD Radeon HD 4670.
The card is made on the reference PCB and is equipped with a single-slot cooler with a noisy fan. True, if necessary, its speed can be lowered and an acceptable level of acoustic comfort can be achieved when working at a PC. nine0003 The frequencies of Sapphire HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-00) do not differ from the recommended 750/2000 MHz, but the overclocking potential frankly pleased. The achieved 912/2446 MHz is a record figure for the considered adapters, and I would like to believe that it can be extrapolated to most cards of this model. The cost of the adapter is at an average level, and in the foreseeable future it will largely determine the success of the brainchild of Sapphire on the market.
Sapphire Ultimate HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-15)
$ 94
Product granted Compass
Volume and Memory Type 512 MB GDDR3
Frequency (Nucleus/Memory) 750/1746 MHz
903/22, possible expression , the possible expression is possible cooling system; HDMI routed to rear panel
Reduced memory frequency; low overclocking potential
Verdict
The model in question is traditionally equipped with a silent cooling system for representatives of the Ultimate line.
The compact aluminum cooler consists of two parts connected by heat pipes. It copes well with its tasks, and in our efficiency test, the CO showed excellent results due to the easy cooling of the heatsink by the processor fan.
Despite the amount of memory equal to 512 MB, the manufacturer played it safe and significantly underestimated its operating frequency. However, this disadvantage can be easily compensated by overclocking. Our copy of Sapphire Ultimate HD 4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E demonstrated the worst results in the test during forcing, but they cannot be unambiguously extrapolated to all cards of this model. This adapter will appeal primarily to lovers of silence, but do not forget about the ventilation of the case.
nine0003Test methodology
To compare the performance level of video cards of the same model range, a diagram with results in 3DMark06 is sufficient. The alignment of forces in other 3D applications will continue, and adapters of the Radeon HD 4670 level obviously do not need additional memory.
The loss of one-gigabyte versions due to the reduced frequency of operation is much more noticeable for the user. We present the results demonstrated by the cards in the nominal mode and overclocked.
All tests were carried out on an open test bench, the room temperature during testing was 24 °C. To properly evaluate the cooling systems used by manufacturers, we monitored the temperature of graphics chips in 2D and 3D modes. It should be noted that the given data was obtained during the operation of CO cards in the normal mode with the operation algorithms specified by the manufacturers. To achieve increased efficiency of the coolers of most of the considered adapters, you can do it yourself by adjusting the fan speed.
nine0003Overclocking of video cards and monitoring of tracked indicators were carried out using the RivaTuner RC2.24 utility, using Catalyst version 9.4 drivers.
Terminals
Radeon HD 4670 display adapters exhibit a high level of performance that is uncharacteristic of the budget class.
Due to their low cost (up to $100), they will be an excellent option for building high-performance low-cost PCs. The younger brothers based on the Radeon HD 4650 are not as good as it might seem because they belong to the 4600 series. The price difference between them and the HD 4670 does not exceed $10-20, but the level of performance differs dramatically.
nine0003The Radeon HD 4670 is available in the market with 512 MB and 1 GB of video memory. At the same time, one-gigabyte versions, for the sake of stability, have an underestimated frequency (1600-1746 MHz versus 2000 MHz for 512-megabyte models). We did not notice any noticeable increase in performance due to an increase in the amount of RAM during the tests, but the performance in gaming applications due to the deterioration in frequency characteristics is visible to the naked eye. If necessary, the cards can be overclocked to a level that often exceeds 800/2000 MHz, but an extra overpayment for additional volume is very doubtful.
Therefore, when choosing, you should be guided primarily by price considerations, based on the availability of models on the market.
nine0003Returning to the considered video cards, let’s note the manufacturers’ innovations. Most of the adapters are made on modified PCBs and boast original COs. Their noise level is often quite low (although the RV730 is not hot), but there are exceptions. Based on the test results, we select HIS HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB (128bit) GDDR3 PCIe . This card runs at higher frequencies and is equipped with the traditionally efficient and quiet IceQ CO, for which it receives the award «Editor’s Choice: Best Quality» . Products from ASUS, Force3D, PowerColor proved to be very worthy. They can count on wide popularity. We’ve decided to award Editor’s Choice Best Buy to the ASUS EAh5670/DI/512M/A . Single-slot adapters from Gigabyte and Sapphire turned out to be the noisiest in the test, although they showed good results. As for passive video cards, you need to be careful.
In our case, the processor cooler provided tangible support to the standard CO, which simultaneously blows over the HIS HD 4670 iSilence 4 1GB (128bit) DDR3 PCIe and Sapphire Ultimate HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E heatsinks. On their own, the SD cards of these cards in a poorly ventilated case would hardly have coped with the task assigned to them.
nine0003Test bench configuration Processor Intel Core i7 920 @3.2 GHz Cooler Scythe Kabuto RAM 3×2 GB G.Skill F3-12800CL7T-6GBPS Motherboard ASUS Rampage II Extreme Power supply be quiet! Straight Power 700W (E6) Operating system Windows XP SP2 Products provided by ASUS Representative office of ASUS in Ukraine, www. 
- 9.0.1 Sapphire Ultimate HD4670 512M GDDR3 PCI-E (11138-15)
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- 2.0.1 F4670P-G3-210-FS)/HD4670-1GB (F4670P-D3-310-FS)
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