Diamond ATi Radeon HD 4670 1GB $57.04 shipped.

[BrokenArrow]

LINK

Amazon has the Diamond 4670PE31GDT ATI Radeon HD 4670 GDDR3 1GB PCI-Express DVI Video Card for $57.04 shipped! Found this while looking for a new HTPC card that could play some games. Sounds good to me, any opinions?

 

[sgrinavi]

I paid about that much for a 4670 not too long after release, but ended up returning the card as it's performance was not quite what I had anticipated. It would probably be fine at very low resolutions, but don't expect to play any modern game in naitive res on your 22" LCD...

 

[BrokenArrow]

Just wanted an inexpensive card with some gaming abilities. Not looking for higher resolutions.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Not bad but if you can spend $10-20 extra you should invest in a 4830.

 

[mdcrab]

ZZF has an MSI 4670 for $45 AR but it is currently OOS.
MSI R4670-2D512/D3 Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (2.0v) Video Card Retail

 

[BrokenArrow]

Originally posted by: Rockinacoustic
Not bad but if you can spend $10-20 extra you should invest in a 4830.

Ah, but if I did that I'd need a new p/s. So that extra $10-20 becomes an extra $40-50 or more. Probably would have gone 4830 if I had the p/s already though.

 

[edplayer]

Originally posted by: BrokenArrow
Just wanted an inexpensive card with some gaming abilities. Not looking for higher resolutions.

It has way more gaming capability than he suggests. You have to remember that lots of people on Anandtech are nerds that have very high expectations from computer parts. These are the people that convince themselves that having 3 videocards in one computer is a good idea.


I have a 9600GT which is about the level of performance of the 4670 and it will play almost every modern game fine at 1920x1080 (my native res). Some games you would have to turn down some details to keep it at native res and over 30fps. With Crysis you would have to play at a lower res and maybe a few other games. I don't use AA.

If you do have 1680x1050 res, you should be happy with that card as it goes beyond the "some gaming capability" you posted above. 4770 would be a better gaming card and would likely work fine with your PSU but not sure if the price difference is worth it for you. Post your cpu and PSU if you want recommendations on what it can handle.


Price is warm (though still a good deal). If you want a very hot deal, keep waiting for the 4770 to drop into that price range.

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: edplayer


It has way more gaming capability than he suggests. You have to remember that lots of people on Anandtech are nerds that have very high expectations from computer parts. These are the people that convince themselves that having 3 videocards in one computer is a good idea.

Not relative to the discussion and not nice. Someone could just as easily say that some people don't know what a real gaming experience is....

Originally posted by: edplayer
I have a 9600GT which is about the level of performance of the 4670 and it will play almost every modern game fine at 1920x1080 (my native res). Some games you would have to turn down some details to keep it at native res and over 30fps. With Crysis you would have to play at a lower res and maybe a few other games. I don't use AA.

If you do have 1680x1050 res, you should be happy with that card as it goes beyond the "some gaming capability" you posted above.

I'm pretty sure what you just described is "some gaming capability".

 

[edplayer]

Yes, some gaming capability. Definitely not the best but it is also not "don't expect to play any modern game in native res"

 

[BrokenArrow]

Originally posted by: edplayer
4770 would be a better gaming card and would likely work fine with your PSU but not sure if the price difference is worth it for you. Post your cpu and PSU if you want recommendations on what it can handle.


Price is warm (though still a good deal). If you want a very hot deal, keep waiting for the 4770 to drop into that price range.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 4770 still looks like it needs a PCI-e power supply connection, which the no-name P/S in my cheap-o Acer doesn't have. I think I'd feel more comfortable with a better quality P/S before upgrading to anything more than a 4670. I think this 4670 will fit my current needs. Thanks for the input.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: BrokenArrow
Amazon has the Diamond 4670PE31GDT ATI Radeon HD 4670 GDDR3 1GB PCI-Express DVI Video Card for $60.65 shipped! Found this while looking for a new HTPC card that could play some games. Sounds good to me, any opinions?

Not a particularly good deal, since 1GB RAM increases the price a good $10 ~ $15 over the 512MB versions and makes the card slower in most scenarios to boot. For the same price, you could have GF 9600GT, which is faster in most scenarios. For $10 ~ $15 more, you could have HD 4830, which is hugely faster in most scenarios.

HD 4670 1GB < HD 4670 512MB < GF 9600GT < HD 4830

All crammed into a price range spanning a mere $30.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: BrokenArrow
Amazon has the Diamond 4670PE31GDT ATI Radeon HD 4670 GDDR3 1GB PCI-Express DVI Video Card for $60.65 shipped! Found this while looking for a new HTPC card that could play some games. Sounds good to me, any opinions?

Not a particularly good deal, since 1GB RAM increases the price a good $10 ~ $15 over the 512MB versions and makes the card slower in most scenarios to boot. For the same price, you could have GF 9600GT, which is faster in most scenarios. For $10 ~ $15 more, you could have HD 4830, which is hugely faster in most scenarios.

HD 4650 1GB < HD 4650 512MB < GF 9600GT < HD 4830

All crammed into a price range spanning a mere $30.

I don't think you read the previous posts carefully tcsenter.

1. This is for a 4670, not 4650, and $60 shipped was the cheapest I could find. If you know where it's cheaper, please post a link.

2. I have already stated that my P/S probably won't handle a 4830, so if I bought one I would also need a new P/S. Also if you know where there is a 4830 for $70-75 shipped, please post a link.

3. Where did you read that the 1gig version is slower than the 512mb versions? I have never seen that. Once again, please post a link.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: BrokenArrow
1. This is for a 4670, not 4650, and $60 shipped was the cheapest I could find. If you know where it's cheaper, please post a link.

Fixed.

2. I have already stated that my P/S probably won't handle a 4830, so if I bought one I would also need a new P/S. Also if you know where there is a 4830 for $70-75 shipped, please post a link.

HD 4830 @ $80.00 AR

3. Where did you read that the 1gig version is slower than the 512mb versions? I have never seen that. Once again, please post a link.

26 benchmarks, HD 4670 1GB is slower than two different 512MB boards in 25 of them:

Roundup: Mainstream Graphics Cards

But we didn't really need specific benchmarks comparing HD 4670 1GB and 512MB. Pretty much every graphics card that has been marketed with 1GB RAM has either been equivalent to or slower than the 512MB counterpart in most scenarios. You can see this with the 9600GT in the same THG review. The 1GB 9600GT is equivalent to or slower than the 512MB board in nearly all benchmarks.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: BrokenArrow
1. This is for a 4670, not 4650, and $60 shipped was the cheapest I could find. If you know where it's cheaper, please post a link.

Fixed.

2. I have already stated that my P/S probably won't handle a 4830, so if I bought one I would also need a new P/S. Also if you know where there is a 4830 for $70-75 shipped, please post a link.

HD 4830 @ $80.00 AR

3. Where did you read that the 1gig version is slower than the 512mb versions? I have never seen that. Once again, please post a link.

26 benchmarks, HD 4670 1GB is slower than two different 512MB boards in 25 of them:

Roundup: Mainstream Graphics Cards

But we didn't really need specific benchmarks comparing HD 4670 1GB and 512MB. Pretty much every graphics card that has been marketed with 1GB RAM has either been equivalent to or slower than the 512MB counterpart in most scenarios. You can see this with the 9600GT in the same THG review. The 1GB 9600GT is equivalent to or slower than the 512MB board in nearly all benchmarks.

That card is $80 (not 70-75 SHIPPED like I asked about), after rebates, plus shipping, and oh yeah, its OOS. So a great deal on something thats not available is not a deal at all.

The review is interesting. I wonder why those cards listed run slower with more memory onboard. Is this common regardless of GPU? I notice the HIS 1gb 4670 listed in the review is passively cooled and has a slower than stock memory clock, so I don't know thats an apples-to-apples comparison. They don't give any info on what specific 9600 cards were used. Thanks for your response though.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: BrokenArrow
That card is $80 (not 70-75 SHIPPED like I asked about), after rebates, plus shipping, and oh yeah, its OOS. So a great deal on something thats not available is not a deal at all.

Its $5.00 more than your $75.00 limit. And yeah, if you're too lazy to do your homework, you might just miss out on a card that has been on sale and IN STOCK for three days and was still in stock when I posted it.

The review is interesting. I wonder why those cards listed run slower with more memory onboard. Is this common regardless of GPU?

It has been for "pretty much every graphics card that has been marketed with 1GB RAM", as I stated.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Well like I stated, I would need a better power supply if I were to upgrade to a 4830, so that turns a $15 (plus shipping, and of course, a MIR, assuming it would be back in stock before the end of the rebate) increase into a $45 (or more) increase. Yes the performance gain is probably worth it, but some people have a budget that doesn't have that much wiggle room. Also I would assume the 4830 is a longer card, and that is another item to consider. As far as the 512mb vs. 1gig debate, apples-to-apples, I'd be suprised if there were a decrease in performance for a card with more memory. I don't consider tenths of a frame to be significant. So at my price point, which is around $60 shipped (no MIR, no shipping, etc.), is there a better card for the money? I couldn't find one, nor could I find a better price for a 512mb 4670 either. Please point me the way if you know of one. Thanks.

EDIT: Now your 4830 'deal' is a deactivated item. IF it was in stock when you first listed it, it went OOS in the short few hours between your post and mine. I'm sure it was a good deal, but wasn't within my requirments.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Now down to $57.04!

 

[ectx]

wish this were available 2 weeks ago... No hassle for filing a rebate - a big plus.

 

[RobsTV]

I wish I would have simply bought this card instead of messing with my HD 4830.

HTPC cooling is the thing.

This HD 4670 is around the fastest gaming card you can passively cool in a HTPC mATX case.
Use it with a fanless Zalman VNF100 vga cooler, will give great silent gaming on most big screen Plasma's or LCD's. If you are building a gaming rig, then neither card will be the "best" for gaming. But if you want a great gaming card for use with your Hi Def TV, that will easily run any modern game you throw at it, then a HD 4670 should be near the top of your list.

The HIS version of the HD 4670 comes with the Zalman installed, but around $100.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161272
Better to get the card in this thread and the Zalman elsewhere, such as Directron for $20.
http://www.directron.com/vnf100.html (just went OOS)

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

. But if you want a great gaming card for use with your Hi Def TV, that will easily run any modern game you throw at it, then a HD 4670 should be near the top of your list.

I had one of these, it will not 'easily run any modern game you throw at it' If you turn down all the goodies and lower the resolution then, yes, it works.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: sgrinavi

Originally posted by: RobsTV

. But if you want a great gaming card for use with your Hi Def TV, that will easily run any modern game you throw at it, then a HD 4670 should be near the top of your list.

I had one of these, it will not 'easily run any modern game you throw at it' If you turn down all the goodies and lower the resolution then, yes, it works.

I get it.
No need to keep repeating yourself.
Not a gaming card in the type of PC "you" would call a gaming rig.

Thanks for quoting me out of context.
As I stated, for a mATX "silent" (when HSF swapped) HTPC gaming rig connected to a HDTV, then it is great for the vast majority of users, and will work fine with modern games. If you know of a better "silent fanless" card, please post a link.

At HD resolutions with graphics quality settings cranked way up, some to the max (Guru3d charts):

HD 4670 frames per second:
Crysis 44
FEAR 63
COD4 44
GRAW2 48
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 38
Quake Wars 52

Excellent card for quiet HDTV gaming!

What do you get if instead you toss in the HD 4890 x2 to go along with your HDTV?
Only a lot more heat, more power required, and more noise.
Faster in games?
If your HDTV is 1366x720 (720p more common than 1080p), than you would barely see any difference, if at all.
Even 1920x1080 would not show much of an improvement over a HD 4670 in "most" games.

EDIT: Just noticed the 1 gig card compared from link to Toms Hardware, and it is the HIS model with Zalman. That model uses memory clocked slower than any other HD 4670, so is not a comparison to other HD 4670's. The 512meg model compared to at Toms was fan cooled and had the faster memory. It was not the memory size that made the difference, but instead the speed the memory was clocked at. I do agree that a 1 gig card will be slower than 512meg cards. Probably not enough for most to notice, but on paper the 512meg card will be faster.

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

At HD resolutions with graphics quality settings cranked way up, some to the max (Guru3d charts):

HD 4670 frames per second:
Crysis 44
FEAR 63
COD4 44
GRAW2 48
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 38
Quake Wars 52

Excellent card for quiet HDTV gaming!

Crysis at 44 FPS on 1080p with a 4670? Peak? maybe? , not minimum and certainly not average. I did a quick search - the first bench I saw looked more like what I experienced

I notice that you haven't mentioned if and when you tried one....

Benching Crysis on this card was a bit of a rough experience. Even with settings down to Medium, the highest playable resolution is 1280x1024 at 2xAA:

Crysis Medium 1280x1024, 2xAA
Min FPS: 24.14
Max FPS: 35.89
Avg FPS: 31.05

Playable, but medium detail 1280x1024? if that's YOUR idea of gaming then have at it.

Originally posted by: RobsTV

What do you get if instead you toss in the HD 4890 x2 to go along with your HDTV?
Only a lot more heat, more power required, and more noise.
Faster in games?
If your HDTV is 1366x720 (720p more common than 1080p), than you would barely see any difference, if at all.
Even 1920x1080 would not show much of an improvement over a HD 4670 in "most" games.

.

What would you get with a better card? Depends on the card and the games, but, ya, more heat, more noise, , higher resolution, more eye candy and more FPS.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the 4670, I just don't think people should be under the impression that they are going to slap one of these cards in thier Dell and have a game like Crysis or Grid be playable, with eye candy on, at 1080p


If you're happy with that level of performance then go for it. That does not change the validity of my statements -

The card is a dog by todays standards of gaming hardware.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Personally (since I started this thread), I'm on a budget, my HDTV is only 720p, and so given those two factors, I think the 4670 will fit my needs quite nicely. I'm not a high res, AA, AF, max quality junkie anyhow. I play games for content. Yes I like them to look as nice as possible, but there's a limit to how much extra enjoyment I get from a little more eye candy, and how much extra I'm willing to pay. Everyone has their own opinions, and budgets. I really just wanted to know if there was a better card that fits my needs in this price range. Apparently there isn't, so thanks everyone for the input. My 4670 is on its way.