AMD Radeon HD 4670: Ruling from Top to Bottom
by Derek Wilson on September 10, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Test Descriptions and Settings
Age of Conan
For Age of Conan, we opened up the graphics settings and clicked the high button. For added fun we went into the advanced page and upgraded to SM 3.0, though nothing else on this page was changed. We left AA off, as the graphics on this one were a bit tough already, and getting a good experience might require dropping down to medium settings. It's a shame that AoC doesn't allow us to test at 800x600. On an MMO, screen space can be pretty important, so we do understand the decision. Our tests consist of a swim towards Tortage Island and a quick run to the jungle. The test is a straight line run and very repeatable. We used FRAPS to record the average frame rate.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
We recorded a custom net timedemo for this one. All of our tests are done using the highest possible settings with 4xAA. The Doom 3 engine is getting a little outdated and just about everything can run it well. One of the more interesting issues is that we need to quit out of the game every time we change resolution or our scores get really crazy.
Race Driver: GRID
This game plays surprisingly well at lower resolutions on these cards. We used the ultra high settings, but disabled AA here. Some of the shaders this game uses really benefit from AA though, and the 4670 is actually able to handle AA pretty well on this one at 1280x1024. The test for GRID is the first straight (right into a wall) of a track. We start at the back of the pack and start FRAPS running as soon as we take off. FRAPS is stopped when we hit the wall.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
This test has been with us in some way or another for a very long time. The game is DX9, and we use Ultra High default settings for this one. For our AA/AF testing, we force those options through the driver control panel. The test is a straight line run with FRAPS. Even though there's a little age on this game, it is still a great title to get people hooked on gaming. It's open and fun and it doesn't look bad at lower resolutions with the settings cranked up. And these little cards can deliver as well.
Crysis
Yes, the obligatory Crysis test. This one is done using Medium settings across the board and no AA. We were running in DX10 mode and 64-bit as well. Our test is the built-in GPU benchmark run 3 times, and our score is the average of the second two runs. The game does lose some of its luster under Medium settings, but it is still very playable. Depending on the card you have, you would want to spend some time seeing what settings you could get away with pushing up to High.
The Witcher
For The Witcher we crank everything way up. We would have done more AA tests with this one, but there is this annoying new trend of limiting the maximum resolution AA can be enabled on based on framebuffer size. Aside from being annoying in our testing, architecture has a lot to do with AA performance and framebuffer is sort of a naive metric to use. In any case, this is another FRAPS test, but we benchmark one of the early in-engine cut scenes
| Test Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.20GHz |
| Motherboard | EVGA nForce 790i SLI Intel DX48BT2 |
| Video Cards |
ATI Radeon HD 4870 |
| Video Drivers | Catalyst Press Driver 8.9 Beta (Radeon HD 4670) Catalyst 8.7 (Radeon HD 4850, 3850) Catalyst 8.8 (Radeon HD 4870, 3870) ForceWare 175.19 (9600 GSO) ForceWare 175.16 (9500 GT) |
| Hard Drive | Seagate 7200.9 120GB 8MB 7200RPM |
| RAM | 4 x 1GB Corsair DDR3-1333 7-7-7-20 |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP1 |
| PSU | PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1200W |
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srikar115 - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - link
i completely agree with the review ...i myself use a 4670 and frn has a 9600gso ..the parameters shown here are 100% correct ....also this article elaborates the upperhand of 4670 over 96gso/gthttp://pcgamersera.com/category/4670-vs-9600gt/">http://pcgamersera.com/category/4670-vs-9600gt/
dellprecision380 - Saturday, July 9, 2011 - link
plz tell me that 4670 will work on 375 watt psu and pci x16?i have intel 955xcs board plz tell me i want to buy this cardJogi - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link
Just wanna add a few words about market situation in such "strange" (regarding to price policy) region as Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, Russia.The rebate program isn't available here (in Ukraine) nor in Russia. Don't know how about Poland. Here are the prices for mainstream VC:
Radeon 4670 - about 100$
GeForce 9600GSO - about 120$
GeForce 9600GT - about 150$
As I said before, there is no rebate program available here, buying something on the ebay... Well, I can't trust my money to someone, who is living a thousands of miles from me :)
evonitzer - Thursday, September 25, 2008 - link
Good review. I appreciate how you focused on 1280x1024 (as opposed to some people who wanted 1920x1200?!) as that is the monitor I'm still rockin. However, I'm curious how the 4670 performs in The Witcher with AA, regardless of how the 9500GT does. I like this game and wonder what kind of performance hit I might expect were I to pick up the card. It would appear that nobody is watching the comments anymore since it broke down into fanboy/retarded complaining, but I'd like to know. Also, please no "answers" from others who haven't actually run the game but want to speculate. I can perform such speculation on my own, and already have.Maz - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
PNY stock 8800gt is at 110 dollars now... just get that if you're on a budget to be real about it...lemonadesoda - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
I thought the review was great. Thanks for being so thorough in your analysis vis-a-vis older cards. That's exactly the comparison people want to make... not which current generation card is 5% better than another... but how much they gain from upgrading an older card to the latest generation.But there are two points left open:
1./ Performance at 1600x1200 or 1920x1200 which is the resolution that PEOPLE WHO READ THESE BENCHMARKS are interested in. I can guarantee you NOBODY is interested in the 800x600 figures you give. Nobody considering a performance part works at that resolution. But you left a big knowledge gap for the screen resolutions that most people with enthusiast PCs have: 1600x and 1920x1200.
2./ You say there is no win with the 4670 over 3870. For a few $ more you get a few % more performance, therefore 3870 QED. Not so. Many people are interested in silent machines or cool HTPC. The power usage figures between the 3870 vs. 4670 warrant 4670 winning in every case. I'm sure you can OC the 4670 to 3870 performance and still have a cheaper to run machine with less heat and silent.
Otherwise, very informative review. Thanks.
Nil Einne - Sunday, February 15, 2009 - link
Actually no one is interested in such resolutions with a budget card. If you get a budget card, you accept that your likely to play at relatively low resolutions. You'd have to be stupid to get a budget card and then try to play at 1920x1200. In case it isn't obvious, I personally hate it when stupid reviewers, perhaps insipired by equally stupid commentators test resolutions that no one is ever going to play with and then complain the card is too slow. I DO NOT care if the card can only manage 10 FPS at 1920x1200. It's completely irrelevant and doesn't help me in deciding which card to buy.Maz - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
1920x1200??? People who are truly interested in those resolutions really don't read budget card reviews to find out if the latest games will run well cause they know the answer.What is it with people who wanna drop 500 dollars on a high res monitor then buy an 80 dollar video card? It's like putting four thousand dollar wheels on your 93 honda.
Ajay - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
Don't most people game on a wide screen monitor nowadays (high end games, like Crysis)? So why is the final comparison is done at 1280x1024??Really, I'm just wondering.
Nice review in any case - thx!
wvh - Friday, September 12, 2008 - link
When the HD 4650 is released and reviewed, I'd be interested in a comparison between integrated solutions and these lower-end cards regarding power consumption, performance and price... Are there any plans by AMD to integrate one of these lower-spec cards into a motherboard?