# Powercolor PCS HD 4670 512 MB



## W1zzard (Sep 8, 2008)

Today AMD launches their new cards based on the RV730 graphics processor. The Powercolor PCS HD 4670 we have on our testbench today comes with a dual slot heatsink which offers excellent cooling and low noise. Together with the serious gaming performance of this card, AMD has managed to successfully position their product in the sub-$100 segment.

*Show full review*


----------



## choppy (Sep 10, 2008)

what a card, of course give it a few months and the price will drop therefore it will easily be the price/performance king


----------



## eidairaman1 (Sep 10, 2008)

I think AMD should reverse their product release plans, as it seems their mid range boards are far more improved than their top end boards, as of performance/watt and price.


----------



## btarunr (Sep 10, 2008)

Didn't this just eat the 9500 GT?  I see why 9550 is in the works. Great little card.


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Sep 10, 2008)

I thought this was overpriced, but if they drop it $20, it is a good HTPC card, or a low end gamer card.  Either way I thought it was a perfect "gap filler."


----------



## mdm-adph (Sep 10, 2008)

Aye, I'll be glad when the price drops just a tad more, but it's good that this is a card that ATI fans can buy without feeling bad about not getting a 9600GT.  

Considering I spent $10 more than this for my 3650 when it came out (only six months ago), I feel ripped-off, but that's the way it is with technology.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 10, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Didn't this just eat the 9500 GT?  I see why 9550 is in the works. Great little card.



With the price of the 4670 at $85, the 9550 isn't needed.  You can already get a 9600GSO or 9600GT for $80.

I don't think nVidia needs any new cards at this point, the 9500GT fits nicely at the $60-$65 price point and the 9600GSO/9600GT fit the next higher price point just fine.


----------



## mdm-adph (Sep 10, 2008)

newtekie1 said:


> With the price of the 4670 at $85, the 9550 isn't needed.  You can already get a 9600GSO or 9600GT for $80.
> 
> I don't think nVidia needs any new cards at this point, the 9500GT fits nicely at the $60-$65 price point and the 9600GSO/9600GT fit the next higher price point just fine.



Please show me where in the hell you're buying a 9600GT for $80, cause the egg doesn't list it any cheaper than $95. 

The 9600 GT's not a bad card, but there are many reasons why someone would want to choose a 4670, including the lower power draw, the HDMI+Audio, and a cheaper price for almost the same performance.


----------



## W1zzard (Sep 10, 2008)

9600 gt was $85 for weeks on newegg but prices went slightly up since the 9500 gt release


----------



## mdm-adph (Sep 10, 2008)

W1zzard said:


> 9600 gt was $85 for weeks on newegg but prices went slightly up since the 9500 gt release



Well, that was dumb.  Guess they'll be coming back down now.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 10, 2008)

mdm-adph said:


> Please show me where in the hell you're buying a 9600GT for $80, cause the egg doesn't list it any cheaper than $95.
> 
> The 9600 GT's not a bad card, but there are many reasons why someone would want to choose a 4670, including the lower power draw, the HDMI+Audio, and a cheaper price for almost the same performance.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125099

Actually, the cheapest one on newegg is $80...

The only point you made that is actually correct is the lower power consumption.  It does have that going for it, so it will make a great HTPC card.  However, it isn't cheaper for the same performance, it is actually more expensive for the slightly worse performance(80<85) and the 9600GT and 9600GSO both do HDMI+Audio.


----------



## btarunr (Sep 10, 2008)

Relax newtekie, $89 is the launch price of this non-ref HD 4670 model. It could be sold for much cheaper in the weeks to come.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 10, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Relax newtekie, $89 is the launch price of this non-ref HD 4670 model. It could be sold for much cheaper in the weeks to come.



I know, the price always goes down after a few weeks.  I really hope it does, as it will force the prices of other cards in the same performance class down as well.  I expected it will settle around the $75 mark.


----------



## mdm-adph (Sep 10, 2008)

newtekie1 said:


> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125099
> 
> Actually, the cheapest one on newegg is $80...
> 
> The only point you made that is actually correct is the lower power consumption.  It does have that going for it, so it will make a great HTPC card.  However, it isn't cheaper for the same performance, it is actually more expensive for the slightly worse performance(80<85) and the 9600GT and 9600GSO both do HDMI+Audio.



Blegh -- I've learned the hard way not to count rebates.  That card's going to cost you a hundred and ten bucks, and you know it.   Usually, as the size of the rebate increases, the chances that you'll actually get the check for it get exponentially less and less.

And as for the HDMI+Audio -- has nvidia got it working without the funky little extra cable you had to use with their cards the last time I checked?

And now Guru3D's reporting that this card is going to enter at $79.  Who to believe?


----------



## MrMilli (Sep 10, 2008)

I don't consider price after rebate to be retail price.
Like mdm-adph said, $95 is the cheapest on newegg.
Check this out: http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=9600gt&scoring=p
Only PNY has one listed at $89 but the average is more like $110.
I consider putting $90 for the 9600GT in the review to be a little on the low side.
As a comparison, the cheapest 9600GT in Germany costs €80 (Palit) (PNY €94).
The Sapphire HD 4670 is already listed at €66 (that's $20 difference to 9600GT): http://www.alternate.de/html/product/details.html?artno=JBXSUG

The 9600GT doesn't have HDMI audio on chip. You need to connect the on board SPDIF connector to your soundcard the get sound over HDMI. ATI has this on chip. Not all soundcards have a 2pin SPDIF connector on the card, specially old ones. There is also the matter of encrypted audio! ATI includes the HDMI dongle, most of nVidia partners don't (+$5).

BTW $85 is the launch price for this non-reference model and it will drop over the next few weeks.
The 9600GT launched at $169 if i remember correctly.


----------



## Paintface (Sep 10, 2008)

yup this card should be compared to the 9500gt pricewise instead of 9600gt.

IF i had to buy a system today i wouldnt hesitate buying a 4670, its weird but good how a low end priced videocard can play all games at max settings fluently these days.


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 10, 2008)

mdm-adph said:


> Blegh -- I've learned the hard way not to count rebates.  That card's going to cost you a hundred and ten bucks, and you know it.   Usually, as the size of the rebate increases, the chances that you'll actually get the check for it get exponentially less and less.
> 
> And as for the HDMI+Audio -- has nvidia got it working without the funky little extra cable you had to use with their cards the last time I checked?
> 
> And now Guru3D's reporting that this card is going to enter at $79.  Who to believe?



I've actually had good luck with all my rebates when purchasing through newegg, so I don't mind considering them in the final price.  Newegg has gone to great lengths to make sure the companies stand behind their rebates.

As for HDMI+Audio, I don't care how it work, as long as it works.  Yes, you have to connect a cable to the card from your sound card, but it still achieves the same in the end.  It is just one less driver to cause conflicts at the end of the day too.  There are benefits to both methods.


----------



## Scrizz (Sep 11, 2008)

cool basically an improved 3850,
very nice


----------



## cdawall (Sep 11, 2008)

looks like a great card i want to see it in tri/quadfire


----------



## zithe (Sep 11, 2008)

newtekie1 said:


> With the price of the 4670 at $85, the 9550 isn't needed.  You can already get a 9600GSO or 9600GT for $80.
> 
> I don't think nVidia needs any new cards at this point, the 9500GT fits nicely at the $60-$65 price point and the 9600GSO/9600GT fit the next higher price point just fine.



It's 79.99 at newegg and handles AA/AF much better than the 9600GSO seems to.


----------



## Scrizz (Sep 11, 2008)

newtekie1 said:


> I know, the price always goes down after a few weeks.  I really hope it does, as it will force the prices of other cards in the same performance class down as well.  I expected it will settle around the $75 mark.



owned


----------



## zithe (Sep 11, 2008)

Newegg's MSI 4670 seems to have a 256bit bus. Might it be a mistake?


----------



## newtekie1 (Sep 11, 2008)

zithe said:


> It's 79.99 at newegg and handles AA/AF much better than the 9600GSO seems to.



How do you get that it handles AA/AF much better than the 9600GSO?  In most of the test that have AA and AF enabled the 9600GSO outscores it.



zithe said:


> Newegg's MSI 4670 seems to have a 256bit bus. Might it be a mistake?



More than likely,  Newegg's specs are wrong a lot of the time, especially on new products.


----------



## zithe (Sep 11, 2008)

newtekie1 said:


> How do you get that it handles AA/AF much better than the 9600GSO?  In most of the test that have AA and AF enabled the 9600GSO outscores it.
> 
> 
> 
> More than likely,  Newegg's specs are wrong a lot of the time, especially on new products.



Was only looking at UT3 lol.


----------



## suraswami (Sep 11, 2008)

W1zzard said:


> 9600 gt was $85 for weeks on newegg but prices went slightly up since the 9500 gt release



well the EVGA 9600GT OC edition was $60 AR at Frys last friday, damn I missed it.

W1z excellent review.  May be I should wait and buy the 46xx series.


----------



## kysg (Sep 11, 2008)

already on newegg.


----------



## lemonadesoda (Sep 15, 2008)

Very thorough review Wizz, thanks. Particularly like the performance per watt and per $ to put this into perspective for its class.

It would be GREAT if you could have a reference card that was the typical upgrade-from card, to get an idea how much better this card is over the card that people have in their system (that they want to upgrade). What type of card does a person have who would consider a 4670? Perhaps Intel Integrated, or a x800 system or 7800? A comparison against one full generation below, rather than just all products in current generation. I know its more work... but the reference comparison would be invaluable.

4670 looks like a perfect solution for a "silent" office PC, or HTPC, with 3D ability, but not needed state-of-art gaming performance.

Key question: will it drive a 2560x1600 TFT? Or 2x 1600x1200?


----------



## mdm-adph (Sep 16, 2008)

Hell, I have a 3650 and I'm considering a 4670 -- it's more than twice as fast for $20 less than I bought my 3650 for.  I just have to find a buyer on Ebay for my old 3650.


----------



## DMF (Oct 22, 2008)

Got one from Newegg. 

While the article shows HDMI adapter and Crossfire connector, they are not in the retail box.  I'm not particularly happy about that...


----------



## mdm-adph (Oct 22, 2008)

DMF said:


> Got one from Newegg.
> 
> While the article shows HDMI adapter and Crossfire connector, they are not in the retail box.  I'm not particularly happy about that...



Shoulda looked more closely at the pictures on NewEgg -- they're not in there, nor is it listed in the specs.  

Just ordered mine this week -- the memory coolers did it for me, now I won't have to buy my own.


----------



## DMF (Oct 22, 2008)

Cooler is very quiet at idle; I haven't tried to roast the GPU yet.  VGA dongle feels really solid.

Be careful of errant cables.  One could easily get hung in the open cooler fins and jam the fan when you set the box upright.


----------



## mdm-adph (Oct 22, 2008)

Aye, that's another reason why I went with the PowerColor -- Wiz's review showed that it was quiet as a mouse, even under load, really.


----------



## mdm-adph (Oct 24, 2008)

And it _is _quiet, and fast, and runs fine at stock clocks.


----------

