Friday, August 7th 2009
Sapphire Readies HD 4650 AGP Accelerator
Sapphire announced its first Radeon HD 4000 series accelerator designed for the legacy AGP-8X interface. Available in 512 MB and 1 GB variants, the Sapphire HD 4650 AGP uses the RV730 GPU clocked at 600 MHz, with the 128-bit DDR2 memory at 800 MHz. It uses a single-slot design, with a simple fan-heatsink for the GPU. A peculiar part about the PCB design is its 6-pin PCI-E power input. Hopefully a Molex cable tides over this. Outputs are care of two DVI-D and a composite connector. The cards have started being listed on online stores, priced at 72 Euro. This card isn't the first of its kind, with PowerColor having recently announced a similar accelerator.
Source:
TechConnect Magazine
27 Comments on Sapphire Readies HD 4650 AGP Accelerator
They expect people with AGP systems to have PCI-E power supplies?
PS. AGP GPUs are about as useful as PCI-E x1 GPUs. ie. not for everyone. But for those that need; appreciated.
die, die, die agp,
i want you to die:mad:
Though, at least with a floppy you would only need one 4-pin molex for the converter, while with the 6-pin you would usually need 2.(Yes, I know they make 6-pin converters that only use one molex, but how many of those have you actually seen?).
This GPU is a perfect upgrade for an "older" corporate computer that now needs to drive 2x DVI outs, or have a more snappy display. The computer is already written off, and the low investment of a GPU is an immediate write off. Buying a whole new system hits the balance sheet and cashflow at a time when most companies cant afford. Esp. as most "office users" dont need a faster CPU.
Yes there is a market for it.... a very small one, that is already covered by the second hand market.
Why 2 DVI? Why not VGA, HDMI and DVI like the 4650 Ultimate Edition? The PCI-E 4650 came out like 10 months ago why even bother releasing an AGP version this late when there's the better 4670 for less? The 4670 Ultimate Edition is €63.50 here, €72 for an AGP card in 2009, seriously? The PCI-E version is €55. Buy a bloody PCI-E mobo for €72
*I didn't want to buy the 4650 because it uses DDR2, but the 4670 was out of stock until September 1st and I needed a card asap.
Its just so damned tempting...
not that i think "AGP should go die in a fire" but i really dont see the point of them releasing new cards.
if these people are so worried about spare parts, or better performance... go to a cheap PCI-E system, and save themselves the hassle.
So at this point, i would say there isn't any reason to use AGP or pci , unless you are stuck with a pci or agp rig. So i am not hating on them, nice to see more rare cards for people who enjoy them.