- Dec 14, 2007
- 215
- 0
- 18,710
Hi guys
Last week i decided to buy the "XFX RADEON HD5670" so i could see what all the hype behind this budget card was all about... so i managed to find it online for just £42... this was from the videocardshop who sell graded xfx cards which are returns or end of line/refurbs .... however for just over £40 i wasnt too concerned... i mean its alot better loosing this amount of money rather than £300 for a high end model
anyway i recieved the card in a oem type packaging... still had the XFX branding but no flashy images or details on the back of the box... it simply said graphics card and had a few XFX logo,s on the box..... and upon opening the box the card was well packaged and looked brand new....... accessories wise it came with a driver disk,quick start guide and (wait for it ) a crossfire bridge......
this made me think since you dont need a crossfire bridge for the HD5670... infact theres nowhere to fit it..... the HD5670,s can communicate via the pci-express x16 bus..... that said it may come in handy so its nice of xfx and videocardshop to include this
as you can see there are some versions of the XFX HD5670 which do have crossfire teeth.... and you can use the bridge if it takes your fancy... however i very much doubt it will be used...
one thing that stands out about the XFX HD5670 is its size.... its only slightly bigger than the pci-express x16 bus.... however this makes it ideal for HTPC,s and small form factor case... however its not low profile and wont fit in narrow cases such as the acer aspire range
INSTALLATION : installation was extremely easy..... as per normal you need to uninstall any current display drivers you have... if your using nvidia card then run "driver sweeper"( http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/ ) before installing new drivers.... however if your moving from one ati card to another i wouldnt bother..however the choice is yours.. and it wont do any harm
after removing my old card the XFX HD5670 simply inserted into my pci-express x16(v2.0) slot without any problems... and theres no additional power needed for this card so my 6pin pci-e connector is now redundant.....
a quick word on the pci-express x16 versions..... im using the v2.0 bus... however the XFX HD5670 should work fine in any pci-express x16 bus..... even the v1.0 pci-express x16 slots should be ok..... however i have read many reviews and comments were some guys have had problems running this card using older motherboards......
after i installed the card and started the pc i was amazed how quiet the card was...... another reason why this would work well in a media center/htpc pc ...... and using just 16w at idle and 61w at full load you should be able to run this card with a generic 400w psu or branded 300w psu ..
i connected the card using a dvi cable however theres also a HDMI and displayport to choose from.... and you can also use up to 3 displays with the "eyeinfinity" technology ... however one of the displays needs to support displayport and you can only use active displayport adapters which can be expensive
however running 3 displays with a budget card like the HD5670 isnt recommended..... but running office apps would be ok..
which brings me finally to gaming..... i havent come across any game this card wont run...... infact ive just run crysis 2 at 1920x1080 at advanced detail and managed around 25fps....... now conisdering im only using a celeron E3300 dual core cpu and 4gb of corsair xms ram this isnt that bad
i also ran metro 2033 at 1920x1080 and at normal detail it acheived around 24fps.....
these may seem low however you dont need sky high frame rates in these games to make them playable.... its more about the minimum frame rates......... what you dont want is a card that runs at 30fps however drops to 8fps during action....
SUMMARY : im pretty impressed with the XFX HD5670 ...... for around £50 you have a card that will run the latest games at reasonable detail and resolution... and with such low power requirements you should be able to run this card using your existing psu....
i like running half life 2 mods and maps,and since the source engine isnt that demanding this card suits me perfect.... however even games such as crysis will run pretty well.... at medium detail and 1440x900 i got around 27fps which is impressive for a budget card
just dont expect sky high frame rates.... and if your a hardcore gamer on a budget you would be better off saving another £30 and buying the excellent radeon HD5770 ......
the last ati card i bought before this was the excellent x1950pro which i still rate to this day.... however i do beleive were seeing a turning point in graphic card technology and design..... you will now begin to see more and more budget cards that will run the latest games at high resolutions at playable frame rates .... thats great news for the budget minded consumer especially in these tough financial times
hope this has helped anyone who,s looking at buying a budget graphic card
[flash=320,240]http://[/flash]
Last week i decided to buy the "XFX RADEON HD5670" so i could see what all the hype behind this budget card was all about... so i managed to find it online for just £42... this was from the videocardshop who sell graded xfx cards which are returns or end of line/refurbs .... however for just over £40 i wasnt too concerned... i mean its alot better loosing this amount of money rather than £300 for a high end model
anyway i recieved the card in a oem type packaging... still had the XFX branding but no flashy images or details on the back of the box... it simply said graphics card and had a few XFX logo,s on the box..... and upon opening the box the card was well packaged and looked brand new....... accessories wise it came with a driver disk,quick start guide and (wait for it ) a crossfire bridge......
this made me think since you dont need a crossfire bridge for the HD5670... infact theres nowhere to fit it..... the HD5670,s can communicate via the pci-express x16 bus..... that said it may come in handy so its nice of xfx and videocardshop to include this
as you can see there are some versions of the XFX HD5670 which do have crossfire teeth.... and you can use the bridge if it takes your fancy... however i very much doubt it will be used...
one thing that stands out about the XFX HD5670 is its size.... its only slightly bigger than the pci-express x16 bus.... however this makes it ideal for HTPC,s and small form factor case... however its not low profile and wont fit in narrow cases such as the acer aspire range
INSTALLATION : installation was extremely easy..... as per normal you need to uninstall any current display drivers you have... if your using nvidia card then run "driver sweeper"( http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/ ) before installing new drivers.... however if your moving from one ati card to another i wouldnt bother..however the choice is yours.. and it wont do any harm
after removing my old card the XFX HD5670 simply inserted into my pci-express x16(v2.0) slot without any problems... and theres no additional power needed for this card so my 6pin pci-e connector is now redundant.....
a quick word on the pci-express x16 versions..... im using the v2.0 bus... however the XFX HD5670 should work fine in any pci-express x16 bus..... even the v1.0 pci-express x16 slots should be ok..... however i have read many reviews and comments were some guys have had problems running this card using older motherboards......
after i installed the card and started the pc i was amazed how quiet the card was...... another reason why this would work well in a media center/htpc pc ...... and using just 16w at idle and 61w at full load you should be able to run this card with a generic 400w psu or branded 300w psu ..
i connected the card using a dvi cable however theres also a HDMI and displayport to choose from.... and you can also use up to 3 displays with the "eyeinfinity" technology ... however one of the displays needs to support displayport and you can only use active displayport adapters which can be expensive
however running 3 displays with a budget card like the HD5670 isnt recommended..... but running office apps would be ok..
which brings me finally to gaming..... i havent come across any game this card wont run...... infact ive just run crysis 2 at 1920x1080 at advanced detail and managed around 25fps....... now conisdering im only using a celeron E3300 dual core cpu and 4gb of corsair xms ram this isnt that bad
i also ran metro 2033 at 1920x1080 and at normal detail it acheived around 24fps.....
these may seem low however you dont need sky high frame rates in these games to make them playable.... its more about the minimum frame rates......... what you dont want is a card that runs at 30fps however drops to 8fps during action....
SUMMARY : im pretty impressed with the XFX HD5670 ...... for around £50 you have a card that will run the latest games at reasonable detail and resolution... and with such low power requirements you should be able to run this card using your existing psu....
i like running half life 2 mods and maps,and since the source engine isnt that demanding this card suits me perfect.... however even games such as crysis will run pretty well.... at medium detail and 1440x900 i got around 27fps which is impressive for a budget card
just dont expect sky high frame rates.... and if your a hardcore gamer on a budget you would be better off saving another £30 and buying the excellent radeon HD5770 ......
the last ati card i bought before this was the excellent x1950pro which i still rate to this day.... however i do beleive were seeing a turning point in graphic card technology and design..... you will now begin to see more and more budget cards that will run the latest games at high resolutions at playable frame rates .... thats great news for the budget minded consumer especially in these tough financial times
hope this has helped anyone who,s looking at buying a budget graphic card
[flash=320,240]http://[/flash]
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