How do the 4650/4670 cards look? good replacements?

I have been out of the loop on Graphics cards since I bought my 8800GTS G92 card.... gee I think it was last year? or beginning of this year.... I can't remember, it was $300 at the time and had a $20 rebate. Anyways, I have heard nothing but rave reviews of the 4850/4870's. I also see the 4650/4670's are now out. They do not have an external power connector and seem to suck minimal power. Most reviews I see place it around or just below the 9600Gt/GSO mark. Is this an accurate statement?

I have 2 friends looking for alternatives to their onboard cards and lowend cards. One person has a 300W and other 400W stock PSU. From what I gather these PSU's should be able to handle the 4670 just fine. My cousin's x1950XT 256MB just took a crap as well, and is looking for a cheap replacement until he can rebuild. They are all looking for a solution under $100 and the 4670 looks like a winner. What does everyone think of these cards. I know they are relatively new but the reviews look good. I've gotten much better answers on this forum in the past than my own research.

I also figure it has a lower power draw than the 9600Gt which has already been out for some time. Granted the 4870 is far better, but these individuals are not heavy gamers. They play the SIMS and stuff like that. My cousin is going to get Cod4 but he would only play like once every so often. I think he is looking for something to do when his wife is working and he is home with the baby on weekends. He has a 15" monitor anyways, poor boy.

15" display, OucH!
That has gotta hurt!

Yeah, I am pretty sure a 59w draw is less than the 9600GT.
Anand has a decent review on the card Here.
Generally comes out on top of a 8800GS/9600GSO which is nearly the same as the 9600GT.
Hell, it can play most newer games flat out at the resolutions offered on a 15".

This is the reason I thought it was a good match. And you are right. I read several times in the reviews I've found stating that OEM's are going to scoop these up as a cheap entry level gaming card. The PC gaming scene really does need a BOOST. $300 need to be a thing of the past, especially since you can get an Xbox for that price and is all the core hardware you need to run those games. I know so many people that have gone to consoles because of high cost of PC components and the rate they need replaced. It would be nice to have some PC gamer friends again. I have a few that have stuck it out.

Yeah I know exactly how you feel. Literally none of my friends play PC games; Xbox exclusively. They see me playing Crysis sometimes and are like "holy ****" but when I tell them how much I payed for my GPU alone they are immediately put off. Unfortunately the 4670 alone isn't going to be enough to get them into PC gaming since none of them have desktops.

Too slow.

^
That is just awesome to hear coming from someone who has the card. Its unreal hearing a card with no external power connection and under $100 can deliver that. I love technology!

Yeah i dont think a 4550 or 4350 will worth, I think those are more HTPC and integrated graphics replacement type cards.

^
I just think it's awesome to get that performance at $80 or whatever they are costing. It just amazes me and saddens me i paid $300 for an 8800GTS512. Haha oh well. Such is the PC gamer life.

^True, it's a combination of last gen's high end kind of sucking (RV670 that is) and this gen's midrange being really good. Same sort of thing happened with the 6600GT vs the FX5800.