4670 - A good update ??

[abhishekk89]

I have a two fold question :
First, I'm planning to upgrade my Nvidia 7600 GT graphics card with the ATI Radeon 4670. So is this upgrade justified ? Also if there are any other options please mention them...

Second, I have an Intel D945GCL motherboard which i suppose has PCI Express 1.0. Since the upgrade I'm planning is 2.0 card will there be a huge performance difference ? Should I buy a new motherboard for the card ?

Please help me out with this...

 

[outlw6669]

Yes, the 4670 will give you about twice the performance of your current 7600GT.
It will defiantly be a good upgrade.

No, you do not need to upgrade your motherboard.
The PCIe standard is backwards and forwards compatible.
Any PCIe 16x card will work in any PCIe 16x slot.
A PCIe 1.0 16x slot has more than enough bandwidth for most any current GPU, you will not lose any performance.

 

[abhishekk89]

So the performance difference between a 2.0 motherboard and 1.0 motherboard is negligible ?

 

[outlw6669]

With a 4670, there will be NO performance difference between a PCIe 1.0 and 2.0 motherboard.

 

[MARSOC_Operator]

A good update for 2007... A proper update for current games should be at least a 4870.

 

[abhishekk89]

But my budget doesn't allow a 4870... any other good cards for around $60-70 ?

 

[abhishekk89]

If I'm going with the 4670 should i go with the 1 GB version or 512 MB one ? Heard that the ATI 4670 is not able to utilize so much of memory...

 

[jay2tall]

PCI-E 2.0 is backward compatible with PCI-E 1.0/1.1

You will see a nice improvement. However, just keep in mind the new 5670 will come out in January if you can wait.

 

[abhishekk89]

So is the new 5670 around the same price ??

 

[abhishekk89]

and any idea of the exact date ??

 

[jay2tall]

They said it will enter at $100, but who REALLY knows. The vague performance comparison I've seen, which are very few, kinda shows a 25%+ increase in performance. But this wasn't in game so who really knows. The GT240 from nvidia is about $100 and outperforms the 4670, so I have a feeling the 5670 will go up against this card in comparisons.

I just say Jan 2010, no date.

 

[deadlockedworld]

The 4670 is currently the best card at the $60-70 price point, and is a good option--especially for an older computer.

However, if you decided to push your budget you could get a slightly larger boost from a Nvidia 9600GT at $70-80, or a 9800GT at $80-90. I'm not certain its actually worth spending more--but if you find any sweet sales you might keep them in mind. (these two do require a 6-pin though)

 

[abhishekk89]

ok thank u guys... i guess i'd wait for the 5670 since my pc, after a few months, will be transferred to my home theatre...

 

[jay2tall]

^ that is a good call if you can hold out for it.