ATI Radeon HD 5570: Reasonable Gaming Performance For $80?

Test System And Benchmarks

When choosing cards to test against the Radeon HD 5570, we looked at options in the same price league, from the $70 Radeon HD 4670 to the $95 Radeon HD 5670. We also included the Radeon HD 4650 for reference, as this is the lowest-end graphics card we recommend to gamers in our monthly Best Graphics Cards For The Money column.

Many of our test units are factory-overclocked models. To better represent a level playing field (and to address some of the concerns we've seen in the comments section), we have underclocked all of these cards to reference clock rates. The only exception to this is the Radeon HD 4670, which comes with 800 MHz memory (compared to the reference 1,000 MHz). But this was not modified, as most Radeon HD 4670 models are actually sold with 800 MHz memory.

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Header Cell - Column 0 Graphic Test System
CPUIntel Core i7-920 (Nehalem), 2.67 GHz, QPI-4200, 8MB Shared L3 CacheOverclocked to 3.06 GHz @ 153 MHz BCLK
MotherboardASRock X58 SuperComputer Intel X58, BIOS P1.90
NetworkingOnboard Realtek gigabit LAN controller
MemoryKingston PC3-10700 3 x 1,024MB, DDR3-1225, CL 9-9-9-22-1T
GraphicsATI Radeon HD 5670725 MHz Core, 1,000 MHz Memory, 512MB GDDR5Gigabyte GeForce 9600 GT650 MHz Core, 1,625 MHz Shaders, 900 MHz Memory, 1GB DDR3Zotac GeForce GT 240 512 MB AMP! Edition600 MHz Core, 1,460 MHz Shaders, 1,000 MHz Memory, 512MB GDDR5Underclocked to reference speed: 550 MHz core, 1,360 MHz shaders, 850 MHz memoryGigabyte GeForce 8800 GT (representing GeForce 9800 GT)700 MHz Core, 1,700 MHz Shaders, 920 MHz Memory, 512MB DDR3Underclocked to reference speed: 600 MHz core, 1,500 MHz shaders, 900 MHz memoryDiamond Radeon HD 4670750 MHz Core, 800 MHz Memory, 1GB DDR3Sapphire Radeon HD 4650600 MHz Core, 400 MHz Memory, 512MB DDR2
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar WD50 00AAJS-00YFA500GB, 7,200 RPM, 8MB cache, SATA 3.0 Gb/s
PowerThermaltake Toughpower 1,200W1,200 W, ATX 12V 2.2, EPS 12v 2.91
Software and Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit 6.0.6001, SP1
DirectX versionDirectX 10
Graphics DriversAMD Catalyst 9.12, Nvidia GeForce 195.62
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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 9, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Low Quality, Medium Textures, Shadows, Physics, Shaders, Water, and Sound, No AA
Far Cry 2Patch 1.02, in-game benchmark Medium Quality, No AA
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Version 1.0.0, Custom THG Benchmark Highest Settings, no AA
DiRT 2Version 1.0.0, Custom THG Benchmark Run 1: Ultra High Settings, No AA, DirectX 9Run 2: Ultra High Settings, No AA, DirectX 11
World In ConflictPatch 1009, DirectX 9, timedemo Medium Details, No AA/No AF
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.Patch 1.02, DirectX 10 & 10.1, in-game benchmark Low Shadows, Sun ShaftsMedium View Distance, Environment, SSAOHigh Forest, TexturesHDR, Engine Heat, and DOE On, No AA
Left 4 DeadVersion 1.0.1.5., Custom THG Benchmark Run 1: High Settings, no AA, no AFRun 2: High Settings, Medium Shaders, 4xAA, 8xAF
Resident Evil 5Resident Evil 5 Benchmark VersionHigh Shadows and Textures, Medium Overall Detail, Motion Blur On, no AA, no AF
Fallout 3Patch 1.4.0.6., Custom THG Benchmark High Quality, No AA, No AF
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.02, PhysX Off, 3DMark scores
  • johnbilicki
    Because someone who is going to consider buying a 5570 is so going to pair it with a socket 1366 which makes up for a massive 1% of all CPU's Intel is selling. This is the kind of card someone's parent is going to wonder to the store and pick up so their daughter can play The Sims. 50+ FPS in Crysis? >__>
    Reply
  • xaira
    i thought this would be cheaper, cant wait for fermi to come and reduce amds horrible pricing of the low end lineup, the 5670 shudve had 640 stream processors!!!
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    I would have liked to have seen how this stacks up against the GT240 with GDDR3 as the 5670 already knocked the GT240 with GDDR5 off its perch.
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    xairai thought this would be cheaper, cant wait for fermi to come and reduce amds horrible pricing of the low end lineup, the 5670 shudve had 640 stream processors!!!
    AMD/ATI set the MSRP to $320 for the 5870, blame the retailers for jacking the prices up since nVidia hasn't yet put anything out to compete with.
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Anyway, still a good budget card. I bet this card is made so that AMD can afford to sell it a little less than what even the Radeon 4650 is currently going for, while the 5670 may even fall below the $64 the cheapest 4670s are going for.
    Reply
  • burnley14
    Disappointing performance increase considering it's supposed to be replacing a card from over a year ago. I would have thought they could have mustered something better.
    Reply
  • skora
    I like it,that power draw had me fall out of my chair. Definitely a HTPC with limited gaming option.
    Reply
  • notty22
    Well people with a 'old' 9600gt won't be up?grading to this for a 20% loss of performance. Something for everyone I guess.
    Reply
  • acasel
    where is the crossfire mode?
    Reply
  • ta152h
    The paper clip is poor as a size reference point, since paper clips are not all the same size. Because of that, it's impossible to know the actual size of the die, since we don't know the size of the paper clip.
    Reply