AMD Radeon HD 6670 And 6570: Turkeys Or Turkish Delights?

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Based on the new Turks GPU, AMD’s Radeon HD 6570 and 6670 graphics cards are poised to hit the $80-$100 market. Do these products have what it takes to compete in this fiercely competitive segment, or are AMD's subtle evolutionary changes too small?

Test Setup And Benchmarks

Along with the new Radeon HD 6570 GDDR5 and 6670, our benchmarks include important competitors like the Radeon HD 5570, Radeon HD 5670, GeForce GT 240 GDDR5, and GeForce GTS 450.

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Test Hardware
ProcessorIntel Core i5-2500K (Sandy Bridge)Overclocked to 4.0 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache, power-saving settings enabled, Turbo Boost disabled.
MotherboardAsus P8P67 Pro, Intel P67 Chipset
MemoryOCZ PC3-16000, 2 x 2 GB, 1338 MT/s, CL 9-9-9-20-1T
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Black 750 GB, 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s
Graphics CardsNvidia GeForce GTS 450 1 GB783/1566 MHz Core/Shaders, 902 MHz Memory (3608 MT/s effective)
Row 5 - Cell 0 Nvidia GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 1 GB900/1800 MHz Core/Shaders, 1025 MHz Memory (4200 MT/s effective)
Row 6 - Cell 0 AMD Radeon HD 6670 512 MB 800 MHz Core, 1200 MHz Memory (4600 MT/s effective)
Row 7 - Cell 0 AMD Radeon HD 5670 512 MB 775 MHz Core, 1000 MHz Memory (4000 MT/s effective)
Row 8 - Cell 0 AMD Radeon HD 6570 512 MB650 MHz Core, 900 MHz Memory (3600 MT/s effective)
Row 9 - Cell 0 AMD Radeon HD 5770 512 MB650 MHz Core, 900 MHz Memory (1800 MT/s effective)
Power SupplyePower EP-1200E10-T2 1200 W, ATX12V, EPS12V
CPU CoolerCooler Master Hyper TX 2
System Software And Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
DirectXDirectX 11
Graphics DriverGeForce: 270.51 BetaRadeon: Catalyst 11.4 Beta
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Games
Crysis 2Very High Quality setting, No AA, 60 second gameplay, FRAPS
Just Cause 2Medium Quality Settings, Textures High, all options enabled except vsync, No AA / 16xAF, Bokeh filter and GPU water disabled (for Nvidia cards), Concrete Jungle Benchmark
BulletstormHighest Settings, No AA, 60 second sequence, FRAPS
F1 2010Ultra High Settings, No AA, Steam version, in-game benchmark, DX11 Rendering
Aliens Vs. Predator BenchmarkTexture and Shadow quality set to medium, 8x AF, SSAO off, Dx11 tessellation off, Dx11 advanced shadows off, 0x AA
Metro 2033DiectX 11, Medium Detail,  4x AF, tessellation enabled, advanced PhysX disabled.
H.A.W.X. 2Highest settings, DirectX 11 tessellation enabled, built-in benchmark
3DMark VantagePerformance Preset, 1680x1050
Unigine HeavenHighest settings, no AA, 16x AF, 1680x1050
Don Woligroski
63 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jenkem
    price aside, i'm rather impressed with the 6670. sure the 5750 and gts 450 are more powerful, but nvidia's card just looks ridiculous in the power draw graph. being the fastest card without a pci-e connector is more than just a title, the 6670 will become the new go-to card for people with dells, hps, and ect looking to upgrade to discrete graphics(like the 4670 and 5670 before it).
    also, a 5670 can be found on newegg for $73 before rebate.
    Reply
  • 4745454b
    With $99 after MIR 5770s on newegg, the GTS450, 5750, and 6670 are all to expensive. I am most impressed that AMD has got this level of performance out of
    Reply
  • Nintendork
    The card has great overclock:

    960Mhz+ / 5000+Mhz for the memory. A 21% increase in games (tpu review).
    Reply
  • fatkid35
    i used to play cod4 with a 3.0 ghz dual core and a radeon 4650 @ 1400x900 with good frame rates. and the whole pc only had a draw of 135 watts at the wall. this new 6670 is a kick @ss low power solution for most wanting to game on the semi cheap. kinda want one for my back up pc now.
    Reply
  • enzo matrix
    For $80, how can you beat a card that can overclock to 6670 speeds easily? And perform identically due to the same specs otherwise?
    Reply
  • enzo matrix
    ^The 6570, is this card I am referring to.
    Reply
  • Pengle
    How much better is the 6570 than the 4550
    Reply
  • jestersage
    great review!

    just wondering why we used a 1200w psu when most systems use only 10% of its capacity... i believe the power draw graphs are skewed due to lower efficiency at that load.
    Reply
  • sudeshc
    Another gr8 review just loved reading it.
    Reply
  • mognet
    jestersagegreat review!just wondering why we used a 1200w psu when most systems use only 10% of its capacity... i believe the power draw graphs are skewed due to lower efficiency at that load.
    Its just standard practise to overkill all other components to make sure they don't cause weird results. Besides the absolute draw isn't important its how the cards compare with each other.
    Reply