XFX Radeon HD 6670 - HTPC Ready!

As the dust finally settles over XFX terminating their partnership with NVIDIA over manufacturing their NVIDIA based graphics cards; the company has started rolling out a few AMD graphics cards. XFX have recently announced the launch of three 6000 series GPUs in the form of the XFX Radeon HD 6540, XFX Radeon HD 6570 and the XFX Radeon HD 6670.

The XFX variant of the Radeon HD 6670

These graphics cards are designed as budget oriented GPUs aimed at casual gamers that offer 3D playback as well as other AMD features. Today, we will be looking at the XFX Radeon HD 6670 which is marketed as a GPU that offers enhancements for entertainment and gaming. Let’s see if the HD 6670 delivers on these fronts and if it serves as a good option for casual gamers.

Design and Features
The Radeon 6670 from XFX is available with different memory options – GDDR5 and GDDR3. The model we received was the HD-667X-ZNF2, which is a DDR3 memory variant. The XFX HD 6670 is available with a memory size of 1 GB with other vendors selling the card in 512 MB configurations, as well. The HD 6670 has three connectivity options which are a single HDMI, a DVI as well as a D-Sub port. CrossFireX is also supported on this card.

In addition to this, there are other AMD features like Eyefinity Technology where users can connect up to three independent display outputs simultaneously. This is also a 3D capable card.

HDMI, DVI and D-Sub ports on this budget card

XFX have modified the heatsink on this card as compared to the reference AMD Radeon HD 6670. The design of the XFX Radeon HD 6670 is very slim and there are a lot of fins for cooling. AMD claims the total power requirement of a typical PC running this card should be 450W. The GPU clock on the card is 800 MHz while the memory clock speed is 1600 MHz which is basically the same as AMD’s reference model.

Test Rig Specifications
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40 GHz
Motherboard: GIGABYTE P67A-UD3R
Memory: Corsair Dominator GT 6 GB DDR3 (3 x 2 GB)
Hard drive: WD Velociraptor  300 GB
GPU: HD-667X-ZNF2
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W

Performance
This XFX card is definitely not targeted at hardcore gamers - we saw a better performance from the ASUS 6670 across all benchmarks. The 3D Mark Vantage benchmark scored pretty poorly at 5635 points and recorded a GPU score of 4496. The ASUS Radeon HD 6670, in comparison gave a 3D Mark score of 8464 points while it recorded a GPU score of 6972 which is better than the XFX one.

The XFX card had consistant scores across all benchmarks

While running the Just cause 2 and Mafia 2 benchmarks on the XFX 6670, scores were below average with the Just Cause 2 scoring an average frame rate of merely 21.27 fps and the Mafia 2 faring slight better at 28.3 fps. While running the Crysis 2 benchmark, the score that got recorded was 150.52 fps. The Left 4 Dead 2 game benchmarked running a time demo test scored 114.27 fps. The Heaven benchmark performed really poorly with an average frame rate of 11.2 fps. The performance hit by the memory is clear. We ran benchmarks designed for 22-inch monitors that run at a resolution of 1680x1050, so the demand on performance wouldn’t be as high as games running at a resolution of 1920x1080.

Will serve well in a HTPC

Verdict
XFX has priced the Radeon 6670 at a MRP of Rs. 7,500. Market prices are closer to Rs. 4,399, which makes it a very affordable card. The card is much cheaper than the ASUS Radeon 6670. The XFX Radeon 6670 doesn’t do a good job at running games at full HD resolutions. For those using 19-inch monitors and lower, the performance should be sufficient to run slightly older games at nominal settings. If you’re a gamer looking to play the latest games at maximum settings, you might be disappointed. Casual gamers looking for an affordable purchase will find this card handy for occasional gaming sessions and perhaps even as an HTPC solution.