Radeon HD 5670 video card: review and features

The most productive graphics accelerator in the segment of budget video cards in 2010 was the Radeon HD 5670. The hardware specifications of this product and its capabilities will be further considered in detail.

Positioning the graphics accelerator

The video cards of the series 55XX and 56XX in 2010 belonged to the budget segment. It was to the last line that belonged to Radeon HD 5670. These were the most affordable graphics accelerators with the minimum necessary level of performance. At that time, they could confidently cope with almost any task alone. Let in some cases it was necessary to significantly reduce the settings, but the capabilities of such graphics products was quite enough. Now, 6 years after the start of sales, such video cards are outdated both morally and physically. Of course, with the solution of the most common tasks, this accelerator will cope. This video playback, processing of simple pictures and the most undemanding gaming applications. Even relatively obsolete and rather complex toys, albeit not at the maximum settings, but will go on such hardware.

Contents of delivery

The bundle of AMD Radeon HD 5670 could vary depending on which manufacturer the product was purchased from. This list necessarily included the following:

• The graphics accelerator itself.

• CD with the necessary software (drivers, test software and so on).

• Warranty card and brief guide to using the product.

Some manufacturers (for example, HIS) supplemented this list with special coupons that guaranteed a certain discount when buying a particular toy. Another possible accessory in this case is a proprietary label with the name of a graphic card model for the front panel of the PC case.

Technological features

AMD Radeon HD 5670 was manufactured according to the standards of 40-nm process technology. In 2010, this was one of the most advanced technologies for the production of semiconductor chips. The same silicon crystal of this graphic accelerator was manufactured using the technological facilities of the Taiwanese company TSMC. Alas, all production capacities were withdrawn from the company "AMD" in a separate enterprise. The size of the semiconductor chip of this chip was 105 mm ² , it housed 627 million transistors.

Supported RAM Types

The optimal type of RAM for performance was the Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5. Its high clock speeds allowed to fully reveal its potential. Also, it was possible to meet more affordable modifications of this video card with a RAM "DDR3". But at the same time, the level of productivity decreased significantly. The third type of RAM for this graphics accelerator is DDR2. In this case, the performance of the video adapter dropped even more. But the cost in this case also decreased. The maximum capacity of RAM on one card was 2 GB, and the minimum - 512 MB. The optimal price-performance ratio was provided by models with an intermediate amount of 1 GB of RAM. A larger amount of random access memory did not allow a significant increase in performance, and models with 512 MB of RAM could not allow the graphics card chip to demonstrate all its capabilities. Therefore, from the point of view of speed, the modifications of this solution equipped with GDRR5 memory in the amount of 1 Gb looked the most optimal. In all other cases, the performance level decreased significantly and this, in turn, affected the performance of the computer system as a whole. The bus of data exchange with RAM in this case had the same bit width in all models - 128 bits.

Temperature and heat dissipation

The Radeon HD 5670 graphics card was compulsorily equipped with an active cooling system. A conventional aluminum radiator for organizing the heat sink of such a powerful semiconductor crystal was clearly not enough. The peak thermal packet for this graphic accelerator was 61 watts. In idle mode, this value was automatically reduced to 14 watts. These are excellent indicators for such a solution. In the standard mode of operation of a given silicon crystal, the temperatures should be in the range of 35-55 degrees. If you increase the load on the graphics subsystem of a personal computer by running a demanding toy, the maximum temperature will reach 61-65 degrees. Therefore, the cooling system of a PC with such a graphic subsystem needed to be supplemented with one or even two additional coolers.

Frequency formula

The nominal clock speed of the Radeon HD 5670 was equal to 775 MHz. In turn, the random access memory in this case operated at a frequency of 4000 MHz. But this value is valid for the RAM type "GDDR5". In all other cases, when using slower RAM, this frequency also decreased. As a result, the speed of information exchange between the GPU and RAM was already insufficient for the full load of the first. Therefore, such modifications of the video card suffered from a decrease in performance.

Architecture

The code name for the ATI Radeon HD 5670 core is Redwood. In fact, this graphics card was a cut-down version of mid-range solutions that were based on a chip code-named Juniper. In comparison with it, all the parameters were 2 times worse for the Radeon HD 5670. The characteristics only distinguished the bit width of the random access memory, which in both cases had the same bit width equal to 128 bits. In other respects, the technical parameters of the hero of this review were as follows:

• The number of stream processors was 400.

• The texture blocks of this silicon solution were 20.

• The blocks of rasterization, in turn, were 8.

• The printed circuit board of this graphic accelerator was equipped with 3 ports for connecting a monitor: digital port DVI, the most popular for today HDMI and, of course, DisplayPort.

Another important feature of this graphic product was the support of the "CrossFire" technology. Its essence boils down to the fact that such an accelerator could work as part of a PC with several video cards of this manufacturer. At the same time, computing resources were combined and this ensured a significant overall performance gain. Modifications from 512 MB did not even require the installation of additional connecting bridges ( PCI Express 16x resources in this case was enough for work). In all other cases, their presence is mandatory.

Overclocking and potential performance gains

As noted earlier, the nominal frequencies, respectively, for RAM in this case were equal to 4000 MHz and 775 MHz for the Radeon HD 5670. Overclocking of this graphics subsystem in some cases allowed to obtain a significant increase in performance. But at the same time, additional requirements were put to the PC. First of all, this is the increased power of the power supply unit, which would provide a certain margin of safety. Also, the motherboard should be in improved performance with a quality wiring system power supply. Another important point is the cooling system. Inside the computer case, 2-3 additional fans were required to be placed. If this condition is not met, then the regular cooling system under certain circumstances could not cope with the heat sink, which, in turn, could lead to overheating and failure of the graphic accelerator. In practice, quite often this semiconductor crystal could be accelerated to a frequency of 930 MHz. At the same time, the RAM clock frequency was 4600 MHz. That is, the speed increase in this mode was equal to 25-30 percent. This allowed the hero of this review to compete on an equal footing with the graphics accelerators of the middle class at that time.

Cost

A very affordable graphics solution by the standards of 2010 was the Radeon HD 5670. The price for the most productive modification of it with 1 GB of RAM - "GDRR5" - was equal to $ 100. The increase in the number of RAM doubled this figure by $ 10. That is, such a graphic solution was estimated at about $ 110. But such a rise in the price of the video card did not give any significant increase in performance. Well, the most affordable versions of this accelerator could be purchased at that time for $ 90. At the same time, the speed of the computer system was significantly reduced.

The strengths and weaknesses of this graphical solution

Awesome number of pluses was in ATI Radeon HD 5670. Among them one can distinguish:

• Low cost and, as a result, the availability of a graphic solution.

• A fairly high level of performance, both for an entry-level graphics card.

• Another important plus of this solution is the high overclocking potential, which in some cases allowed to get an additional 30 percent increase in performance.

• Also, the advantages of this model include the ability to create graphics subsystems with several graphics accelerators.

But the disadvantages in this situation simply could not be. This video card, given its positioning by the manufacturer, is devoid of any significant drawbacks.

Results

A very balanced solution in terms of cost and performance was for its time Radeon HD 5670. This accelerator gave the opportunity for $ 100 to get an acceptable level of performance, which allowed to solve most problems at that time. Even now, this semiconductor chip is able to solve most problems. The only thing that he can have problems with is the most demanding toys of the last few years and various graphic editors with increased demands on the hardware resources of the personal computer. Well, the high overclocking potential and the ability to work in tandem with another video card from this manufacturer add to the hero of this review a certain margin of safety.