HD4670 vs 9600GT

[jyjjy777]

Alright, I've been researching this stuff for a while but need to make a decision.
I've been waiting for the price of the HD4670 to come down but my patience is at an end. I'd probably go for the 9600GSO deal that's $50 after rebate even though I hate dealing with rebates but it's a dual slot card and I just don't have the space available.
Right now newegg has an HD4670 for $80 + 7 shipping while there's a 9600GT for $95 with free shipping. So the effective difference in price is a mere $8.
The 9600GT is the better card but it's a tight fit for both my case and my power supply although it should still be ok. I do like the size and efficiency of the HD4850 however.
I'll be gaming at fairly low resolutions, probably nothing above 1280x1024.
What do you guys think? For $8 more should I just go for the 9600GT or just grab the less power hungry card and maybe overclock it up a bit?

 

[Andrew1990]

At lower res, 9600GSO>9600GT with 50% more shaders. Go for the 9600GSO, for $60, you cant beat the price/performance.

the 9600GT beats the GSO at higher resolutions by a margin, only because the memory bus and amount of memory. At lower resolutions, the GSO makes a come back with more shaders and the bus width doesnt make as much of a difference.

 

[bryanW1995]

4670 is dual slot iirc, that should solve your problem nicely

 

[jyjjy777]

Both of the cards I'm talking about are single slot. Which is what I need.

 

[coolpurplefan]

For 1080p video, I'd go with HD4670. (Actually, I just ordered one. It's been shipped apparently but I don't have it yet.)

 

[AzN]

That EVGA GSO price performance can't be beat. I think you should make room for that GSO. If you have PCI card next to video card you should move it unless you have some mini computer with single slot for video cards.

If all fails 9600 gt is the better performer. You should go with the GT and pay the measly $8 over 4670.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
4670 is dual slot iirc, that should solve your problem nicely

The 4670 is a single slot low power (~60 watt) card that doesn't require a PCIe connector on the PSU.

The 4670 is better for video playback including BlueRay.

The 4670 can be used in CrossFire (if you have a CrossFire capable board) - meaning that if you so desire an upgrade later you end up with roughly the performance of a 4850.

The 4670 should perform better with AA enabled in most cases.

The 4670 beat out the 9600GSO in most tests that AnandTech tested with. It wasn't by much, but if you're a bean counter, there you go.

---

With that said, I just got an email from NewEgg advertising a PNY 9600GT for $87.99 with free shipping. That's hard to beat for a deal, except PNY sucks as far as support goes (as soon as they stop making a card, you can no longer get warranty support for it even if you bought it just a few days prior).

---

So I think it comes down to:

1. Do you have a CrossFire or SLI capable board? (This just opens upgradability down the line)
2. Do you have a brand preference? (This determines which product line you lock into)
3. Do you want PhysX support? (Not worth the effort IMHO, but NVIDIA wins here)
4. Do you want DirectX 10.1 support? (Mostly a non-issue right now, but ATI wins here)
5. Do you want better video decoding support? (ATI here)
6. Do you have a decent PSU? (For the PCIe connector which the 4670 doesn't need)
7. Do you want to deal with a mammoth rebate and have ~$50 tied up for several weeks?

Answer those questions and you have your answer.

 

[AzN]

4670 eats less power and cost more money. Far as blueray playback any modern card can do it. Just because a card doesn't do audio through HDMI isn't end of the world or huge disadvantage.

4670 tends to be better with AA compared GSO. 4670 usually lose to GSO in raw frame rates where you turn off AA (This just means it has more power to run the higher settings than 4670).

Running dual cards isn't an option for most of us. Not that we care to run 2 mainstream cards just so you can get mid-range performance. In the end you don't save any money and you actually get lower performance compared to 4850.

PNY with bad support? Never heard such thing but sapphire is probably the worst company ever in all honesty. They charge money for RMA process. Comes with only 1 year warranty. MSI isn't that better either. Probably same level as PNY.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Azn
4670 eats less power and cost more money. Far as blueray playback any modern card can do it. Just because a card doesn't do audio through HDMI isn't end of the world or huge disadvantage.

4670 tends to be better with AA compared GSO. 4670 usually lose to GSO in raw frame rates where you turn off AA (This just means it has more power to run the higher settings than 4670).

Running dual cards isn't an option for most of us. Not that we care to run 2 mainstream cards just so you can get mid-range performance. In the end you don't save any money and you actually get lower performance compared to 4850.

PNY with bad support? Never heard such thing but sapphire is probably the worst company ever in all honesty. They charge money for RMA process. Comes with only 1 year warranty. MSI isn't that better either. Probably same level as PNY.

You keep preaching the same thing over and over without reading.

Again, you have to deal with rebates for the GSO - people generally hate rebates. To me it's a non-issue, to some it's a deal breaker. Don't bother arguing this point as it will fall on deaf ears.

The 4670 does tend to be better with AA on, but as the reviews indicate, the GSO barely eeks out a couple frames faster in some tests with AA turned off. Namely look at the previous link and compare numbers for the stupidly popular title Crysis. Also The Witcher is a win for the 4670 without AA turned on, GRID is a wash, and finally the GSO wins at higher resolutions by a couple of frames at most in Oblivion.

Running dual cards IS an option for most motherboards out there these days. It's just a matter of what motherboard you have, hence the notion of having to pick SLI or pick CrossFire, in essence ATI or NVIDIA. You have an AMD or Intel chipset, you can end up with a nice CrossFire system. You have a NVIDIA chipset, you can probably run SLI unless it's an older board. The catch is your power supply - and this is where the 4670 is nice if you have a CrossFire capable board - no need for external power.

As far as 2x 4670 being slower than a 4850 - have you bothered to look up any reviews? Here's a decent review that shows the 4670 in CrossFire winning out or coming very close to a single 4850 in most cases. The key is if you have a CrossFire board and limited funds, this is an excellent upgrade path no matter which way you fell like slicing it. Same goes for an SLI board and the GSO.

And yes, PNY's support is sub-par from a NVIDIA partner standpoint. I have experienced exactly what I described on two occasions - purchasing a card, having it run for a short time, then needing warranty support only to find out the card is no longer supported and the warranty is no longer honored on it. Take it for what you will.

The optimal solution in my opinion, save your pennies for a 4850 if your system can support it, and get one of the nice deals going on now (~$130-$140 range). Otherwise, get whatever you feel is best for you.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: Azn
4670 eats less power and cost more money. Far as blueray playback any modern card can do it. Just because a card doesn't do audio through HDMI isn't end of the world or huge disadvantage.

4670 tends to be better with AA compared GSO. 4670 usually lose to GSO in raw frame rates where you turn off AA (This just means it has more power to run the higher settings than 4670).

Running dual cards isn't an option for most of us. Not that we care to run 2 mainstream cards just so you can get mid-range performance. In the end you don't save any money and you actually get lower performance compared to 4850.

PNY with bad support? Never heard such thing but sapphire is probably the worst company ever in all honesty. They charge money for RMA process. Comes with only 1 year warranty. MSI isn't that better either. Probably same level as PNY.

You keep preaching the same thing over and over without reading.

Again, you have to deal with rebates for the GSO - people generally hate rebates. To me it's a non-issue, to some it's a deal breaker. Don't bother arguing this point as it will fall on deaf ears.

The 4670 does tend to be better with AA on, but as the reviews indicate, the GSO barely eeks out a couple frames faster in some tests with AA turned off. Namely look at the previous link and compare numbers for the stupidly popular title Crysis. Also The Witcher is a win for the 4670 without AA turned on, GRID is a wash, and finally the GSO wins at higher resolutions by a couple of frames at most in Oblivion.

Running dual cards IS an option for most motherboards out there these days. It's just a matter of what motherboard you have, hence the notion of having to pick SLI or pick CrossFire, in essence ATI or NVIDIA. You have an AMD or Intel chipset, you can end up with a nice CrossFire system. You have a NVIDIA chipset, you can probably run SLI unless it's an older board. The catch is your power supply - and this is where the 4670 is nice if you have a CrossFire capable board - no need for external power.

As far as 2x 4670 being slower than a 4850 - have you bothered to look up any reviews? Here's a decent review that shows the 4670 in CrossFire winning out or coming very close to a single 4850 in most cases. The key is if you have a CrossFire board and limited funds, this is an excellent upgrade path no matter which way you fell like slicing it. Same goes for an SLI board and the GSO.

And yes, PNY's support is sub-par from a NVIDIA partner standpoint. I have experienced exactly what I described on two occasions - purchasing a card, having it run for a short time, then needing warranty support only to find out the card is no longer supported and the warranty is no longer honored on it. Take it for what you will.

The optimal solution in my opinion, save your pennies for a 4850 if your system can support it, and get one of the nice deals going on now (~$130-$140 range). Otherwise, get whatever you feel is best for you.

Yet you are preaching same crap of some Crossfire board for 4670 and how it sooooo much better for Blueray but fail to mention it cost more than a card that performs faster. It's not like GSO isn't SLI capable. :disgust: It's a non issue. No one wants to run dual cards when they can buy a mid-range card for cheaper and get similar performance if not better.

4850/4870 are the card to have but these 4670 are underpowered that cost more than anything in it's performance bracket. Perhaps you don't care about rebates but don't make it seem like all the people in the world don't care about rebates. Majority of people send in rebates to get some of the money back they invested.

I love you put up a hand picked synthetic benchmark to show 2 4670 is faster than 4850. In the real world it's not better than a single 4850.

PNY support is probably good as sapphire or MSI if not better. I've yet to hear a horror story about PNY support however I've heard from people over the years that sapphire support is the worst over and and over again.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Azn
Yet you are preaching same crap of some Crossfire board for 4670 and how it sooooo much better for Blueray but fail to mention it cost more than a card that performs faster. It's not like GSO isn't SLI capable. :disgust: It's a non issue. No one wants to run dual cards when they can buy a mid-range card for cheaper and get similar performance if not better.

4850/4870 are the card to have but these 4670 are underpowered that cost more than anything in it's performance bracket. Perhaps you don't care about rebates but don't make it seem like all the people in the world don't care about rebates. Majority of people send in rebates to get some of the money back they invested.

I love you put up a hand picked synthetic benchmark to show 2 4670 is faster than 4850. In the real world it's not better than a single 4850.

PNY support is probably good as sapphire or MSI if not better. I've yet to hear a horror story about PNY support however I've heard from people over the years that sapphire support is the worst over and and over again.

Wow, you really don't read.
- I said the GSO is SLI-able on an SLI board.
- The 4670 is in the exact same price bracket sans rebates at most of the GSO's.
- The entire point of marketing rebates is because people don't take the time to send them in.
- I didn't hand pick anything, feel free to click on the "NEXT PAGE" button at the bottom of each page and see for youself.
- Again, I'm not talking about Sapphire or MSI, I'm talking about PNY. READ what I wrote and you'll actually understand what my concern is with them - THEY DON'T HONOR WARRANTIES ON OUT OF PRODUCTION MODELS. There, did you catch that? If they stop making the GSO tomorrow, they also stop warranty support on it as well tomorrow. Plain and simple.

------

To the OP - please ignore the bickering Azn is putting up (and unfortunately I'm retorting) and look at the reviews yourself. Despite Azn's adamant stance that SLI and CrossFire suck, it's a viable upgrade path for better performance at a later date, and if your motherboard supports it I highly suggest considering the option if you may be considering the need for more performance at a later date.

Long story short - the 4670 and the 9600GSO are about the same, the 9600GT is a bit better than the GSO in some cases, and not in others. The question then becomes do you want a NVIDIA card or an ATI card, do you want better AA performance, is CrossFire/SLI something you might consider later if you need better performance, do you want to deal with rebates or not, etc., etc., etc.

At 1280x1024, you can't go wrong with either the 4670 or either 9600 version.

 

[AzN]

Show me a 4670 for $50 after rebate then I would change my stance some. Until then it's overpriced. 9600gt that is 25% or more faster for 10% more price and GSO that perform equally for $38 less in no brainer.

Long story short 9600gso cost less and perform just as good if not better. If you aren't AMD fan like SunnyD the choice shouldn't be too difficult.

SLI and Crossfire has it's downs. Not all games work for it. Not all games scale just like it's supposed to. There are some reporting of micro stuttering. You don't save money buying 2 4670 to get 4850 performance. Now if you pick a 2 GSO cards to SLI it there are some money saving advantages but I wouldn't advise it.

 

[s44]

4670 is a no-brainer if you care (whether by choice or necessity) about power draw.

Otherwise, one of the 9600s makes sense. Or, of course, a 8800GT or the like.