Getting the most bang for the buck is what everyone looks out for, and this holds true especially when you’re spending a lot of money for something that you’ll use for a few years. You want the latest and the greatest gadgets and hardware that won’t get outdated too soon. But the decisionmaking process that goes behind what to look out for is the trickiest bit. It’s all the more challenging when there’s a swarm of brands and model variants in the market.
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| Radeon HD 6670 |
Going by the questions that I come across from my friends and CIS’s readers, choosing the best graphics card given a certain budget is one of the most challenging decisions. It’s easier to choose a mid-range or a premium graphics card because there are very few variants. The memory sizes and types don’t differ much. The only things to consider are the design and quality of the cooler in the case of custom design cards. However, things are completely different in the case of the mainstream segment (under Rs 10,000), which has the largest user base. For example, consider the Radeon HD 6670, which is available in DDR3 and GDDR5 variants. Further, you have 1 GB and 2 GB memory size variants. I’ve come across people who are unaware of memory types and feel that the higher the amount of video memory the better. So they overlook cards with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory and settle for a card with 2 GB of DDR3 memory for the same price and think they got a good deal. What one should ideally give first priority to is the type of memory and completely ignore the amount of memory.
This month, I came across two very interesting graphics cards, which gave me an idea for this month’s topic – the HIS Radeon HD 6670, 1 GB GDDR5 and the Powercolor Radeon HD 6670, 2 GB DDR3. I tested both the cards on our test rig powered by Intel Core i5-2500K CPU and 4 GB Corsair XMS3 -1600 memory. The Powercolor HD 6670 logged an overall score of 1199 points in 3DMark 11. At 1920x1080 (very high), Just Cause 2 and Mafia II were stuttering at 15 fps and 10 fps respectively. Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark reported a measly 7.1 fps at 1920x1080 with tessellation disabled. The HIS HD 6670 was way better with a 3DMark 11 score of 1871 points. With settings kept the same, Just Cause 2 and Mafia II ran at 26 fps and 20 fps respectively. Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark reported 17 fps.
The Radeon HD 6670 by both HIS and Powercolor are priced at Rs 5,500, and the former is obviously better bang for the buck even though it has half the amount of memory. Now that you have an idea about the performance with DDR3 and GDDR5 memory types, make the smart choice. A small note about the Radeon HD 6670: While being perfectly suited for home theater PCs, the HD 6670 also addresses the entry-level segment, where users need a discrete graphics card for casual gaming, accelerating video playback and transcoding. It’s extremely power-friendly and doesn’t need a PCIE power connector to draw extra power.
“The type of memory is important and not the amount”
