Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Ultimate 1GB Video Card Review

Sapphire expand the Ultimate series with the HD 6670. Today we see what this silent offering can bring to the table.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Sapphire
12 minutes & 53 seconds read time

Introduction and Package


Introduction

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The general rule of thumb when it comes to models like the HD 6670 is that we look at one or two at launch and then we don't worry about it. These low to mid-range models from both NVIDIA and AMD are indeed important, but for the most part companies don't tend to mix it up too much.

We like Sapphire, though, and they've done something a bit special with the HD 6670 we're looking at today. This particular card is part of the Ultimate series and while that word might not be the best to describe any HD 6670, if you are familiar with the Sapphire line-up of cards you would know it means the card is using a passive cooler.

Before we get into it all, though, let's first look at the package Sapphire has put together. Once that's done we'll take a closer look at the card, specifications, our testbed and then get into the performance side of things to see how the model performs.

For now, though, let's get into that package.


Package

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Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Ultimate 1GB Video Card Review 04


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To be honest, moving inside the package I found myself really surprised with what was on offer from the HD 6670 Ultimate 1GB. Sure, you've got the normal items like Driver CD, Manual, SSC and DVI to VGA connector, but the inclusion of both a HDMI cable and not just a convertor, but also a copy of Dirt 3 that can be downloaded from Steam was a real surprise. It's not the kind of bundle you expect to see on these lower end cards.

Of course, the Ultimate series does carry with it a slightly larger premium because the cooler tends to be more expensive, but it's nice to see that Sapphire has gone over and above by including a couple of extras that we're not used to seeing.

Card and Specifications


The Card

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Looking at the card, there's not much to see except for the massive cooler that takes up most of the card. The actual design of it isn't a real surprise as we've seen this kind of design on other Ultimate cards. We've got a heatsink that sits over the top of the core and out of that we've got two heat pipes that go off to a bunch of fins that help dissipate the heat. This isn't a really high end card, so there's not a need for a massive passive solution; this should hopefully do a good job.

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Apart from the front of the card, there's not much else to look at, so we'll move around to the I/O side of things to see what's going down. You can see we've got three connections here. Starting from the left, we've got a HDMI port, next to that a full size DisplayPort and finally a Dual-Link DVI connector.


Specifications

Being a passive cooled card, it comes as no surprise that Sapphire would opt to use the reference clock speeds. Quite often passive cooled cards can handle a little bit of an overclock, but with the added heat that is generated it can freak people out a little bit and scare them off.

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Coming in at stock means we've got an 800MHz core and the 1GB of GDDR5 memory comes in at 4000MHz QDR. With these clocks hopefully heat stays at a very reasonable level.

Test System Setup and 3DMark 11


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We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASRock, Kingston, Mittoni, Noctua and Corsair.

We've got a bunch of cards in our graphs today, but we won't really be comparing the card itself to anything particular. Instead we'll just be having a look at what kind of performance we're able to get out of the HD 6670 Ultimate and see what games are playable and at what resolution.

Let's get started!


3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/
Buy It Here




3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

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Looking at 3DMark 11, we can just see how the model sits compared to a lot of the other cards we've got here that are of course higher up.

3DMark Vantage




Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here




3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

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Getting into Vantage, we see the same as what we saw in 3DMark 11.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark




Version and / or Patch Used: 2
Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com
Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//



New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

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Looking at Heaven, we can see that performance isn't that far behind the HD 5770 / HD 6770, but it's indeed the slowest card here. No surprise since it's the lowest model here, though.

Benchmarks - Resident Evil 5


Resident Evil 5

Version and / or Patch Used: Demo Benchmark
Developer Homepage: www.residentevil.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.residentevil.com/




Resident Evil 5 is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on September 18. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.

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Firing up some games, we can see what the card is capable of. We've got good numbers at both resolutions and a small detail drop would give us extremely playable numbers at 1920 x 1200. As for 1680 x 1050, performance is good and you wouldn't have any problems at all.

Benchmarks - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2


Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.2

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/UK/default.aspx
Product Homepage: http://www.hawxgame.com/




Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 is an arcade-style flight action game developed by Ubisoft Romania and published by Ubisoft. The game is the sequel to Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., released in 2009.

The game begins with Colonel David Crenshaw participating in a routine patrol mission in the Middle East. After halting an insurgent attack, a volley of missiles is fired at the Air Force base that Crenshaw was stationed at, with one of the missiles disabling Crenshaw's aircraft, resulting Crenshaw being in enemy captivity. A joint strike force composed of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and a Ghost Recon squad executes an operation to rescue Crenshaw. In Scotland, Royal Navy Pilot Colin Munro encounters an unidentified passenger aircraft that explodes from an on-board bomb when undergoing training exercise. In Russia, an air force squadron led by Colonel Denisov and Captain Dmitri Sokov engages separatist aircraft but is ordered to retreat from the region after numerous Russian military installations have been attacked.

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H.A.W.X. 2 is not only a more intensive game than RE5, but also one that favors NVIDIA cards quite heavily. You can see, though, even at 1680 x 1050 we're getting some good FPS with a 55 average. Just a small detail drop would bring that up and playing HAWX 2 at 1680 x 1050 would be very enjoyable.

Benchmarks - Mafia II


Mafia II

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.2kczech.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.mafia2game.com/
Buy It Here




Mafia II is a third-person action-adventure video game, the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. It is developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and is published by 2K Games. The game is set from 1943 to 1951 in Empire Bay (the name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State"), a fictional city based on San Francisco and New York City, with influences from Chicago and Detroit. The game features a completely open-ended game map of 10 square miles. No restrictions are included from the start of the game. There are around 50 vehicles in the game, as well as licensed music from the era.

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As we get into something a bit more intensive like Mafia II, you can see the card begins to struggle. We're a good chunk away from the 60 FPS average we're aiming for and a strong detail drop would be needed to lift the FPS up. Even then we'd struggle to get 60 FPS and you'd probably want to opt for a drop in resolution.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2


Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Benchmark Demo
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1
Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/




Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game, "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

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It's no surprise that one of the most intensive games in our arsenal has extremely low FPS. You can see across the board there's not a single card that is able to break the 60 FPS barrier we're aiming for. You'd have to really drop both the detail and resolution to get some playable numbers, otherwise moving to the DX9 version of the game may be an option.

Benchmarks - Aliens vs. Predator


Aliens vs. Predator

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/
Product Homepage: http://www.sega.com/games/aliens-vs-predator/




Aliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game, developed by Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game, and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The game is based on the Alien vs. Predator franchise, a combination of the characters and creatures of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise. There are three campaigns in the game, one for each race/faction (the Predators, the Aliens and the Colonial Marines), that, while separate in terms of individual plot and gameplay, form one overarching storyline.

Following the storyline of the campaign modes comes the multiplayer aspect of the game. In this Multiplayer section of the game, players face off in various different gametypes in various different ways.

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While not quite as intensive as Lost Planet 2, AvP is still extremely power hungry and you can see that all our cards here to struggle to give us playable FPS. We'd want a drop in detail and resolution just like Lost Planet 2.

Benchmarks - Street Fighter IV


Street Fighter IV

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.streetfighter.com/




While Street Fighter IV features models and backgrounds rendered in 3D, the gameplay remains on a traditional 2D plane, with the camera having freedom to move in 3D at certain times during fights, for dramatic effect. Producer Yoshinori Ono has stated that he wanted to keep the game closer to Street Fighter II. A new system called "Focus Attacks" ("Saving Attack" for the Japanese version) has been introduced, as well as Ultra moves. The traditional six-button control scheme returns, with new features and special moves integrated into the input system, mixing classic gameplay with additional innovations.

All the characters and environments in Street Fighter IV are rendered as 3D models with polygons, similar to the Street Fighter EX sub-series Capcom produced with Arika. However, there are a couple of key differences. Art director and character designer Daigo Ikeno, who previously worked on Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, opted for non-photorealistic rendering to give them a hand-drawn look, with visual effects accented in calligraphic strokes, ink smudges and ink sprays during the fights.

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You get into something a bit older like Street Fighter IV and you can see there's no problem pushing the FPS out at either resolution.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2


Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01
Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/
Buy It Here




The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

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Far Cry 2 might be old, but it's still quite an intensive game. Because it was so popular, though, we saw both AMD and NVIDIA really optimize their drivers for the game and you can see we manage to break that 30 FPS minimum we aim for at both resolutions.

Benchmarks - Batman Arkham Asylum


Batman Arkham Asylum

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1
Timedemo or Level Used: Built-in Test
Developer Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/





Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum.

Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.
Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series.

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Batman AA is one of the most optimized games when it comes to the level of detail and the performance you're able to get. You can see we've got strong FPS at both resolutions and playing at either won't be an issue.

Temperature Test


Temperature Tests



The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

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Firing up 3DMark Vantage and letting it do a complete run, I found myself extremely surprised with the maximum temperature that was reached while testing. It's a real surprise to see the card sit so low towards the bottom of the pack; of course, a good thing in this case. It's a real testament to the quality of the cooler that Sapphire has opted for.

Power Consumption Tests






Using our new PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

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Being a low to mid-range card, it comes as no surprise that the card draws little power and sits towards the bottom of the pack in this case.

Final Thoughts




While I feel that the "Ultimate" tag might be used a little loosely here, the performance of the model it's implemented on doesn't come as a surprise as we know that the "Ultimate" series does indeed refer to the passive cooled series of cards from Sapphire.

When it comes to the overall performance of the model, there's again no real surprise when you look at the FPS. It's a HD 6670 that carries with it stock clocks and as you'd expect, the performance is the same as you'd get from really any other HD 6670 that carries with it the same clocks and a traditional fan cooler.

Where the card shines, though, is of course in the cooling department. Sapphire are offering us a card here that's able to play games like Far Cry 2, Batman AA, Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5 and other games based on the Steam engine like Portal 2 and Counter Strike to name just a few.

If you're looking at cards like the HD 6800 or HD 6900 series, you'll of course find yourself disappointed with the performance that's on offer here. On the other hand, if you're looking for something that's around the $100 US mark then you'll be very happy with what you're seeing, especially in the instance you're looking for something silent.

Throw in the fact that the card offers us great temperatures and this is an excellent solution for people who want something that's priced well, going to play older games at a smooth 60 FPS resolution at the least 1680 x 1050, and would love to have something that's completely silent.

While the Sapphire HD 6670 Ultimate might not be for everyone, those who are looking for a card that can do the above are going to really appreciate the offering from Sapphire.

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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