By the time the HD 4670 showed up in 2008, ATi was well past caring about Windows 98 — which puts this card in a different corner of the shelf from the older Radeons here. It’s not a period-correct pick; it’s the fast, low-drama option I reach for once a build’s target OS is Windows XP rather than Windows 98.
What it is
The HD 4670 is a PCI Express card built on ATi’s RV730 GPU, released in 2008 during the DirectX 10.1 generation, and sold both before and shortly after the AMD acquisition. It was positioned as an efficient mid-range card rather than a flagship, and its main selling point held up well: strong performance for the power draw. Most models need no external PCIe power connector at all, which makes it an easy drop-in for OEM power supplies and small cases.
Specifications
- Released: 2008
- GPU: RV730 (TeraScale architecture, 55nm)
- Stream processors: 320
- Memory: 512MB or 1GB GDDR3, 128-bit bus
- Core clock: around 750MHz
- Power: most models run without an external PCIe power connector
My card
Mine is the 512MB PowerColor Radeon HD 4670.
Where it fits
This one earned its place in the Dell OptiPlex 760 build — once that machine’s target shifted to Windows XP rather than Windows 98, the HD 4670 was the obvious faster card to bring in. I haven’t pushed it under Windows 98 at all; the Radeon X600 is doing that job in the same build instead.
Pros
- very low power draw for the performance on offer
- quiet, cool-running, no external power connector on most models
- mature Windows XP and Windows 7 driver support
Cons
- too late-generation to be a natural Windows 98 pick
- less characterful than the earlier Radeons for period-correct retro builds
