tridion wrote:I am also now looking at the 4670 as Sapphire do an ultimate (fanless) version of it. Seems it is up to the same sort of power as the 5670 just minus the DX11. I'd prefer fanless in some way. Is the loss of DX11 really that big a deal?
It's not really about DX11 for the cheaper 5xxx cards as they aren't fast enough for the games that truly use DX11.
The 5xxx cards have lower idle power draw than the 4xxx cards especially when it comes to the more expensive models. It makes them easier to cool and in some cases quieter because of the lower power draw.
The 5xxx cards also tend to have more video connectors than the 4xxx cards.
a typical 5570 card will idle about 9W and peak about 46W
a typical 4670 card will idle about 10W and peak about 65W
The 5570 won't perform quite as well in some games as the 4670 maybe it's 5 or 10% slower on average but the power savings favor the 5xxx series card in the long run.
A 5670 is about 30% faster than the 4670 so lets look at a power comparison there
a typical 4670 card will idle about 10W and peak about 65W
a typical 5670 card will idle about 13W and peak about 63W
If the 4670 is >30% cheaper then it is worth getting since the power favors the 4670 at idle.
The best comparison around the 5750 is probably the 4850. The 5750 is about 10% faster but it's close enough to even.
a typical 4850 card will idle about
40W and peak about
149W
a typical 5750 card will idle about 13W and peak about 71W
That is cutting the power draw by over half and keeping the performance!
To add to the fun the Green vs non green comparison on the 5750
a typical 5750 card will idle about 13W and peak about 71W
powercolor go green 5750 idle 14W and peak about 62W
The review is separated on an insane number of pages but
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powe ... een/3.html is worth checking at least:
page 3 and 4 for the pics
one of the random pages for whichever game you like that they tested
page 27 for power numbers
page 28 for performance summary (good for comparing specific card vs card scenarios)
page 32 for the summary/conclusion