HD 5670 Launch Review - PAGE 1

Whether you are a fan of ATI video cards or not, you have to hand it to the company for delivering new entry after new entry of the HD 5000 series, exactly as they said they would. Like clockwork, since the release of the HD 5870 and HD 5850, AMD has been releasing each new model with a scheduled regularity, that has seen us quickly going down the line-up, from fastest to slightly less fast, to fairly fast to -- and now -- the mid-range.

Today we will be looking at the HD 5670. While it is the $300 USD+ cards that get much of the exposure in the press, and not to mention, in hardware forums all over, it is the mid-range cards that move the most product for ATI and Nvidia. More folks have about $100-$150 budget for a video card than do folks who are willing to plunk down over $200. The HD 5670 will be selling for about $100 USD, and should be hitting stores in volume this week. So, unlike the HD 5800 parts in most markets, you'll actually have a pretty good chance of finding one around if you are so inclined. 

While the HD 5670 may seem like a sure-fire bet, just with the full, affordable feature set of the HD 5000 series, as always, it is a tough market out there. Especially around the $100 mark there is a ton of competition -- just a price change of $10 can make or break your product. Much of the HD 5670's competition will actually be coming from ATI's own line-up, what with the HD 5750 and HD 5770 out, and older models selling for cheap from the last generation as well.

One difference in the ATI line-up though, from this generation compared to the last generation, is that currently, no HD 5650 has been unveiled. Last time around, the HD 4670 came out in 1GB and 512MB flavors, and a HD 4650 was around as well. This time, we have the 1GB and 512MB options, but no HD 5750. However there will be a HD 5300 and a HD 5450 card soon, to cover the lower-end options.

So let's see what we see with this new HD 5670.