HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo

It has been quite some time since we last reviewed a sub $100 US graphics card, and that is not because we have anything against them. The last budget graphics card we reviewed was the Radeon HD 3650 which cost around $70 - $80 US at the time. Unfortunately, for that money this graphics card was still much slower than the older GeForce 8600 and Radeon HD 2600 series. In fact, this is really where the mid-range and low-end graphics cards started to go off.

The GeForce 8600 GT and GTS graphics cards were a disaster, offering woeful performance at unbelievably high price tags. Over time the pricing was eventually relaxed to a more realistic level, but still we were left without a decent mid-range solution. Then along came the Radeon HD 2600 XT and Pro which … well, changed nothing really. The Radeon HD 2600 series was just as pathetic, offering even less performance in a number of cases at roughly the same price tag.

Therefore we quickly gave up on the mid-range budget hardware and focused our attention on the mid-range performance hardware that you would actually want to own. However, just recently the mid-range budget, and even the low-end markets, are coming back to life thanks to AMD/ATI and their recent assault on Nvidia.

Amazingly powerful graphics cards such as the Radeon HD 4850, can be had for a little under $200 US. Nevertheless, if you want to go cheaper again, the Radeon HD 4670 can be had for just under $100 US. However as history tells us, spending so little on a graphics card intended for gaming is rarely a wise move, as you will often find yourself stuck playing games from a past decade. This may not be the case with the Radeon HD 4670, which makes it a very interesting product, particularly for those on a tight budget.

There are quite a few Radeon HD 4670 examples out there from all the usual suspects, though it is the HIS version that we will be looking at today. While the reference Radeon HD 4670 graphics cards feature a small, and what looks like quite a loud cooling setup, this HIS version features a more serious alternative.

Amazingly, the base HIS model, which goes by the part number 'H467QS512P', cost just $80 US, which is the same price as the generic cards using the reference cooler and board design. Today we are checking out the more expensive $100 version (H467QT512P) which features the same cooler and design, with some factory overclocking to help bolster performance. This is quite a price premium to pay for some overclocking on a budget graphics card, so we are keen to see if it will pay off.