ATI Radeon HD 4350 and 4550: Great HTPC Solutions
by Derek Wilson on September 30, 2008 12:45 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Oooh, new GPUs from AMD - however these ones aren't going to be breaking any performance records, they are both priced below $60.
The Radeon HD 4350 and 4550 are slotted in between integrated graphics and the set of hardware we took a look at recently in our Radeon 4670 review. The Radeon HD 4550 will run you around $45 - $55, while the Radeon HD 4350 will be priced at $39. Generally speaking, if you're a gamer you're not spending any less than $150 for a graphics card - so these GPUs are mostly for enabling hardware Blu-ray acceleration or providing a boost in performance over games running on integrated graphics.
| ATI Radeon HD 4870 | ATI Radeon HD 4850 | ATI Radeon HD 4670 | ATI Radeon HD 4650 | ATI Radeon HD 4550 | ATI Radeon HD 4350 | ATI Radeon HD 3870 | |
| Stream Processors | 800 | 800 | 320 | 320 | 80 | 80 | 320 |
| Texture Units | 40 | 40 | 32 | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| ROPs | 16 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| Core Clock | 750MHz | 625MHz | 750MHz | 600MHz | 600MHz | 600MHz | 775MHz+ |
| Memory Clock | 900MHz (3600MHz data rate) GDDR5 | 993MHz (1986MHz data rate) GDDR3 | 1000MHz (2000MHz data rate) GDDR3 or 900MHz (1800MHz data rate) DDR3 |
500MHz (1000MHz data rate) DDR2 | 800MHz (1600MHz data rate) DDR3 | 500MHz (1000MHz data rate) DDR2 | 1125MHz (2250MHz data rate) GDDR3 |
| Memory Bus Width | 256-bit | 256-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit | 256-bit |
| Frame Buffer | 512MB | 512MB | 512MB GDDR3 or 1GB DDR3 | 512MB | 512MB or 256MB | 256MB | 512MB |
| Transistor Count | 956M | 956M | 514M | 514M | 242M | 242M | 666M |
| Die Size | 260 mm2 | 260 mm2 | 146 mm2 | 146 mm2 | ? | ? | 118 mm2 |
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 55nm | TSMC 55nm |
| Price Point | $299 | $199 | $79 | $69 | $45 - $55 | $39 | $199 |
While the Radeon HD 4670 was quite impressive with 320 stream processors, the same number that was in last year's Radeon HD 3870, the 4350 and 4550 only have 80 SPs. That's twice the number of SPs in AMD's 780G, the current highest performing IGP solution on the market. In our Radeon HD 4670 review we found that the GPU was fast enough for pretty much all current generation games at resolutions up to 1280 x 1024, but with only 1/4 the shader power of its $75 brother we don't have high gaming expectations from these cards.
Both the 4550 and 4350 are mated with a 64-bit memory interface and either a DDR2 or DDR3 frame buffer. With very little memory bandwidth, and very little processing power you need to have good expectations for these cards.
The competition from NVIDIA is a little blurrier; while the GeForce 9400 GT is priced more in line with where we expect these cards to end up, NVIDIA does have one trick up its sleeve. The GeForce 9500 GT, paired with 256MB of DDR2 memory (the same type you'd get on your desktop) is priced at around $65 - $70 but is currently available with a $15 - $20 mail in rebate, bringing it down to the about same pricepoint as the Radeon HD 4550.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
55 Comments
View All Comments
superflex - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
Using a $1450 processor, $240 mobo, $300 RAM and $400 PSU to test a $40 GPU is assanine. That does no service to the HTPC end user.strikeback03 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
It is their standard graphics test bed, you can't very well make comparisons if you are changing non-tested hardware around.They probably shouldn't have bothered posting anything on these though until they were done with the HTPC portions, judging by all the complaints in the comments.
deruberhanyok - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
Yeah, it would be completely irrational to have a second standard test system for mid-range parts and a third for these lower end ones. I mean, what do you think this is, a tech website?PAPutzback - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
Something along the lines of it being tested in hybrid mode if it is capable with an HTPC type setup. IE, low watt fanless PSU, and low watt processor.The new game should not be benchmarks scores but more about what is the leat wattage I can make a PC and still have all the function of a Media HTPC. No gaming.
I was really disappointed seeing as Anand has a theater blog on the site and this would of been a perfect setup to test along with his theater.
whosthere - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
Derek,You guys published an article on G45 a few days back, then why didn't you show any G45 numbers in this article and still showing the antiquated G35 numbers?
fic2 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
Looking forward to the article on how well a 4870 runs on an Atom based computer.Got to go google for articles on how well a Landrover does on an F1 track.
What a waste of an article. Best thing that can be said is that trees died for it.
archer75 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
The ATI cards have problems with some receivers and TV's. It has to do with the EDID and is documented over at avsforums.comThis affects some Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha receivers.
madspartus - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
Honestly why did you pair a $40 graphics card with a qx processor at 3.2 ghz...it just doesnt make any sense.Then showing power consumption differences on that system using a qx processor and 1200W power supply where the power used by the video card is little more than a unmentionable blip.
next time would you try testing it in a system we might actually use this hardware in, like HTPC which you said yourself.
maybe compare the power consumption to an IGP solution...and use a ~300W power supply etc.
All those graphs were of no value to someone who wants to evaluate this thing for HTPC.
duploxxx - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
I agree, keep the review in reality and put this in a 780-790 mobo with x2 6000 or 6500 and an intel p45 with e5xxx - e7xxx series.that would give a realistic platform
Varkyl - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - link
I would also like to know what kind of temperatures these cards are running at. If they are anything like their big brother 4850 they run very hot. So before I even think about buying one of these I would like to know that it isn't adding an incredible amount of heat to my HTPC.