Devil May Cry 4 (DX10)

HIS 4670 AGP (DX10)

4670 PCIe (DX10)

X1800GTO PCIe (DX9)

This test shows something else to think about; DirectX. An X1800GTO doesn't give you DX10, so we ran the test as DX9. As you can see, it's pretty unplayable even at 1024x768 and medium settings. The benchmark gave the X1800GTO a 'D' scoring, told us to upgrade our hardware and that Stylish Action was an Impossibility. Both the 4670 cards on the other hand scored an 'A' at 1360x768 (Battle foes with Sick Style, some low level performance but game play will be unaffected) at pretty much highest settings. Once again our 4670 PCIe put in slightly higher scores but without a frame counter you wouldn't notice a difference in gameplay between the two 4670 cards.

Video Playback

The HIS HD 4670 IceQ Native HDMI 1GB (128bit) DDR3 AGP is capable of 7.1 sound output via it's HDMI interface making this a prime candidate for HD Video playback using older hardware. I used the usual tests of I, Robot at 1080i (MPEG2), a 1080p Batman Begins trailer (MP4) and Monsters Inc at 1080i. One of the things I've always liked about the HD ATI cards is the Vector Deinterlacing and I still like it on this HIS card. I should point out that (despite trepidations I must admit) I had no issues with Video or Audio drivers with everything installing just as it should. The one issue I did have was caused by my own stupidity (I overloaded one of the rails on the PSU causing the odd BSOD in Vista) and easily fixed. There was no difference in installation between this AGP card and a PCIe version. Likewise the Video playback has performed just the same as it's PCIe counterpart. If you've got an old AGP system and you're thinking of a Blu Ray setup, then this could be a very cheap way to do it. Of course you won't get the full audio experience that comes with Blu Ray as unlike the new 5xxx series, the 4xxx series card don't support the HD Audio formats, but you will get up to 7.1 AC3/Dolby Digital output. If you're just outputting to a HDTV or monitor, then this will be plenty for you.

During Video Playback, CPU usage was (as expected) at a bare minimum. The system idles at around the 5-10% mark (average used Vista installation with sidebar running), and during HD Video Playback this jumped to about 15%. Bottom line is though that those same video files were unwatchable with the X1800GTO in the system.

Final Words

New lease of life. That's pretty much what your AGP system is looking at here (assuming you've not got a 3xxx series AGP card). Of course, their are caveats. You will need as high end a CPU as you can get, and you'll likely want to have around a 450-500w PSU just to be sure. But the lets you play more modern games (looking at console ports performance basically) at a respectable frame rate on a 720p/1440x900 resolution area.

It's cool, cool looking, and quiet. It has audio output via its native HDMI interface, and it can output to the traditional DVI-I and VGA outputs as well (Dual monitor output supported). And yes that audio output works without any fuss. Infact installing the was done with no fuss at all; driver installation was exactly the same as with a PCIe 4670.

Not only does it let you play newer games, but it will also let you watch HD video as well. Both PowerDVD and Media Player Classic (Home Cinema) used it for DXVA playback without any issues.

I have to say that while the boxing is up to the usual HIS high standards, with all the information you could need, the fact that the box is half empty and has minimal contents just seems a waste of space, plastic and cardboard. Make sure you have a free Molex connector too. And I do mean free; we had a few BSOD's at first because we never bothered to check what else was being powered on the same cable.

So is their a catch? Well, it is priced higher than your average PCIe 4670. About half as much again infact. However, you have to weigh this against the cost of a new motherboard ... and most likely DDR2 Ram ... possibly a new PSU (24pin power, does your AGP system have that?) ... and of course a new PCIe graphics card. When you look at it that way, it's not a bad investment at all. We're all feeling the pinch these days, and you may have been holding on to your AGP system for as long as possible, but with the you don't have to spend too much to give your ageing system a rather nice boost. With similar system specs, you're not missing out on much either (of course, these days a PCIe setup, even at the low end is usually higher specced). If you were looking for a way to make use of your older AGP setup as an HD HTPC, then this could be just what you're looking for.

If you've got an old AGP card in your system, then the is certainly worth updating too. If you've updated to a 3xxx series AGP card at some point, then things are a little muddier for you. If you're looking to create an HD HTPC then the won't dissapoint, but you will have to pay slightly over the PCIe prices for it. The cost is really the only downside to all this, and that can be outweighed by the cost of parts for a new setup all together.

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