Final Words and Conclusion

XFX 4830

We like the XFX 4830, it offers a well presented package with a decent performing card all at a price under £100. It is certainly a product that slots in nicely underneath the 4850 and offers a clear performance boost over the 4670.

In usual XFX fashion the card looks great with its black PCB and red DVI ports and the custom cooling solution certainly helps make it stand out. In addition to a great visual appearance this cooler offers a visible improvement over reference ATI models and keeps the temperatures under check in a quiet fashion.

In the latest games the card offers great playability in all the games we tested apart from the obvious issues with the demanding Crysis. At £95.71 it misses being the cheapest of the pack but is priced extremely competitively considering that the card comes with a fantastic dual slot cooling solution and with XFX’s brilliant customer support.
 

Available from TechBits - £95.71

Available from MWave - $129.99

Sapphire 4670

The Sapphire 4670 offers something slightly different to the user than the traditional graphics card in this segment.

To begin with the card has an absolutely fantastic cooler, the passive solution is not only silent but it keeps the card’s temperatures at impressively low levels. Combined with the fact that the card has on board HDMI without the need for extra dongles makes it a brilliant candidate for HTPC uses. It will allow for casual gaming as well, even managing to perform well at 1920x1200 in some of the latest titles.

Now, as you will know from another of our recent 4670 reviews the 9600GT offers higher level performance than this card but we feel that the 4670 Ultimate certainly compensates for that with a smaller PCB, lack of need for a power connector, a brilliant cooling solution and features such as HDMI and blu-ray video acceleration that make the card far more versatile.

Available from Scan - £66.61

Available from NewEgg - $83.99

XFX 4350

The XFX 4350 is a nifty little card that won’t set any records for performance but ultimately offers a great HTPC solution.

With a potent combination of an optional low profile configuration and ATI’s media features (including HDMI) this card will squeeze into the smallest enclosures. Additionally it will remain completely silent thanks to the passive cooler found on the card which should also keep the temperatures relatively low for the card’s purpose.

There are one or two things that we feel slightly let down by. Firstly, the card didn’t come with the 2nd necessary low profile bracket for mounting the card and retaining the VGA capability in that configuration. Additionally we feel that HDMI instead of S-Video would have been a welcome addition. The times are moving fast and a lot of people, especially those building their own HTPC rigs are now equipped with HDMI televisions and many people purchasing this card for that purpose will find themselves looking for an HDMI dongle.

Despite the two noted concerns, the card is still an extremely well priced offering and should certainly be considered if this is the market you are looking at.

Available from SaverStore - £35.61

Available from NewEgg - $46.99