Gigabyte 1 Gig HD5670 video card

Introduction

ATI has always released video cards for just about everyone in every possible price bracket. This normally entails having the most up to date Direct X capabilities on every one of their price bracketed video cards. We all know that Direct X 11 is going to be a reality in our games. Unlike Direct X 10, Direct X 11 is very well optimized and brings to the table a whole slew of newer and exciting features we never have seen before in our games. 

What does this have anything to do with ATI releasing affordable video cards? Well, everything. This time around though ATI is releasing a video card that is targeted for people in the sub 100 USD price bracket who just want a video card for their HTPC's or for their casual gaming lifestyle. Gigabyte like many other video card manufacturers has included the 5670 video card into their video card line up. This time Gigabyte has made their 5670 variant overclocked right from the start.

Lets throw in this video card into "Minor Me", and lets see what it got. I think you might be rather surprised by the results of this little video card.

Features

		40nm Technology Faster clocks, double the transistor density of earlier 40 nm technology. 55nm technology helped make HD5670 series products the most advanced GPUs ever highest clocks speeds, incredible feature integration, full performance and precision all the time, and ability to take advantage of future, higher-speed memories.
		Avivo™HD Avivo™HD could provide vibrant high fidelity, flawlessly smooth next-generation video playback. Avivo™HD technology easily allows your PCs to become digital home media center by its compelling video pipeline design that comprises the latest high definition video hardware acceleration, including H.264 and WMV9.
		Catalyst™ Control Center ATI’s all-new Catalyst Control Center goes far beyond traditional driver configuration software—it’s a feature-rich and stable 3D acceleration control application that puts you in complete command of your ATI visual processing unit (VPU). Catalyst Control Center offers exceptional graphics performance and visual quality for the ultimate in performance, stability, and innovation. Safe GPU overclocking, custom profiles, and assignable hotkeys are just a few of the many new features. You’ll also enjoy frequent updates, reliable customer service, and an interactive user feedback program, all backed by ATI’s technical confidence, industry-leading capability, and uncompromising commitment to creating your ultimate visual experience.
		Microsoft® DirectX® 11 The power of DirectX® 11 with awesome performance, stunning visual effects, and more dynamic interactivity than ever before.Ensures the best performance and application compatibility for all DirectX® 11 applications. Microsoft® DirectX® 11 games, with stunning 3D graphics and shading effects.
		Shader Model 5.0 Shader Model 5.0 adds support for indexed temporaries which can be quite useful for certain tasks.Regular direct temporary access is preferable is most cases. One reason is that indexed temporaries are hard to optimize. The shader optimizer may not be able to identify optimizations across indexed accesses that could otherwise have been detected. Furthermore, indexed temporaries tend to increase register pressure a lot. An ordinary shader that contains for instance a few dozen variables will seldom consume a few dozen temporaries in the end but is likely to be optimized down to a handful depending on what the shader does. This is because the shader optimizer can easily track all variables and reuse registers. This is typically not possible for indexed temporaries, thus the register pressure of the shader may increase dramatically. This could be detrimental to performance as it reduces the hardware’s ability to hide latencies.
		OpenGL 3.1® Optimizations Ensure top-notch compatibility and performance for all OpenGL 3.1 application.
		CrossFireX™ Upgrade to even greater 3D performance quickly and easily thanks to plug-and-play ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU technology
		PCI-E 2.1 PCI Express® 2.1 –Now you are ready for the most demanding graphics applications thanks to PCI Express® 2.1 support, which allows up to twice the throughput of current PCI Express® cards. Doubles the bus standard's bandwidth from 2.5 Gbit/s (PCIe 1.1) to 5 Gbit/sec.
		RoHS Compliant As a citizen of the global village, GIGABYTE exert ourselves to be a pioneer in environment care. Give the whole of Earth a promise that our products do not contain any of the restricted substances in concentrations and applications banned by the RoHS Directive, and are capable of being worked on at the higher temperatures required for lead free solder. One Earth and GIGABYTE Cares!
		HDCP Support High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a form of copy protection technology designed to prevent transmission of non-encrypted high-definition content as it travels across DVI or HDMI digital connections.
		HDMI Ready High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a new interface standard for consumer electronics devices that combines HDCP-protected digital video and audio into a single, consumer-friendly connector.
		Windows Vista® Enjoy powerful graphics performance, improved stability, and an immersive HD gaming experience for Windows Vista. ATI Catalyst™ software is designed for quick setup of graphics, video, and multiple displays, and automatically configures optimal system settings for lifelike DirectX 10 gaming and the visually stunning Windows Aero™ user interface.
		Microsoft Window7 Microsoft Windows 7 is the next generation operating system that will mark a dramatic improvement in the way the OS takes advantage of the graphics processing unit (GPU) to provide a more compelling user experience. By taking advantage of the GPU for both graphics and computing, Windows 7 will not only make today's PCs more visual and more interactive but also ensure that they have the speed and responsiveness customers want

Like all the other 5xxx series cards from ATI the 5670 supports DX 11, is Windows Vista/7 compatible, and can be configured in a Multi GPU configuration. But unlike its larger brethren, the 5670 does not support Eyefinity.