Sapphire HD6670 (low profile/single slot cooler) Review

Sapphire have released many cards in the last year targeting the HTPC audience. We had a soft spot for their HD5670 and HD6670 Ultimate Edition … after all they were completely silent while delivering media acceleration and modest gaming capabilities. The Sapphire HD6670 Low Profile card will be welcomed by a very broad media oriented audience, who have been waiting on this card now for quite some time.

The move to a low profile, single slot design has necessitated the inclusion of a small fan. Thankfully Sapphire have ensured that it emits very minor fan noise, only audible when gaming not when watching high definition movies.

The inclusion of a standard and low profile plate means it can be incorporated within any system on the market. Output support also covers full sized HDMI, DVI and VGA connectivity.

Other benefits of the Sapphire HD6670 low profile card include an immensely low power drain, demanding only 8 watts when idle, and 21 watts when utilized as hardware acceleration for Blu-Ray playback. When gaming, this rises to 42 watts, which is still a conservative demand. There is no doubt that this graphics card would be ideal for 24/7 operation within a media system or server. No fears of receiving a scary electricity bill next quarter if you used this on a daily basis.

Gaming prowess is actually surprisingly favourable, because it is perfectly usable at 720p with many modern game engines. At 1080p it can power a selection of titles released this year, such as F1 2011 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution … as long as anti aliasing is not a prerequisite.

If you are in the market for a low profile card to be used for high definition media duties, then this should certainly be a first choice. The card generates very little noise, demands almost no power at idle, and has the capability to power many leading gaming engines at 720p, or even 1080p if you are willing to run without anti aliasing and some settings reduced.#

Pricing should be around the £75 inc vat point, although at time of publication it is not yet available in the UK.

Pros:

• no power connectors needed.
• tiny power demand, ideal for a media center or server environment.
• produces little heat.
• almost silent for media duties.
• can handle most game engines at high definition resolutions.
• low profile, single slot cooler.

Cons:

• not ideal for heavy duty gaming demands
• not passively cooled, so always a little noise.
• higher resolutions demand the removal of Anti aliasing with some game engines.
• Sapphires ‘Ultimate Edition' cards are totally silent, this isn't.

Kitguru says: A great low cost, low profile card for highest quality images when connected to a 720p or 1080p high definition television

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