The Card

You can see that both cards are nearly identical. The only way to really separate the two is by the I/O connectors. The bottom one that shows the back of the blue VGA port is the HD 6570, while the top is the HD 6670.

What's not here is probably more interesting than what is. What we don't have is a need for any extra power, nor do we have a CrossFire connector.

As we just mentioned, the connectivity of both cards differs slightly. The right card which is our HD 6570 comes with Dual-Link DVI, VGA and HDMI. The HD 6670 carries with it also Dual-Link DVI and HDMI, but instead of VGA offers DisplayPort.

Specifications

The main specifications on the Sapphire HD 6570 include 480 Stream Processors, 1280-bit memory bus, 512MB of GDDR5 clocked at 4000MHz QDR and a core that comes in at 650MHz.

The rated power draw on the card is 60w and 44w on DDR3 models. While this one is 512MB, 1GB versions will also be on offer. Something you will want to look out for, though, is the type of memory since this model will be available in both GDDR5 like we have here today, but also the much slower DDR3. Eyefinity is supported and some partners will opt for DisplayPort over VGA, or at least offer a DP version alongside others.

The HD 6570 supports HyperMemory which draws memory from your system RAM and "attaches" it to the video card. This can allow up to 2.34GB of "HyperMemory" on a 512MB card or 2.816GB of "HyperMemory" on a 1GB card. The amount of "HyperMemory" available is based on the amount of system RAM you have.

It's great for marketing, but personally I'm not a fan of it and would prefer to have my RAM for my system and not the video card. To make use of HyperMemory it must be enabled in the BIOS. What I don't like about it is it gives computer resellers the ability to almost mislead people in to thinking they're getting a video card with more memory than it actually has.

The reference version of the HD 6570 is a single, slow, low profile card with active cooling. The one here today is of course a full height one and due to that larger cooler, a dual slot one.

While the Sapphire HD 6670 offers the same 480 Stream Processors and 128-bit memory bus, this card carries with it a higher 1GB of GDDR5 clocked at 4000MHz QDR. As for the core, that is quite a bit higher at 800MHz.

The rated power draw on the card is 66w; while this card is a 1GB GDDR5 one, 512MB cards will also be on offer. Unlike the HD 6570, though, the card carries only GDDR5. Unlike the HD 6570, the HD 6670 doesn't offer any HyperMemory.

Eyefinity is also offered, but instead of three like the HD 6570, four can be achieved depending on the display output setup. The reference HD 6670 is a full height card, but this one is single slot only.

These cards are hardly beasts in any sense of the word, but let's see how they handle some of today's games.