AMD's Radeon HD 6450 has been on the market for almost two months now. It is the slowest, cheapest and entry-level Radeon HD 6000 series card. When it was launched, AMD provided Radeon HD 6450 samples to the press which used GDDR5 memory clocked at 3600MHz effective. And when looking at the current market, we only see Radeon HD 6450 variants using GDDR3 memory, instead of the faster, more expensive GDDR5. That's why we decided to take a look at such version to provide a more clear picture of these entry level graphics card market. Sapphire's Radeon HD 6450 uses a completely passive low profile design, which makes it an excellent choice for a low noise office system. - techPowerUp

Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 1Gb Passive Style Preview

This Sapphire version is a low profile PCB design which can be converted to an actual low profile graphics card by removing the analog display connector. The card requires just a single slot in your system. Even though the heatsink covers a small area of the back of the card, we don't expect this to have any effect on installation in small form factor cases. Their display connectivity is one DVI port, one full size HDMI port and one removable analog output. On higher-end AMD cards we usually see quite expansive display options, while the Radeon HD 6450 limits them slightly by using a DVI output that does not carry an analog signal.

You may combine up to two Radeon HD 6450 cards from any vendor in a multi GPU configuration, known as CrossFire. The physical CrossFire connector is not present, all multi GPU data is transferred via the PCI Express bus. The passive heatsinks for Sapphire's Radeon HD 6450 are simple pieces of metal without any high technology, but perfectly sufficient for the heat output of this card. The card does not require any additional PCI Express power supply since all its power is delivered via the PCI Express slot. The memory chips are made by Elixir, and are specified to run at 1333MHz effective which is just as specified.

Compared to the AMD Radeon HD 6450 launch day press samples, the Sapphire Radeon HD 6450, which uses GDDR3 memory at 1333MHz and clocks the GPU at only 625MHz is a complete disappointment when it comes to 3D performance. We find it quite shocking that AMD sent samples to the press which are almost 50% faster at than the actual product available in retail. As a result these market Radeon HD 6450 cards end up being considerably slower than the GeForce GT 520, which dissapointed us too with low performance and quite high pricing. To that extend both companies are bringing out cards that you better leave alone.

If you are looking to improve graphics performance beyond what you might have in a system with integrated graphics, then please spend $100 on something like an already used Radeon HD 5750 that provides over four times the performance at a relatively reasonable price increase. Performance aside, Sapphire's Radeon HD 6450 provides a good solution for media PC users. The video card comes in a compact form factor with included low profile brackets. Thanks to these passive cooling on the Sapphire Radeon HD 6450, the card emits no noise at all which is great for the living room when you feel the need for such a solution.

At a time when graphics integrated into processors are getting faster than ever, and with AMD taking a big leap in that direction with Fusion, this could very well be one of the last few GPU's in this performance segment.