AMD Radeon HD 8670A

The AMD Radeon HD 8670A is a mobile-oriented discrete GPU built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, using the Mars chip fabricated on TSMC’s 28 nm process. It is a 45 W part designed for all-in-one systems, carrying 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, which yields a transistor density of 12.3M / mm². The card is now end-of-life, having launched in early 2013, and its benchmark percentile places it at the 50th mark among all GPUs, indicating a strictly mid-pack standing.

Memory Subsystem

The HD 8670A ships with 1024 MB of DDR3 memory, which is a modest allocation even for its generation. The memory interface is a 64-bit bus, and the memory clock runs at 1000 MHz, translating to 2 Gbps effective. This combination produces a total bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s. For context, that bandwidth figure is a hard ceiling for texture streaming and framebuffer access; at high resolutions such as 1440p or above, the data throughput becomes a significant bottleneck. The 1024 MB capacity also limits texture detail and shadow map resolution in modern titles, forcing the GPU to rely on compression techniques or lower quality settings.

The narrow 64-bit bus is the primary constraint here. Even with the 2 Gbps effective memory speed, the aggregate bandwidth is roughly a quarter of what contemporary mid-range parts with 128-bit or wider buses offered. Benchmark results indicate that this memory subsystem will struggle with high-resolution textures, and the 16.00 GB/s figure is the decisive factor in that limitation. For 1080p gaming, the capacity may suffice for older titles, but the bandwidth means that any scene with heavy alpha effects or large draw distances will see frame pacing issues. The pixel rate of 4.800 GPixel/s and texture rate of 14.40 GTexel/s are more than the memory can feed, so the card is memory-bound in most realistic workloads.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The HD 8670A does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores; its compute relies on the GCN 1.0 shader array, which provides 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The absence of RT cores means hardware-accelerated ray tracing is not supported, and any ray-traced effects would have to run through compute shaders, which is impractical given the 460.8 GFLOPS of FP32 performance. The card’s FP32 throughput is a hard limit for any such workloads.

On the API front, the card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The DirectX 12 support is limited to the 11_1 feature level, which means it can run DX12 titles but with reduced feature sets compared to full DX12 hardware. Vulkan 1.2.170 is a relatively modern API version, so the card can handle Vulkan-based games, though the underlying hardware limitations will still cap performance. OpenGL 4.6 is the full current specification, making the card viable for legacy OpenGL applications. The display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, meaning the actual connectivity depends on the host system’s MXM-A (3.0) slot implementation.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals data is empty for this GPU, so no direct competitor comparisons are available from the fact pack. However, the percentileVsAllGpus value of 50 indicates that the HD 8670A sits exactly at the median of all GPUs benchmarked in the database. That position suggests it outperforms half of the tracked GPUs, but is itself outperformed by the other half. The lack of nearest rivals means the data does not specify any particular GPU as a direct peer, leaving the assessment to the percentile ranking alone. The 0 average benchmark score further complicates any relative positioning, as there is no quantified performance baseline to compare against. Given the 45 W TDP and MXM form factor, the card is clearly aimed at low-power all-in-one systems rather than gaming laptops, which explains its mid-pack percentile and modest memory configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the memory size and type of the AMD Radeon HD 8670A?

A: It has 1024 MB of DDR3 memory.

Q: What is the memory bus width and resulting bandwidth?

A: The memory bus is 64-bit, and the total bandwidth is 16.00 GB/s.

Q: Does the HD 8670A support hardware ray tracing?

A: No, it has no ray tracing cores; it only has 384 shading units.

Q: What is the TDP of this GPU?

A: The TDP is rated at 45 W.

Q: Which API versions are supported?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What is the transistor count and die size?

A: It contains 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die.

Q: What is the FP32 performance in GFLOPS?

A: The FP32 performance is 460.8 GFLOPS.

Benchmark Performance

The fact pack lists no benchmark scores for this GPU, and the average benchmark score is explicitly 0. This makes a direct numeric performance analysis impossible from the given data. The percentileVsAllGpus field is set to 50, which places the HD 8670A at the exact midpoint of the database’s GPU population. That means, in a hypothetical ranking, half of all tracked GPUs score higher and half score lower. The absence of nearestRivals data means no specific percentage deltas can be cited; the only comparative metric is the percentile itself.

Given the hardware specifications, the 460.8 GFLOPS FP32 rate and 14.40 GTexel/s texture fill are consistent with an entry-level product. The 8 ROPs and 4.800 GPixel/s pixel rate further reinforce that classification. The memory bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s is the most limiting factor, as it caps the rate at which the 384 shading units can receive data. In compute-oriented workloads, the FP32 figure would be the primary determinant, but for gaming, the memory subsystem will dominate. The 45 W TDP suggests the card is thermally constrained, which aligns with its MXM module form factor and portable device dependent display outputs. The 28 nm process node and 12.3M / mm² transistor density indicate a mature manufacturing process, but the 950 million transistor count is low by modern standards, reflecting the card’s age and positioning.

Without benchmark scores, the percentile of 50 is the sole quantitative performance indicator. This implies that while the HD 8670A is not a complete outlier on the low end, it also does not excel in any category. The lack of a launch MSRP or any rival deltas further limits the analysis to the raw specifications. The pixel rate of 4.800 GPixel/s and texture rate of 14.40 GTexel/s are derived from the 8 ROPs and 24 TMUs, respectively, and these figures would be reasonable for 720p gaming in older titles but will fall short at higher resolutions. The 2 Gbps effective memory speed is the only clock figure provided, and it directly determines the 16.00 GB/s bandwidth, which remains the critical weakness. The card’s end-of-life production status and 2013 release date place it firmly in the legacy category, and the 50th percentile reflects that it was a middle-of-the-road option at launch, not a high-end performer or a budget outlier.