ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 is an end-of-life mobile graphics processor from AMD, built on the 55 nm TSMC process with 242 million transistors on a 73 mm² die. It belongs to the TeraScale architecture generation M9x (Mobility HD 4500), featuring 80 shading units, 8 texture mapping units, and 4 render output units. Memory is configured as 512 MB of GDDR3 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 12.80 GB/s of bandwidth at 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective). The card operates through an MXM-II interface with MXM Module slot width, and its display outputs are portable device dependent.

Benchmark Performance

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 holds a performance percentile of 50 among all GPUs, placing it exactly at the median of the database’s tracked graphics processors. Its average benchmark score is 0, indicating that no standardized performance test results are recorded for this part in the current dataset — a common situation for early mobile GPUs where laptop-specific drivers and thermal configurations made consistent benchmarking difficult.

Without direct benchmark scores, performance must be inferred from the fixed-function pipeline rates. The pixel rate is 2.720 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 5.440 GTexel/s, while single-precision floating point throughput is 108.8 GFLOPS. These figures reflect a part designed for entry-level mobility duties in 2009, where the primary goal was enabling basic 3D acceleration rather than high frame rates. The 64-bit memory bus and 12.80 GB/s bandwidth are the limiting factors in most real-world scenarios, as texture and geometry data must be fed through a narrow pipe.

The FP32 throughput of 108.8 GFLOPS is modest by modern standards but was consistent with the TeraScale architecture’s emphasis on scalar shader efficiency. The 80 shading units are organized in a manner typical for this generation, where each unit could handle one multiply-add per clock. The texture rate of 5.440 GTexel/s suggests that fill-rate-bound workloads, such as early DirectX 10 titles at low resolutions, would be the card’s practical domain.

Because the nearestRivals array is empty in the data, no direct percentage deltas can be computed against competing mobile GPUs. The percentile of 50 indicates that half of all GPUs in the database are slower and half are faster, but without specific rival scores, the relative positioning remains qualitative. The absence of benchmark data also means that no overclocking or thermal-throttling behavior can be quantified from the facts available.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 does not include any dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these technologies were not part of the TeraScale architecture. The card’s feature set is defined by its API support: it exposes DirectX 10.1 (specifically the 10_1 feature level) and OpenGL 3.3. Vulkan is not supported, which limits the card to older graphics APIs when running modern applications.

DirectX 10.1 (10_1) adds a few refinements over the base DirectX 10 specification, including improved shader model 4.1 capabilities and better MSAA (multisample anti-aliasing) support with certain texture formats. However, the lack of DirectX 11 means that tessellation, compute shaders, and other features introduced in that generation are entirely absent. The OpenGL 3.3 support allows for compatibility with a wide range of older games and professional applications, but modern titles expecting OpenGL 4.x or Vulkan will not run.

The memory subsystem is a critical part of the feature set: 512 MB of GDDR3 on a 64-bit bus yields 12.80 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a severe constraint for any workload that requires frequent texture fetches or large framebuffer operations. The pixel rate of 2.720 GPixel/s and texture rate of 5.440 GTexel/s are also modest, meaning that even at low resolutions (e.g., 1024×768), fill-rate-heavy effects like dynamic shadows or high-quality water reflections could cause frame drops.

The display outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent," which means the exact connectivity (e.g., VGA, DVI, HDMI) is determined by the laptop manufacturer rather than the GPU itself. This is typical for MXM modules, where the carrier board decides which physical connectors are exposed. The bus interface is MXM-II, a standardized mobile graphics module form factor that allows for upgrades in some laptops, though the end-of-life status limits practical upgrade paths.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals field is empty, so no direct competitor comparisons can be made using the provided data. The only quantitative reference point is the percentileVsAllGpus value of 50, which places the HD 4570 at the midpoint of the entire GPU database. This is a notable position because it suggests that despite its entry-level mobile positioning, the card was not the slowest part available at its time — likely because many integrated graphics solutions from the same era were far less capable.

Within the context of its own generation (M9x), the HD 4570 sits below the higher-end Mobility HD 4600 series parts, which would have had more shading units and wider memory buses, but the fact pack does not provide specific numbers for those rivals. The predecessor M8x generation lacked DirectX 10.1 support, making the HD 4570 a meaningful upgrade for laptops that needed to run games with the 10_1 feature level. The successor is listed as "Manhattan," but no performance details for that architecture are provided.

The absence of rival data means that the HD 4570’s position is best understood through its absolute specifications. The 108.8 GFLOPS FP32 throughput is roughly half of what a typical desktop mid-range card from the same era delivered, but the 12.80 GB/s bandwidth is the more telling constraint — desktop cards with 128-bit buses typically had double that figure. For a laptop GPU, the HD 4570 was adequate for office tasks, light photo editing, and older games, but it would struggle with any title that demanded more than 512 MB of VRAM or high-resolution textures.

The 55 nm process node and 242 million transistor count indicate a relatively small die (73 mm²), which translated to low manufacturing costs and modest power draw — though the exact TDP is not listed in the fact pack. The production status is end-of-life, meaning the card is no longer manufactured, and driver support has likely ceased, further limiting its practical usefulness in modern systems.

Power and Cooling

The fact pack does not list a TDP (thermal design power) for the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, so no wattage figure can be stated. Similarly, there is no suggested PSU (power supply unit) recommendation, which is expected for a mobile GPU that draws power from a laptop’s internal power delivery system rather than a desktop PSU. The card uses an MXM Module slot width, meaning it occupies a single MXM slot on the laptop’s motherboard.

The lack of power connector specifications is also notable — MXM modules typically receive power through the MXM-II interface itself, rather than requiring external PCIe power connectors. This is a significant difference from desktop graphics cards, which require 6-pin or 8-pin connectors. The absence of a suggested PSU is logical because laptop power adapters are system-specific and not tied to the GPU’s requirements in the same way as desktop builds.

Cooling for the HD 4570 would be handled by the laptop’s thermal solution, which is not covered in the fact pack. The 55 nm process and 242 million transistors suggest a relatively low heat output for the era, but without a TDP number, any specific cooling recommendation would be speculative. The MXM-II form factor means that thermal solutions are designed by the laptop maker, and the card’s end-of-life status implies that no new cooling designs are being produced.

The memory runs at 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective), which is a conservative speed for GDDR3, keeping power draw lower than higher-clocked variants. The 64-bit bus width also reduces the number of memory chips required, further lowering power consumption. In practice, the HD 4570 would have been suitable for thin-and-light laptops where heat dissipation is a challenge, but the fact pack does not provide enough data to make quantitative claims about its thermal behavior.

FAQ

Q: What is the manufacturing process for the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570?

A: The GPU is fabricated on a 55 nm process at TSMC, with 242 million transistors on a die size of 73 mm².

Q: Does the HD 4570 support DirectX 11 or Vulkan?

A: No. The card supports DirectX 10.1 (10_1 feature level) and OpenGL 3.3, but Vulkan is not listed in the API support data.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does the HD 4570 provide?

A: The memory subsystem is 512 MB of GDDR3 on a 64-bit bus, running at 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective), yielding 12.80 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What is the pixel and texture fill rate?

A: The pixel rate is 2.720 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 5.440 GTexel/s, based on the 4 ROPs and 8 TMUs operating at the card’s clock speeds.

Q: Is the HD 4570 still in production?

A: No, the production status is end-of-life. The release date was January 8, 2009, and its successor is listed as "Manhattan."

Q: What form factor does the HD 4570 use?

A: The card uses an MXM Module slot width with the MXM-II bus interface, and its display outputs are portable device dependent, meaning laptop makers decide the physical connectors.