If you haven't yet decided on the perfect HTPC graphics card, the decision might just have become a whole lot harder as Taiwan's MSI International is rolling out five media-PC graphics cards all at once.
The cards form MSI's R4600 HDMI series and utilise either AMD's Radeon HD 4670 or Radeon HD 4650 GPUs - a pair of mainstream offerings that have impressed us in the past.
Bolstering each of the cards' HTPC credentials is an on-board HDMI interface, along with support for 7.1 surround sound. As you're no doubt aware, both the Radeon HD 4650 and Radeon HD 4670 feature AMD's Unified Video Decoder, helping lighten the load placed on a system's CPU.
Given the target audience, MSI has opted to remove CrossFire functionality, but compensates by not only using Hi-c capacitors, but also solid stake chokes that should ease the buzz that's created by high electrical frequencies. Particularly useful for the sole passive solution, of course.
There's no mention of pricing yet, but the range is currently shaping up as follows:
| Product | Model number | GPU clock | Memory clock (effective) | Memory size | Outputs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSI R4670 1GB | R4670-MD1G | 750MHz | 1,746MHz | 1GB GDDR3 | DVI, D-Sub, HDMI |
| MSI R4670 512MB | R4670-MD512 | 750MHz | 1,746MHz | 512MB GDDR3 | DVI, D-Sub, HDMI |
| MSI R4650 1GB | R4650-MD1G | 600MHz | 1,000MHz | 1GB GDDR2 | DVI, D-Sub, HDMI |
| MSI R4650 512MB | R4650-MD512 | 600MHz | 1,000MHz | 512MB GDDR2 | DVI, D-Sub, HDMI |
| MSI R4650 Passive | R4650-MD512Z | 600MHz | 1,000MHz | 512MB GDDR2 | DVI, D-Sub, HDMI |
Official press release: HDMI support across the whole series, MSI's R4600 HDMI series slips into the market
