PCI Express Interface: $350 and up
Best PCIe Card For $340:
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 800 |
| Texture Units: | 40 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 625 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 993 (1986 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10.1 / SM 4.0 |
In the 4850 CrossFire benchmarks we’ve seen so far, AMD has really learned to squeeze the performance out of its new cards. It looks like while a single Radeon HD 4850 performs in the same realm as the GeForce 9800 GTX, two 4850’s in Crossfire mode will completely decimate the dual-GPU GeForce 9800 GX2 and even put the hurt on the powerful new GeForce GTX 280. Remember, the GeForce GTX 280 costs about $80 more than two Radeon HD 4850 cards!
Best PCIe Card For Over $500:
Good 2560x1600 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
In this author’s opinion, with exponentially increasing prices over $350 offering smaller and smaller performance increases, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than two Radeon HD 4850s. While the 4870, GTX 260 and GTX 280 perform impressively in multiple card configurations, there’s just not enough of a gain compared to two 4850s in Crossfire mode unless you play at resolutions beyond 1920x1200.
So while we recommend AGAINST purchasing any graphics card more than $350 from a value point of view, there are those of you for whom money might not be much of an object; who can afford a 30” LCD monitor; and who require the best possible performance money can buy. For those of you, we recommend the Radeon 4870 X2, the fastest video card the planet currently offers. It costs $550 at the time of writing:
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1600 |
| Texture Units: | 80 |
| ROPs: | 32 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 750 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (3600 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10.1 / SM 4.0 |
Why are the prices on Tom's UK in dollars? Again...
why are you still here?
If you shop around you can get some good cards from reliable sources. Having said that, the prices are more expensive in the UK, than in the USA. Thanks for the article
That card is currently around $81 from some UK online sources - the retail prices can be astronomic (assuming you can even get these cards, as they often sell out-dated harware at grossly inflated prices).
If you don't know what you are buying in the UK for Christmas..get someone who does or you could end up being seriously ripped-off. CPU prices are more harmonised, but historically graphics cards have always been more expensive here.
"Just pay attention to price, warranty, and the manufacturer’s reputation for honoring the warranty if something goes wrong."
Yeah, I learned the hard way by buying a POS INNO3D Nvidia 8800GTX card for a lot of money that broke after 15 months and that unknown to me when I bought it only had 1 years warranty. The cheapskates wont even repair it for me!
I hope the credit crunch wipes INNO3D out!
They finally included an above $500 section....
AT LEAST DO AN ARCTICLE FOR TOMSHARDWARE UK IN POUNDS, what's the point in having a separate site if you use exactly the same arcticles!!!!
They finally included an above $500 section....AT LEAST DO AN ARCTICLE FOR TOMSHARDWARE UK IN POUNDS, what's the point in having a separate site if you use exactly the same arcticles!!!!
Well at least you got the picks of the best hardware..sourcing it should be easy as long as you know the trusted sources
what would use recommend hd4870 1gig or nu 260 + oc ? or just stick with hd4870 512?