Best PCIe Card: $350 And Up
Best PCIe Card For ~$370: None
Honorable Mention: Radeon HD 4870 X2 (Check Prices)
Good 1920x1200 performance, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
| Radeon HD 4870 X2 2 GB | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 (2 x 800) |
| Texture Units: | 80 (2 x 40) |
| ROPs: | 32 (2 x 16) |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 750 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (3,600 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
Two separate Radeon HD 4870 cards in CrossFire are notably cheaper than a single Radeon HD 4870 X2, which is why that setup scored the recommendation. Having said that, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 is a single card and is therefore viable for those of you with a single PCIe slot on your motherboard. For this reason, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 gets an honorable mention.
Best PCIe Card For ~$400: Tie
Two Radeon HD 4890 cards in CrossFire Configuration (Check Prices)
Good 1920x1200 performance, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail
| 2 x Radeon HD 4890 in CrossFire Configuration | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 (2 x 800) |
| Texture Units: | 80 (2 x 40) |
| ROPs: | 32 (2 x 16) |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 850 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 975 (3,900 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
Two Radeon HD 4890 cards should, on average, perform on par or better than a single GeForce GTX 295, and the Radeons cost less. If you have a CrossFire motherboard and want some serious high-resolution performance, this is the way to go.
Two GeForce GTX 275 card in SLI Configuration (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles (some with lowered detail)
| 2 x GeForce GTX 275 in SLI Configuration | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | GT200b |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 480 (2 x 240) |
| Texture Units: | 160 (2 x 80) |
| ROPs: | 56 (2 x 28) |
| Memory Bus: | 448-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 633 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1,134 (2,268 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10/SM 4.0 |
It's funny that we're recommending two GeForce GTX 275 cards in SLI over a single GeForce GTX 295, when you consider that each GeForce GTX 275 is essentially half of a GeForce GTX 295. Saving the $210 compared to the GeForce GTX 295 doesn't result in a performance penalty. If anything a pair of GeForce GTX 275s will display a slight performance edge due to their faster clock speeds.
Best PCIe Card For ~$510: None
Honorable Mention: GeForce GTX 295 (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles (some with lowered detail)
| GeForce GTX 295 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x GT200b |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 480 (2 x 240) |
| Texture Units: | 160 (2 x 80) |
| ROPs: | 56 (2 x 28) |
| Memory Bus: | 448-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 576 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 999 (1,998 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10/SM 4.0 |
Nvidia's GeForce GTX 295 with SLI-on-a-card is the most powerful single graphics card on the planet. Essentially two conjoined GeForce GTX 275 cards, the GeForce GTX 295 offers very notable gains over the Radeon HD 4870 X2 in the great majority of game titles. Even more impressive is that it does so while consuming less power than ATI's flagship card, which is no small feat.
To get more performance than what the GeForce GTX 295 offers, you'd have to look to extreme solutions such as multiple GeForce GTX 285s in SLI or Radeon HD 4870 X2s in CrossFire. But unless you have a 30" monitor, that would be a gratuitous waste of cash considering the small performance gains you'd get for spending a whole lot more money.
hooray!
the return of the 4850X2!
methinks it put the hurt on nvidia, that's why it's been kept quiet?!
great card, that one
cheers,
bill
p.s. stuff and nonsense: http://www.eupeople.net/forum
It might be second nature to anyone with modern hardware, but for anyone upgrading older systems make sure your PSU has 24 pins rather than 20. The extra four pins are needed to maintain stability when you plug in a PCI-E card, whilst 20 should be OK for onboard video. So you have 24 pins + the 4 pins for the CPU.
If you plug a 20-pin PSU into a 24-pin socket on the motherboard, then add even a cheap PCI-E card (eg a Geforce 7300), you'll be overloading the system and it could result in damage. PCI-E boards that sport an external power source may rectify this, I'm not sure (e.g. using a PCI-E to molex converter). I learned the hard ware, to use the proper
..24-pin connectors, rather than outdated 20-pin one's. The 20-pin one's are OK for AGP boards and 24-pin boards that can accept both 20 and 24-pin PSU's.
I upgraded a 20/24-pin board (onboard Geforce 6100 with A64 3200+), by adding a Geforce 7300. The 20-pin PSU was 400W. I realised that 20 pins weren't enough even though this card is really slow.
Hmmm, you must be shopping some secret place you obviously don't want to share with others. You claim a HD 4870 512MB is $130.00 while the cheapest showing up when following your (Check Prices) link is $151.10. Am I missing something?
i think the radeon 4850 is the best buy currently for around €90 you will have one. afther that the radeon 4870 is great too. it will cost you €115-125 if you have the right shops. then 4890 comes around the corner for €165. I'havent decided yet what to get. evergreen is very close now and im hard underway to reach my goal buget for a new system. it sure takes a while but then again i now live on my own and im 20 years old so i dont have much money at hand you know. everything costs alot and saving is hard because your rent aswell as insurrence and food and maintanance cost almost as much as you have each month, But i work hard for my goals and i will achieve them. one of my goals is to have a decent computer by the end of this year, the computer i have right now is neary dead. i might even consider phenom triple core and radeon 4870 because those are well affordable right now.
But lynnfield and the evergreen series should bring the long expacted DX11
Guess I'll be grabbin' a 4890 os a crossfire solution...