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Best PCIe Card: Budget

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March 2012
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Best PCIe Card For ~£80:

Radeon HD 5770/6770

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail

Radeon HD 5770/6770
Codename: RV840 "Juniper"
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 800
Texture Units: 40
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 850
Memory Speed MHz: 1200 (4800 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP:108 W

The Radeon HD 5770 (also available re-badged as the Radeon HD 6770, with the added bonus of Blu-ray 3D decode support) is an attractive £80 option that outshines the similarly-priced Radeon HD 6750 and GeForce GTS 450. This card is one of our price/performance favorites. And, with Radeon HD 4870-class performance, it's an excellent starting point for the mainstream gamer.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 5770 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Honourable Mention:
Radeon HD 7750

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail

Radeon HD 7750
Codename: Cape Verde
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 512
Texture Units: 32
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 1125 (4500 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5.0
Max TDP:55 W

At the same price, AMD's Radeon HD 6770 outperforms its newer Radeon HD 7750. The only problem is that the old card uses twice as much power in the process. The Radeon HD 7750 is the most powerful graphics card you can get right now that doesn't require a auxiliary power input; it draws all that it needs from a 16-lane PCIe slot.

If you're upgrading an older machine with a power supply limitation in mind, this point warrants an honourable mention.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7750 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£90:

Radeon HD 6790

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail

Radeon HD 6790
Codename: Barts LE
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 800
Texture Units: 40
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 840
Memory Speed MHz: 1050 (4200 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP:150 W

AMD's Radeon HD 6790 delivers DirectX 11 support, multi-display connectivity via Eyefinity, and high-def (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio) bitstreaming capabilities in a modestly-priced gaming card. It runs circles around the similarly-priced GeForce GTX 550 Ti. And, now that the GeForce GTX 460 768 MB is missing in action, we're giving the sole recommendation to AMD's solution. This would have been a shared honor previously.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 6790 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For £120: Tie

Radeon HD 6850

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games

Radeon HD 6850
Codename: RV970 "Barts"
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 960
Texture Units: 48
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 775
Memory Speed MHz: 1000 (4000 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP:127 W

AMD's Radeon HD 6850 proved to be a worthy adversary against the GeForce GTX 460 1 GB 256-bit. And as a result, PC gamers win with exceptional performance at the ~£120 mark.

Both cards offer DirectX 11 support and HD audio bitstreaming capabilities. The main differentiators are Eyefinity multi-monitor support favoring the Radeon card, while the GeForce board has access to Nvidia's 3D Vision infrastructure that includes 3D gaming and Blu-ray 3D support. It should be noted that the Radeon HD 6800-series' list of compatible stereoscopic devices is growing. However, it's nowhere near as large as Nvidia's. Only time will tell if AMD's own 3D brand can gain the partner support it requires to serve as a notable feature.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 6850 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

GeForce GTX 460 1 GB 256-bit

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games

GeForce GTX 460 1 GB 256-bit
Codename: GF104
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 336
Texture Units: 56
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core/Shader Speed MHz: 675 / 1350
Memory Speed MHz: 900 (3600 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5

160 W

Of course, the Radeons can be CrossFire'd and the GeForces can be SLI'd, so motherboard support should be taken into account, too.
If you're interested in this card, make sure you're getting the 256-bit version and not the crippled 192-bit option. [Editor's Note: This card runs a little bit more expensive in the UK, but if you can get a good deal on it, these two are neck and neck.]

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 460 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

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  • 0 Hide
    MCFCBlue , 16 March 2012 18:11
    How come the gtx 580 isn't in the £320 price bracket instead of the gtx 560 sli set up?
  • -3 Hide
    Arjun_Mishra , 18 March 2012 09:30
    Please take a look at the review of graphic cards that I made … The graphic cards are really budget build performance...
    Please don't forget to join my blog...

    http://knocyc.blogspot.in/p/best-amd-graphic-cards-budget-build.html
  • 0 Hide
    Arjun_Mishra , 18 March 2012 10:10
    Thanks bgtnvdjfckmh I hope you liked my review and hope that you shared 'em with your friends...

    Please join my site if you can...
  • 0 Hide
    MCFCBlue , 18 March 2012 19:20
    The GTX 580 is only £320 the same price as the sli 560 and its only one card so no sli problems.
  • 0 Hide
    Arjun_Mishra , 18 March 2012 19:26
    Please take a look at the review of graphic cards that I made … The graphic cards are really budget build performance...
    Please don't forget to join my blog...


    http://knocyc.blogspot.in/p/best-amd-graphic-cards-budget-build.html