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Best PCIe Card: High-end and Beyond

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March 2012
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Best PCIe Card For ~£320:

2 x GeForce GTX 560 Ti in SLI

Excellent 1920x1200 performance, Good 2560x1600 performance in most games with lowered detail

2 x GeForce GTX 560 Ti in SLI
Codename: GF114
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 768 (2 x 384)
Texture Units: 128 (2 x 64)
ROPs: 64 (2 x 32)
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core/Shader Speed MHz: 822 / 1644
Memory Speed MHz: 1002 (4008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5

340 W (2 x 170 W)

Once again, now that the GeForce GTX 560 Ti has no competition from the missing-in-action Radeon HD 6950, it deserves the lone recommendation at this price point. 

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 Ti for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Honourable Mention:
Radeon HD 7950

Great 2560x1600 performance

Radeon HD 7950
Codename: "Tahiti Pro"
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 1792
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 384-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 1250 (4000 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5.0
Max TDP:200 W

AMD's Radeon HD 7950 isn't as fast as two Radeon HD 6950s in CrossFire, but it uses a lot less power and performance is more consistent compared to a dual-card setup. This card performs on par with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580 from Nvidia. However, it's a little less expensive, it's a lot more efficient, and it includes some unique functionality that Nvidia hasn't yet matched (more than two independent display pipelines, for starters). As a result, we're calling it the best sub-£400 option for buyers who aren't interested in two cards rendering cooperatively.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7950 for more information on the card and its underlying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£430:

Honourable Mention:
Radeon HD 7970

Excellent 2560x1600 performance

Radeon HD 7970
Codename: "Tahiti"
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 2048
Texture Units: 128
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 384-bit
Core Speed MHz: 925
Memory Speed MHz: 1375 (5500 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5.0
Max TDP:250 W

The Radeon HD 7970 is the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the planet, in some situations coming close to dual-GPU monsters like the Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590.

Both the 6990 and GTX 590 find themselves displaced by AMD's new Radeon HD 7970 this month as a result of choppy availability and ridiculous pricing. If you have more money than you know what to do with, spending big on this Tahiti XT-based flagship is sure to get you impressive results at 2560x1600 or multi-display resolutions.

Read our full preview of AMD's Radeon HD 7970 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