Best PCIe Card For ~£380:
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 |
With the arrival of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680, AMD's Radeon HD 7970 becomes the second-fastest single-GPU card. It remains an excellent and formidable piece of gaming hardware, though.
With not much between the two with regard to U.S. pricing, it'd be more difficult to give the Radeon HD 7970 our full recommendation if Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 were easier to find (in the U.S. market). Really, it probably should be a little cheaper than the GK104-based board.
Unfortunately, Nvidia cannot make enough 680s to satisfy demand, turning Radeon HD 7970 into the more competitive solution. Many enthusiasts held off for months just to see how Tahiti and GK104 would stack up. Now that the verdict is in, we understand if you want to save the money, buy the slightly slower card, and try your luck at overclocking it.
If you're willing to wait on the email notifications, though, we also don't see anything wrong with holding off until GeForce GTX 680s start showing up in greater numbers.
Read our full preview of AMD's Radeon HD 7970 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Best PCIe Card For ~£430:
GeForce GTX 680
Excellent 2560x1600 performance
| GeForce GTX 680 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | GK104 |
| Process: | 28 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1536 |
| Texture Units: | 128 |
| ROPs: | 32 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 1006 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1502 (6006 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5 |
| Max TDP: | 195 W |
The new GeForce GTX 680 bests the Radeon HD 7970 and keeps up with dual-GPU cards like the GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 6990. As a result of its compelling performance, AMD was forced to drop the price of its own flagship from £430 to £380.
The GeForce GTX 680 has one problem: availability. After a promising launch, supply quickly dried up. Sure, you can sign up for notifications from Newegg and hope to be on a PC when a notice comes through. But if you're more than a few minutes away from a credit card, kiss those cards goodbye. In the UK, retailers have the card is a bit easier to find, though some retailers are only selling pre-orders at this time.
Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Best PCIe Card For ~£850:
GeForce GTX 690
Excellent 2560x1600 performance
| GeForce GTX 690 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x GK104 |
| Process: | 28 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 3072 (2 x 1536) |
| Texture Units: | 256 (2 x 128) |
| ROPs: | 64 (2 x 32) |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 915 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1502 (6008 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5 |
| Max TDP: | 300 W |
Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 is the fastest graphics card in the world. It's essentially two GeForce GTX 680 cards on a single PCB, with a slightly lowered core clock and a 300 W TDP. The company sets this card's price around £850, which is roughly two times higher than a single GeForce GTX 680. That's not a bad deal if you were planning to go with a pair of GTX 680s in SLI anyway.
Like the GeForce GTX 680 though, this card suffers from very poor availability. Hopefully this will improve as Nvidia works out whatever kinks are currently preventing it from satisfying demand with products based on TSMC's 28 nm process.
Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Eh? You can still buy these... Shouldn't the Best PCIe Card For ~£170 still be the 6950?