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Best PCIe Card: Mid-range

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: July 2012
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Best PCIe Card For ~£130: Tie

Radeon HD 6870

Great 1920x1200 performance in most games

Radeon HD 6870
Codename: RV970 "Barts"
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 1120
Texture Units: 56
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 900
Memory Speed MHz: 1050 (4200 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP:151 W

At a price comparable to Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560, the Radeon HD 6870 also manages to offer compelling performance. Although this card is based on AMD's older VLIW5 architecture and uses more power at idle than the GeForce GTX 560, it's the more energy-friendly option in a taxing first-person shooter.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 6870 for more information on this card and its accompanying architecture.

GeForce GTX 560

Great 1920x1200 performance in most games

GeForce GTX 560
Codename: GF114
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 336
Texture Units: 56
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core/Shader Speed MHz: 810 / 1620
Memory Speed MHz: 1002 (4008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:160 W

The GeForce GTX 560 is essentially a highly overclocked GeForce GTX 460, and it competes with the Radeon HD 6870. Both options introduce impressive game performance that we simply haven't seen before under this price point.

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

Best PCIe Card For ~£130:

GeForce GTX 560 Ti

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

GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Codename: GF114
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 384
Texture Units: 64
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core/Shader Speed MHz: 822 / 1644
Memory Speed MHz: 1002 (4008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:170 W

With the Radeon HD 6950 now selling for £165 or so, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 Ti takes our sole recommendation at £130. This card offers respectable value in light of the hole in AMD's portfolio.

You might want to consider paying an extra few pounds for AMD's Radeon HD 7850, though. The slightly higher price tag yields significantly better performance.

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

Best PCIe Card For ~£180:

Radeon HD 7850

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

Radeon HD 7850
Codename: Pitcairn
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 1024
Texture Units: 64
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 860
Memory Speed MHz: 1200 (4800 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:130 W

AMD's Radeon HD 7850 offers performance similar to the defunct Radeon HD 6970, GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448-core, and GeForce GTX 570, but at a lower £180 price point.

Moreover, the Radeon HD 7850 does its job using about half of the power as both older boards based on 40 nm GPUs.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7800 series for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

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  • 3 Hide
    houldendub , 11 July 2012 00:24
    Why does everyone ONLY look at Newegg when looking for stock?

    Scan have a huge number of 670s, a large number of 680s and a few 690's still in stock.

    "Soooo hard to find!"
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 11 July 2012 03:42
    Newegg actually has V.Good prices. Compared to the UK's stores, Newegg "pounds" 'em into the ground.
  • 0 Hide
    Andykins , 11 July 2012 06:00
    Ordered a 6770 off Novatech at weekend for £68. Still some on there selling for £70.

    UK e-tailers will have 20% VAT on, which makes them more expensive but yeah... rip-off Britain and all that.
  • -1 Hide
    ismaelf10 , 11 July 2012 22:16
    the is awesome, I recommend it to all PNY GF GTX 670, its quality and 3D performance are unique and best of all is its low cost
  • -1 Hide
    jay_nar2012 , 29 July 2012 01:18
    Has anyone tried gaming with a Nvidia Geforce 6100?
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 29 July 2012 05:00
    I think me dad has one of those kicking about. I think I played the Feeble Files quite well with that card.
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 2 August 2012 22:44
    Is it really necessary to give recommendations for so many price points? Is there really anyone out there unwilling to spend £300 on a GTX670 but happy to spend £290 on a 7950?

    Also, I've always been dubious as to the accuracy of 'great at 1920x1080' etc, due to huge variance in how demanding specific games are (say Modern Warfare vs Metro 2033) but if you're going to insist on doing it, maybe it's time to step up to resolutions beyond 2560x1600 (i.e. multi-display setups). We're now reaching 'great at 2560x1600' at at the start of the 3rd of 4 of pages. So the entire second half of the roundup!
  • 0 Hide
    Jony93 , 12 August 2012 21:42
    But what about 580,the price has lowed very hight and the video cards are very good.