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Best PCIe Card: High-end and Beyond

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: July 2012
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Best PCIe Card For ~£300:
GeForce GTX 670

Great 2560x1600 performance

GeForce GTX 670
Codename: GK104
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 1344
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 915
Memory Speed MHz: 1502 (6006 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:
170 W

The GeForce GTX 670 brings Radeon HD 7970-class performance down to the £300 price point. That's an impressive feat considering that AMD's card was selling for considerably more a couple of months ago. Moreover, we've seen Nvidia's new second-fastest single-GPU board in stock and available for purchase ever since it was introduced. With the Radeon HD 7970 still hovering around £330, the GeForce GTX 670 earns our sole recommendation and takes its place as the high-end value leader.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 670 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Honourable Mentions between £330 to £600:
Assorted Multi-Card Configurations

First, we need to mention AMD's Radeon HD 7970. As mentioned multiple times already, the card recently dropped to £330 and enjoys better performance complemented by the company's beta Catalyst 12.7 driver. Nevertheless, we aren't sure the 7970 is worth £30 more than GeForce GTX 670.

Beyond that, the GTX 670 delivers such impressive performance for £300 that we find it hard to recommend higher-performing (but sometimes-inconsistent) multi-card configurations for more money. We'll mention some of the more promising options, though, especially for folks with one of these cards already installed: two Radeon HD 6870s in CrossFire for anywhere between £230 and £280, two GeForce GTX 560 Tis in SLI for £320, two Radeon HD 7850s in CrossFire for £360, two Radeon HD 7870s in CrossFire for £500, and finally, two GeForce GTX 670s in SLI for £600.

Best PCIe Card For ~£400: None

Honourable Mention:
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 GeForce GTX 680 is the fastest available single-GPU card (at least until we see evidence of the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition at retail). It keeps up with dual-GPU cards like the GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 6990. Nvidia's biggest problem is that the GeForce GTX 670 is not much slower, and yet notably less expensive. As a result, the GeForce GTX 680 must accept honourable mention status.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£800:
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 lower core clock and a 300 W TDP. The company sets this card's MSRP right around £800, which is 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 last month, though, the 690 suffers from very poor availability. We don't expect this to improve; the 690 is seen as a very niche product that won't necessarily sit on store shelves for long at all.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 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.