Best PCIe Card For ~£100: Tie
Radeon HD 7770
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
| Radeon HD 7770 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Cape Verde |
| Process: | 28 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 640 |
| Texture Units: | 40 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 1000 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1125 (4500 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11.1/SM 5.0 |
| Max TDP: | 80 W |
The Radeon HD 7770 can now be found for roughly £100, which is significantly lower than the over-ambitious price AMD wanted for the card when it launched (it's even more affordable than Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 SE).
At least as powerful as the end-of-lifed Radeon HD 6790, this newer card uses only half the power to get its job done. Now that we see a price we like, the 7770 deserves a full recommendation.
Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7770 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
GeForce GTX 560 SE
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
| GeForce GTX 560 SE | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | GF114 |
| Process: | 40 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 288 |
| Texture Units: | 48 |
| ROPs: | 24 |
| Memory Bus: | 192-bit |
| Core/Shader Speed MHz: | 776 / 1552 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 957 (3828 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5 |
| Max TDP: | 150 W |
Armed with a crippled version of the GF114 GPU used in Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 and GTX 560 Ti, the 560 SE delivers performance similar to the company's now-defunct GeForce GTX 460 192-bit card at a lower price point. It also stands up against AMD's similarly-priced Radeon HD 7770, though the AMD board's power consumption is much more conservative. This card is getting harder to find, and we expect it to be displaced by new Kepler-based options in the near future.
Best PCIe Card For £135:
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 256-bit GeForce GTX 460. Unfortunately, those competing boards from Nvidia were phased out not too long ago, leaving AMD's offering as our sole recommendation at this price point. It seems that the Radeon HD 6850 is also being end-of-lifed, based on the low stock we've seen recently.
Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 6850 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Thats why there's a ~before the price.