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Best PCIe Card: Mid-range

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: September 2012
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Best PCIe Card For ~£150: 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 ~£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 GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448-core and GeForce GTX 570, but at a lower price point.

Moreover, the Radeon HD 7850 does its job using about half of the power as both older boards based on 40 nm Fermi 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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  • 1 Hide
    simon12 , 11 September 2012 20:58
    These prices are way off you can get a 7770 £84 7850 £132 7870 £195 7950 £228 7970 £300 all from aria
  • 0 Hide
    ryanwyvill1 , 12 September 2012 02:34
    simon12These prices are way off you can get a 7770 £84 7850 £132 7870 £195 7950 £228 7970 £300 all from aria

    Thats why there's a ~before the price.
  • 0 Hide
    aje21 , 12 September 2012 05:08
    The price gaps seem to be a bit strange: £50, ~£90, £100, £135, ~£150, ~£180. I would have expected smaller gaps at the low end, e.g. cheapest discrete card worth having, then a couple of £20 gaps, then start to look at £30 to £35 gaps. So how about a ~£70 recommendation, then £90-100, then £125-150 - that kind of thing. I never buy to an exact price.
  • 0 Hide
    theodoros theodorou , 20 November 2012 01:10
    Discrete:HD 6870 normally goes to Discrete:GTX 470