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.
Thats why there's a ~before the price.