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Best PCIe Card: High-end and Beyond

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: September 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 serves up performance somewhere between the Radeon HD 7950 and 7970 for around £300. That's an impressive feat considering that AMD's flagship was selling for a lot more a couple of months ago. Moreover, we've seen Nvidia's second-fastest single-GPU board in stock and available for purchase ever since it was introduced. That's something AMD cannot claim.

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

Best PCIe Card For ~£370:

Radeon HD 7970

Great 2560x1600 performance

Radeon HD 7970
Codename: Tahiti
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 2048
Texture Units: 128
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 384-bit
Core Speed MHz: 925
Memory Speed MHz: 1375 (5500 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:
250 W

AMD's recent driver improvements had a big impact on performance, helping make a case for a price premium over Nvidia's GeForce GTX 670. As it settles in around £370, we think the vanilla Radeon HD 7970 deserves some love.

Now, you might be able to find a Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition card on sale for something similar. If so, we'd recommend grabbing it. But where most of the GHz Edition cards are sitting, we'd recommend skipping those boards. The reference model is already pretty overclockable, meaning you can coax much of that performance out of the cheaper card anyway.

We also don't think paying £400 more for a GeForce GTX 680 makes much sense. As a result, the Radeon HD 7970 finally earns a place on our list.

Read our full preview of AMD's Radeon HD 7970 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Honourable Mentions over £370:
Assorted Multi-Card Configurations

The GTX 670 delivers such impressive performance under £350 that we find it hard to recommend higher-performing (but sometimes-inconsistent) multi-card configurations for more money. We'll call out some of the most promising options, though, especially for folks with one of these cards already installed: two Radeon HD 7850s in CrossFire, two Radeon HD 7870s in CrossFire, and finally, two GeForce GTX 670s in SLI.

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.

The 690's availability has improved since last month, and the card can now be found for £800 without too much trouble.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 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