Best PCIe Card For ~£140:
Radeon HD 7850 1 GB
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 recently introduced a 1 GB version of the Radeon HD 7850, bringing GeForce GTX 650 Ti- and Radeon HD 6950-class performance to a price point under £150. Almost instantly, this became our price/performance favorite.
Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7800 series for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Best PCIe Card For ~£170:
Radeon HD 7850 2 GB
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 |
Spending an extra £30 gets you two times the on-board memory of the 1 GB Radeon HD 7850. Although you won't see higher frame rates from that second gigabyte most of the time, the GDDR5 does make it possible to enable higher levels of detail and anti-aliasing.
Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7800 series for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart -
You've got GTX 295, 480, 570, listed twice - one line after another.
I think only some of the THG authors actually read the comments on their articles. I think these 'best for the money' roundups attract a lot of criticism so maybe Don doesn't bother with the comments. If there's specific performance differences you want to know about though, just say and I'll try to help.
allthough AMD recommends a 450w psu i would feel safe running the HD7750 with a branded 300w psu or a budget 400w ... and with no 6pin connector required older psu,s may suffice
in terms of performance i expect this to be able to run games such as crysis 2 and far cry 2 at medium detail settings at 1680x1050 ....
its a shame no nvidia cards are showing in the entry level range ... !