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Best PCIe Card: High-end

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December 2012
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Best PCIe Card For ~£250:

Radeon HD 7950 Boost Edition

Excellent 1920x1200 performance, Good 2560x1600 performance in most games with lowered detail

Radeon HD 7950 Boost Edition
Codename: Tahiti
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 1792
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 384-bit
Core Speed MHz: 850
Memory Speed MHz: 1250 (5000 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:200 W

As the price of the gently-accelerated Radeon HD 7950 Boost cards dropping close to their non-boosted predecessors, this card starts to become a better value between the Radeon HD 7870 and GeForce GTX 670, serving up more performance without the need to overclock (and void your warranty coverage).

Best PCIe Card For ~£310:

GeForce GTX 670

Excellent 1920x1200 performance, Good 2560x1600 performance in most games with lowered detail

GeForce GTX 660
Codename: GK104
Process: 28 nm
Universal Shaders: 1344
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core (Boost) Speed MHz: 915 (1033)
Memory Speed MHz: 1502 (6008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:
170 W

The GeForce GTX 670 is a battle-hardened contender. Offering performance slightly below the Radeon HD 7970, and a lower price to match, this card was one of our favorites right when it launched, and it remains attractive today.

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

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  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 18 December 2012 04:25
    GTX680s have been available at £370 (and less) for months... are you getting these prices from Amazon or something?
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 18 December 2012 04:28
    Also GTX670s have been at £270 for months, not £310... and you say it's £140 for a 2GB 7850, or £260 for two. Is that like a bulk-buy discount?
  • 0 Hide
    Brett928S2 , 18 December 2012 07:09
    Hi :) 

    Umm WHO is this reviewer ??

    7990`s are available from MANY retailers....

    I just bought one for my own gaming machine and my shops have just started stocking them to order....

    And...it BEATS the 690.....

    Please at least TRY and stay up to date....:( 

    Toms Hardware for me and many others is read because of its reviews of up to date hardware, this is now becoming a bit of a joke....

    All the best Brett :) 
  • 1 Hide
    bemused_fred , 18 December 2012 14:40
    Brett928S2Hi Umm WHO is this reviewer ??7990`s are available from MANY retailers....I just bought one for my own gaming machine and my shops have just started stocking them to order....And...it BEATS the 690.....Please at least TRY and stay up to date....Toms Hardware for me and many others is read because of its reviews of up to date hardware, this is now becoming a bit of a joke.... All the best Brett


    Did you see Tom's hardware's review of the 7990? While it does brute-force wins against the 690 in terms of performance, its power consumption and noise are both so high that the 690 is really the better option. Not to mention that there are only 2 vendors for the 7990 as opposed to about 10 for the 690.

    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-hd-7990-devil13-7970-x2,review-32563.html
  • 0 Hide
    Brett928S2 , 18 December 2012 16:44
    Quote:
    Did you see Tom's hardware's review of the 7990? While it does brute-force wins against the 690 in terms of performance, its power consumption and noise are both so high that the 690 is really the better option. Not to mention that there are only 2 vendors for the 7990 as opposed to about 10 for the 690.

    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-hd-7990-devil13-7970-x2,review-32563.html


    Hi :) 

    Yes I have seen and read it, but the monthly reviewer obviously missed it :( 

    All the best Brett :) 
  • 1 Hide
    Ceee9 , 18 December 2012 20:49
    Typo on high end gpu, gtx 670 on title, gtx 660 on the columm
  • 0 Hide
    gandyhehe , 18 December 2012 22:36
    id like to know y toms hardware doesnt seem to know u can get a 6670 with gdd5, they have been on ebuyer for ages, they alwasy moan about the ddr3 on the 6670 when its fairly common place to get gdd5
  • 0 Hide
    Brett928S2 , 19 December 2012 00:21
    Quote:
    id like to know y toms hardware doesnt seem to know u can get a 6670 with gdd5, they have been on ebuyer for ages, they alwasy moan about the ddr3 on the 6670 when its fairly common place to get gdd5


    Hi :) 

    Yes the reviewer seems to be a little out of date...lol :) 

    All the best Brett :) 
  • 0 Hide
    brianthesnail , 20 December 2012 22:27
    when will the HD6670 be toppled from the entry level card of choice ... personally i thinks its hampered by the gddr3 downgrade compared to the gddr5 version of the card ( the HD5670 was and still is hard to beat when you can find one )
    the GT640 is nvidia,s only offering at this price range and can keep up with the HD6670 across most titles ... but will there be a HD7670.... and will it come with gddr3 memory or gddr5 .. if its the latter then it shall replace the HD6670 without a doubt.. infact even a gddr3 version would probally replace the HD6670 since thats whats currently at the top of the entry level charts
    note for anyone after gddr5 versions of the HD5670 and HD6670.. check out ... HD5670 ( http://www.videocardshop.co.uk/viewproduct.aspx?part=HD-567X-ZNH4&from=http%3a%2f%2fwww.videocardshop.co.uk%2fsearch.aspx%3fsub%3dRadeon%2bHD5000%2bSeries ) and HD6670 ( http://www.videocardshop.co.uk/viewproduct.aspx?part=HD-667X-ZQFC&from=http%3a%2f%2fwww.videocardshop.co.uk%2fsearch.aspx%3fsub%3dRadeon%2bHD6000%2bSeries ) ..
  • -1 Hide
    mrbeanladen , 21 December 2012 07:23
    bemused_fredDid you see Tom's hardware's review of the 7990? While it does brute-force wins against the 690 in terms of performance, its power consumption and noise are both so high that the 690 is really the better option. Not to mention that there are only 2 vendors for the 7990 as opposed to about 10 for the 690.http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/rade [...] 32563.html

    if you give a crap about a few couple of watts more THEN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T CONSIDER BUYING A GODDAMN 1000 DOLLAR GPU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • -1 Hide
    Brett928S2 , 21 December 2012 07:34
    Quote:
    if you give a crap about a few couple of watts more THEN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T CONSIDER BUYING A GODDAMN 1000 DOLLAR GPU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



    Hi :) 

    Very true lol...

    Same reason I don't worry about 10-12 mpg in my Porsche...

    The 7990 is not loud normally , but does get louder while gaming, but not unpleasantly so...

    All the best Brett :) 
  • 0 Hide
    bemused_fred , 21 December 2012 14:57
    mrbeanladenif you give a crap about a few couple of watts more THEN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T CONSIDER BUYING A GODDAMN 1000 DOLLAR GPU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    I personally don't consider paying $1000 for a card only to get coil whine and 50+ Db load noise acceptable.
  • 0 Hide
    Brett928S2 , 22 December 2012 01:26
    Quote:
    I personally don't consider paying $1000 for a card only to get coil whine and 50+ Db load noise acceptable.



    Hi :) 

    There is no coil whine and its nowhere near 50 db...

    All the best Brett :) 
  • 0 Hide
    bemused_fred , 22 December 2012 04:23
    Quote:
    Hi :) 

    There is no coil whine and its nowhere near 50 db...

    All the best Brett :) 


    Check the revieiw.
  • 0 Hide
    Brett928S2 , 22 December 2012 05:09
    Quote:
    Check the revieiw.



    Hi :) 

    I HAVE A 7990 !!!

    I repeat there is no coil whine and its nowhere near 50db.... their test was probably done on a test bench...

    Mine is in a Lian-Li case on a carpet.... its NOT any noisier than my previous 5870`s ...

    All the best Brett :) 
  • 0 Hide
    bemused_fred , 22 December 2012 15:37
    Quote:
    Hi :) 

    I HAVE A 7990 !!!

    I repeat there is no coil whine and its nowhere near 50db.... their test was probably done on a test bench...

    Mine is in a Lian-Li case on a carpet.... its NOT any noisier than my previous 5870`s ...

    All the best Brett :) 


    Fair dos.

    I'm still not thrilled about its efficiency though.
  • 0 Hide
    Anonymous , 21 January 2013 20:37
    Is it worth picking up a 7870 or would it be much better to wait until the amd 8800 series comes out?