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Best PCIe Card: Entry-level

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2013
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Best PCI Express (PCIe) Card For ~£45:

Radeon HD 6670 DDR3

Good 1680x1050 performance in most games

Radeon HD 6670 DDR3
Codename: Turks
Process: 40 nm
Unified Shaders: 480
Texture Units: 24
ROPs: 8
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 800 (1,600 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP:66 W

We're still bummed that the Radeon HD 5670 was discontinued. Although it's true that the Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 has a more capable GPU featuring a 25 MHz-faster core clock, four more texture units, and 80 additional shader cores, the 5670 wields more than two times the memory bandwidth thanks to its 1 GHz GDDR5 subsystem.

Nevertheless, without any significant competition, the Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 assumes the £45 recommendation as our entry-level gaming card.

Best PCIe Card For ~£75:

Radeon HD 7750

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail

Radeon HD 7750
Codename: Cape Verde
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 512
Texture Units: 32
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 1,125 (4,500 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5.0
Max TDP:55 W

The Radeon HD 7750 is the fastest graphics card you can get right now that doesn't require an auxiliary power input; it draws all that it needs from a 16-lane PCIe slot. If you're upgrading an older machine with limited power supply capacity, that's an attractive point to consider.

And it's a decent performer, too, particularly in light of AMD's most recent Catalyst driver packages.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7750 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£90:

Radeon HD 7770

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail

Radeon HD 7770
Codename: Cape Verde
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 640
Texture Units: 40
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 1000
Memory Speed MHz: 1,125 (4,500 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5.0
Max TDP:80 W

The Radeon HD 7770 can now be found for under £100, which is significantly less than the over-ambitious price AMD was asking for the card when it launched.

Almost as powerful as the end-of-lifed Radeon HD 6850, this newer board uses only half the power to get its job done. Now that we see a price we like, the Radeon HD 7770 receives a full recommendation.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7770 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

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  • 0 Hide
    bemused_fred , 22 May 2013 06:47
    OK, this is about the 6th month in a row that us commenters have been pointing out that a HD 6670 GDDR5 version exists, and for only slightly more than the DDR3 version:
    https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=HD+6670+GDDR5&aq=f&oq=HD+6670+GDDR5&aqs=chrome.0.57j0l3j62l2.3282j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=HD+6670+GDDR5&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=m1ucUdnPF8_H7Ab40oHIDQ&ved=0CDMQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46751780,d.ZGU&fp=8571d4800423c838&biw=1280&bih=923
    Any chance of getting at least an honourable mention for it?
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 22 May 2013 11:09
    I don't think Don reads comments. And since when was 5 minutes before a new series launch 'the best time to buy'? I'd say that's the worst time to buy. At least he did mention GTX700.
  • 0 Hide
    jungle71 , 22 May 2013 12:33
    i got the 650 ti, real good and cheap too
  • 0 Hide
    aje21 , 22 May 2013 13:49
    Why is the Intel column missing the newer graphics models, and even HD2500 isn't there (though HD4000 is).
  • 0 Hide
    damian86 , 21 June 2013 00:59
    Am I the only one around here who thinks Geforce 7 are more expensive than when series 6 came out, if you compare the very high end ones such as 780 or 770 you will still spend either 340 or 500 quid. But if you decide to go for a lower range you don't get a reasonably fast card?

    So is it me doing a bad research or this year graphics cards are much more expensive than last time?
  • 0 Hide
    damian86 , 21 June 2013 01:01
    Am I the only one around here who thinks Geforce 7 are more expensive than when series 6 came out, if you compare the very high end ones such as 780 or 770 you will still spend either 340 or 500 quid. But if you decide to go for a lower range you don't get a reasonably fast card?

    So is it me doing a bad research or this year graphics cards are much more expensive than last time?
  • 0 Hide
    damian86 , 21 June 2013 01:03
    Am I the only one around here who thinks Geforce 7 are more expensive than when series 6 came out, if you compare the very high end ones such as 780 or 770 you will still spend either 340 or 500 quid. But if you decide to go for a lower range you don't get a reasonably fast card? So is it me doing a bad research or this year graphics cards are much more expensive than last time?