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Best PCIe Card: Budget

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2013
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Best PCIe Card For £105:

GeForce GTX 650 Ti

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

GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Codename: GK106
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 768
Texture Units: 64
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 925
Memory Speed MHz: 1,350 (5,400 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:110 W

Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti is the best £105 card out there, notably faster than the Radeon HD 7770 (AMD's card is cheaper, but this card's performance justifies a slightly higher price). It's not quite as quick as the Radeon HD 7790, but that card costs more, pitting it against the superior GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 1 GB for £130.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£140
GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games

GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB
Codename: GK106
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 768
Texture Units: 64
ROPs: 24
Memory Bus: 192-bit
Core Speed (Turbo) MHz: 980 (1,033)
Memory Speed MHz: 1,502 (6,008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:
140 W

With performance right on par with the Radeon HD 7850, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2 GB delivers an incredible gaming experience for under £140. In essence, this card is a GeForce GTX 650 Ti with its clock rates and 192-bit memory interface borrowed from the GeForce GTX 660. There's not much more to add, except that, right now, this board is our gaming value favorite under £150.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce 650 Ti Boost for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£160
GeForce GTX 660

Good 1920x1200 performance

GeForce GTX 660
Codename: GK106
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 960
Texture Units: 80
ROPs: 24
Memory Bus: 192-bit
Core Speed (Turbo) MHz: 980 (1,033)
Memory Speed MHz: 1,502 (6,008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:
140 W

Up until now, the GeForce GTX 660 was overpriced compared to the slightly-faster Radeon HD 7870. But after a considerable reduction, Nvidia's GK106-based board is one of the better values currently available.

Simultaneously, the Radeon HD 7870 goes from best-in-class to, frankly, a hard sell. Particularly with the Tahiti-based Radeon HD 7870 selling around £170 or £180, Pitcairn-based boards just aren't as attractive.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660 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?