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Best PCIe Card: Mid-range

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2013
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Best PCIe Card For ~£180:

Radeon HD 7870 (Tahiti-Based)

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

Radeon HD 7870 (Tahiti-Based)
Codename: Tahiti LE
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 1,536
Texture Units: 96
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed/Boost MHz: 925/975
Memory Speed MHz: 1,500 (6,000 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:200 W

Although these cards bear the Radeon HD 7870 model designation, a number of 7870s are floating around with handicapped Tahiti GPUs, rather than the Pitcairn graphics processor you'd expect. We recently took a look at this derivative's potential in Tahiti LE, Tested: PowerColor's HD7870 PCS+ Myst Edition, and are therefore confident replacing the Pitcairn-based 7870 with this card as our sole recommendation at £180.

Best PCIe Card For ~£230:

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
Unified Shaders: 1,792
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 384-bit
Core Speed MHz: 850
Memory Speed MHz: 1,250 (5,000 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:200 W

As the price of Radeon HD 7950 cards with AMD's Boost technology drop closer to their reference-class predecessors, they start offering better value for somewhere between the Radeon HD 7870 (Tahiti LE) and GeForce GTX 670. The allure is that you get slightly more performance without the need to overclock manually 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 670
Codename: GK104
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 1,344
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core (Boost) Speed MHz: 915 (1,033)
Memory Speed MHz: 1,502 (6,008 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 was one of our favorite cards right when it launched. It remains a cool, quiet, and attractive option 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
    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?