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Best Mid-Range Graphics Cards

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: June 2013
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Best PCIe Card For £120:

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: 1350 (5400 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:110 W

Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti is the best £120 card out there, notably faster than the Radeon HD 7770. It's not quite as quick as the Radeon HD 7790, but that board costs more, pitting it against the superior GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 1 GB at £140.

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 (1033)
Memory Speed MHz: 1502 (6008 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 £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 £160.

Because AMD's Radeon HD 7850 2 GB starts at £155, the GeForce takes our sole recommendation.

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 ~£170
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 (1033)
Memory Speed MHz: 1502 (6008 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, Pitcairn-based boards just aren't as attractive in terms of pricing.

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
    MajinCry , 24 June 2013 18:11
    I'm getting tired of the low/mid-end stagnating. I mean, the Ati 4670 is, afaik, 50% faster than the 3670. The 5670 is also around 50% faster than the 4670. The 6670, however, is virtually the same as the 5670. There's also no 7670.

    Come on! Gi'es us something new already.
  • 0 Hide
    tstebbens , 28 June 2013 11:43
    At the beginning of this month I bought a VTX3D 7870 Black Edition. This is a 7870 based on the Tahiti GPU. Tom's are saying this is best value at the £200 price point so I'm feeling rather smug that I got mine for £165. I was replacing my venerable GTX 260 and I have to say it is an amazingly good card for the money.

    I was worried about buying VTX3D as they aren't a well known brand to me, but so far it has been rock solid. The card feels well constructed and the single fan (something else I was worried about; I wanted a dual-fan card originally) is much quieter than I would have guessed - even under load.

    If you're looking to get a new graphics card in the £160 - £180 region then you'd be stupid not to consider this card.
  • 0 Hide
    Cyberoam , 28 June 2013 12:36
    As Don says, the card to get is on your needs and budget. Obviously budget needs to be in line with your requirement.

    For years I've been good with integrated and <£30/$50 GPU's. But now after getting more into PC gaming and video editing, decided to get the best I could afford... A Gigabyte 770 OC 4GB. Should be good enough for a few years.