Best PCIe Card For ~£200:
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: | 1536 |
| Texture Units: | 96 |
| ROPs: | 32 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed/Boost MHz: | 925/975 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1500 (6000 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 ~£200.
Best PCIe Card For ~£260:
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: | 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 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: | 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 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.
Come on! Gi'es us something new already.
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.
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.