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Best Entry-Level Graphics Cards

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: August 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 (1600 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 ~£80:

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: 1125
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5.0
Max TDP:80 W

The Radeon HD 7770 can now be found for £80, which is significantly less than the over-ambitious price AMD wanted for the card when it launched. In light of this recent price drop, the Radeon HD 7770 offers a fairly fantastic price/performance ratio. Almost as fast as the Radeon HD 6850 you can't buy any more, this newer board uses only half as much power to get its job done.

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
    aje21 , 21 August 2013 06:49
    Hmm, I miss the "fastest card which doesn't need an auxiliary power connector" recommendation which usually went to the 7750. With the pricing of the 7770, how cheap would the 7750 need to go to make it worth slotting in between the 6670 and 7770?
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 21 August 2013 09:07
    GTX670 for £170 on Novatech!
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 21 August 2013 09:14
    £150 for a 7850? Hell, I nabbed one for £60 of Ebay. One of the 2GB cards with dual fans, too.

    Wonder when prices will come down to Earth.
  • 0 Hide
    bemused_fred , 21 August 2013 09:36
    I don't normally do this sort of thing, but I think I would be doing prospective GTX 760 and HD 7950 buyers a massive disservice if I failed to point out that you can get the GTX 670 (which is better than both) for the same price here:

    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1914&subid=2294

    (Really hope this doesn't get me the bannhammer)
  • 0 Hide
    IIFlexxy , 22 August 2013 17:12
    7950 Windforcex3
  • 0 Hide
    ericlokness , 12 September 2013 14:07
    I am in the process of building a new desktop and wanted to build a linux based system which is also capable of gaming with steam. I am very conscious about how much energy my computer draws - I want to make a lower power, yet powerful computer. (I am aware of the contradiction) How does the Asus GTX650-E-2GD5 stack up against other more power "thirsty" graphics cards? Will I be wasting my money investing in this board? Do you have any other efficient graphics cards that you would recommend for my build?

    Proposed system:
    AMD X4 740 (four cores and 65 watts for only $80!)
    Motherboard (is there much difference in power draw between brands?)
    8GB Corsair Ballistix Memory
    Samsung 840 SSD 500GB
    Asus GTX650-E-2GD5 (only about 65 watts!)
    Rosewell 80 plus Gold PSU

    All told this system will max out at 200 watts, or so that is the estimate. Any recommendations?

    Thanks,
    Newbie Eric :)