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Best Enthusiast Graphics Cards

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: August 2013
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Best PCIe Card For ~£175:

Radeon HD 7870

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

Radeon HD 7870
Codename: Pitcairn
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 1280
Texture Units: 80
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 1000
Memory Speed MHz: 1200
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:175 W

The Radeon HD 7870 performs a bit faster than Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660. However, a recent price drop to £175 earns this AMD card our sole recommendation. It's a serious gaming board capable of playable frame rates at high resolutions. Currently, the 7870 is your most powerful option south of £180.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 7870 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Best PCIe Card For ~£210: Tie

GeForce GTX 760

Great 2560x1600 performance

GeForce GTX 760
Codename: GK104 (Kepler)
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 1152
Texture Units: 96
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed (Turbo) MHz: 980 MHz (1033 MHz Turbo)
Memory Speed MHz: 1502 MHz (GDDR5)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX11/SM5.0
Max TDP:
170 W

The GeForce GTX 760 introduces GeForce GTX 70 and Radeon HD 7950-class speed down to a £210 price point, displacing the Tahiti-based Radeon HD 7870 LE with even more performance per pound. Because of this, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 760 is one of our favorite cards on the market right now.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 760 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

Radeon HD 7950 Boost

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

Radeon HD 7950 Boost
Codename: Tahiti
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 1792
Texture Units: 112
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus:
256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 850
Memory Speed MHz: 1250
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP:200 W

In light of a substantial price break on the Radeon HD 7950 with AMD's Boost feature, this card now competes aggressively in a space previously dominated by Nvidia's GeForce GTX 760. Never before have you had access to so much graphics performance for £210.

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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 :)