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.
Wonder when prices will come down to Earth.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1914&subid=2294
(Really hope this doesn't get me the bannhammer)
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