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Best High-End Graphics Cards

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: August 2013
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Best PCIe Card For ~£290

Radeon HD 7970

Great 2560x1600 performance

Radeon HD 7970
Codename: Tahiti
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 2048
Texture Units: 128
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 384-bit
Core Speed MHz: 925
Memory Speed MHz: 1,375 (5,500 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11.1/SM 5
Max TDP:
250 W

The Radeon HD 7970 started its life as a £450+ flagship. Hammered all the way down to £290 over time, this powerful product is now our value pick for high-resolution gaming. It's easily able to handle 1920x1080, and is typically still playable at 2560x1440 and higher if you're using a three-screen Eyefinity setup.

Best PCIe Card For ~£330:

GeForce GTX 770

Great 2560x1600 performance

GeForce GTX 770
Codename: GK104
Process: 28 nm
Unified Shaders: 1536
Texture Units: 128
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed (Turbo) MHz: 1046 (1085)
Memory Speed MHz: 1752 (7008 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5
Max TDP:
230 W

The 770 might be a new model, but it's basically a GeForce GTX 680 with higher clock rates, improved cooling, and a lower price tag. We're not big fans of re-spinning existing hardware with fresh nomenclature, but the GeForce GTX 770 earns our respect for delivering very high performance at a reasonable price point (in this case, £330). What you'll spend over a HD 7970 is justified, we think.

Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 770 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 :)