Best PCIe Card: $95 To $165
Best PCIe Card For ~$100 : Tie
Good 1680x1050 performance in most games; 1920x1200 in most titles with some lowered detail
| Radeon HD 4830 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV770LE |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 640 |
| Texture Units: | 32 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 575 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (1,800 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
The new Radeon HD 4830 finally gives AMD something with which to compete against the legendary GeForce 8800 GT (as well as its identical sibling, the GeForce 9800 GT). Just as the GeForce 8800 GT is a crippled GeForce 8800 GTS 512, the Radeon HD 4830 is a crippled Radeon HD 4850. Both cards are excellent and which one wins over the other depends on the game or the image-quality settings.
| GeForce 8800 GT / 9800 GT | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | G92 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 112 |
| Texture Units: | 56 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 650 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1,000 (2,000 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10/SM 4.0 |
The GeForce 9800 GT prices have dropped a little over the past few weeks, and Radeon HD 4830 prices have come up a tad, so the card rejoins the recommended list. Both are excellent options at the $100 price bracket, and which you choose should have more to do with whether or not your motherboard supports Nvidia's SLI or AMD's CrossFire for future expansion options.
Best PCIe Card For ~$130 : Tie
Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, some with lowered detail
| GeForce 9800 GTX+ / GeForce GTS 250 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | G92 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 128 |
| Texture Units: | 64 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 738 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1,100 (2,200 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10/SM 4.0 |
Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Sure, as long as the framerates stay the same. Even though the GeForce GTX 250 is a re-badged GeForce 9800 GTX+, the falling prices have kept this slightly older but still powerful graphics technology very much in the game.
| Radeon HD 4850 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV770 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 800 |
| Texture Units: | 40 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 625 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 993 (1,986 effective |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
The Radeon HD 4850 hangs in there, competing with the GeForce 9800 GTX+ / GeForce GTS 250 twins at the same price point. Each card will claim some victories depending on how well it works with a particular graphics engine, but for the relatively low price of $130 neither will disappoint.
Best PCIe Card For ~$165 : None
While the Radeon HD 4870 512MB can be found at this price, it's 1GB sibling can be found for a mere $15 more, as well as the GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216 model). For an extra $15, it's hard not to recommend the upgrade to these full-featured cards.
you should add the 9400m. I would love to see where that falls in performance.
the 780/790 G chipsets would be good to see in this lineup...
I’d be interested to see if these price points were always the same over the years. Possible resolutions and game demands filtering down. But no real gain at any point. Today’s Fair 1920x1200 was Yesterdays Fair 800x600. You still paid $130 so you didn’t have to put up with 640x480
In short.
Best PCI Express (PCIe) Card For ~$70:
Good 1680x1050 most games
Best PCIe Card For ~$85:
Good 1680x1050 most games
Best PCIe Card For ~$100 :
Good 1680x1050 most games
Fair 1920x1200
Best PCIe Card For ~$130 :
Fair 1920x1200
Best PCIe Card For ~$180 :
Great 1920x1200 most games
Best PCIe Card For ~$260 : (X2)
Great 1920x1200 most games
Fair 2560x1600
Best PCIe Card For ~$330 : (X2)
Great 1920x1200
Fair – Good 2560x1600
Best PCIe Card For ~$400: (X2)
Exceptional 1920x1200
Fair – Good 2560x1600
Best PCIe Card For ~$500:
Exceptional 1920x1200
Good 2560x1600
Huh, how can you say about two GTX260s in SLI "as with the single cards, we recommend the older core 192 versions due to the lower price" when the GTX 260 comment is "we are recommending the newer 'Core 216' version of the GeForce GTX 260, instead of the older version with 192 shader processors."
There's a decent little stat typo in your $180 recommendation. You specifically recommend the "GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216)", yet in its specifications you list "Universal Shaders: 192"
So which one are you recommending? The Core 216, or the original GTX 260?
This is also con fuddled more by the error pointed out by aje21.
Oh yeah, I should point out. I just ordered an MSI GTX 260 Core 216 through NewEgg.com a couple days ago. The Core 216 can be had for $189 before MIR (currently $30MIR = $159). So really, I think I'd be hard pressed to recommend the original GTX 260 based on price.
GTX 260 prices in general have come down recently. And with the original GTX being phased out entirely for the Core 216, I'd think the Core 216 would be the best bet for someone who intends to do SLI later on.
I'd love to see the recent IGP's (780G/790G, G35, G43/G45 etc) included in the hierarchy list. Would be usefull to assess when adding a discreet card actually starts making sense.
Thanks for the interesting article.
Mobile GPUs have a separate page accessible from the homepage, and IGPs, even NVidia's, don't need to be compared here as that isn't the point of the article.
You guys got one fact wrong, a GTX 295 is 2x 260's not 280's hence the same amount of cores per gpu and memory bandwidth.
And if CF was as good as SLI then dual 4870 1gb's would outpace the GTX 295 for $140 cheaper.
In my part of the EU prices are MUCH higher -.-
9600gt cost around 90~120euro in grece how do set at 85$ ok. 100euro it's not 85$. 85$ are less euros or the shop here are extremly expenisve
9600gt cost around 90~120euro in grece how do set at 85$ ok. 100euro it's not 85$. 85$ are less euros or the shop here are extremly expenisve
USA and Canada definately seem to enjoy cheapest graphics cards prices for the most part.