Categories:

PCI-Express Interface <£50 - £65

03:09 - Tuesday 11 September 2007 by Don Woligroski
Source: Tom's hardware UK – Keywords: graphics, video, budget
Categories: Hardware

PCI-Express Interface <£50 - £65

Ad

Best PCI-E Card For Under £50 (inc VAT):

GeForce 7300 GT GDDR3

Codename: G73
Process: 90nm
Pixel Shaders: 8
Vertex Shaders: 4
Texture Units: 8
ROPs: 8
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 400
Memory Speed MHz: 400 (800 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 9.0c / SM 3.0

With the price of the 8600 at £65, the 7600 GS is too expensive to be recommended anymore. Instead, the 7300 GT is a low-price alternative for those who want to do as much gaming as they can for as little money as possible. Priced as low as £35, the 7300 GT is a good fit for the job and almost as fast as the 7600 GS.

Best PCI-E Card For £65 (inc VAT): Tie

GeForce 8600 GT

Codename: G84
Process: 80nm
Universal Shaders: 32
Texture Units: 16
ROPs: 8
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 540
Memory Speed MHz: 700 (1400 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 10 / SM 4.0

Prices of the new midrange DirectX 10 video cards have plummeted in the past month. The 8600 GT is slightly ahead of the old 7600 GT and X1650 XT in raw performance in the £65 price category. In addition to speed, the 8600 GT has the added bonus of being DirectX 10 compatible, as well as being a good overclocker.

TAKE NOTE: Beware of slower DDR2 versions of the 8600 GT! The GDDR3 versions are the recommended cards, DDR2 equipped 8600 GTs will be notably slower.

Radeon HD 2600 XT

Codename: RV630
Process: 65nm
Universal Shaders: 128
Texture Units: 8
ROPs: 4
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 800 (1600 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 10 / SM 4.0

The performance of the 2600 XT is very close to the Geforce 8600 GT, although the Geforce seems to have the edge when antialiasing is enabled. However, the 2600 XT is a bit cheaper than most 8600 GT’s on average, with prices starting at £60. With this in mind, we still consider it a viable alternative in this price bracket.

NOTE: Many GDDR3 2600 XT’s appear to be clocked at 700 MHz (1400 effective) instead of the 800 MHz (1600 effective) reference speed. While this shouldn’t make a huge difference in performance, it is a bit on the disappointing side.


Talkback
joetempleman 11/09/2007 08:04
Hide
-0+
joetempleman
Great post, but it would be cool to say whether or not its worth spending £180 compared to £120. I think a lot of people spend £120, then are very dissapointed with the lack of speed compared.

Note You are going to post a comment as anonymous.



  •
Submit my comment
Google Ads