PCI-Express Interface £75 - £120
Best PCI-E Card For £75 (inc VAT): TIE
Radeon X1950 PRO
| Codename: | RV570 |
| Process: | 90nm |
| Pixel Shaders: | 36 |
| Vertex Shaders: | 8 |
| Texture Units: | 12 |
| ROPs: | 12 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 575 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 690 (1380 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 9.0c / SM 3.0 |
With no high-performance DirectX 10 cards under £100 to compete against it, the relatively powerful X1950 PRO is enjoying its heyday. The card’s other competition is the 7900 GS, which the X1950 PRO will beat in most benchmarks at stock speeds.
GeForce 7900 GS
| Codename: | G71 |
| Process: | 90nm |
| Pixel Shaders: | 20 |
| Vertex Shaders: | 7 |
| Texture Units: | 20 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 450 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 660 (1320 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 9.0c / SM 3.0 |
Essentially the card is an overclocked 7800 GT, sporting a 256-bit memory bus and decent clock speeds; it’s a very good performer and a solid card for the asking price. While the X1950 PRO is a slightly stronger performer at stock speeds, the 7900 GS enjoys a good overclocking reputation, while the X1950 PRO does not.
BEST PCI-E CARD FOR £120 (inc VAT):
Radeon X1950 XT
| Codename: | R580+ |
| Process: | 90nm |
| Pixel Shaders: | 48 |
| Vertex Shaders: | 8 |
| Texture Units: | 16 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 625 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (1800 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 9.0c / SM 3.0 |
The X1950 XT is a powerful video card. Its core runs a mere 25 MHz slower than that of the X1950 XTX, and its memory runs a full 250 MHz (effective) faster than the X1900 XTX. In plain English, the card is on par with the previous X1900 XTX champ, and fast enough to run at high 1600x1200 with nice eye candy. Admittedly it doesn’t sport DirectX 10 abilities, but that doesn’t really matter: the 8600 GTS – which costs a little more – isn’t even in the same performance league as the X1950 XT. The X1950 XT is an incredible deal at the £100 price point. The next performance tier is almost twice as high at £185, making the X1950 XT a very attractive choice.
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.