Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Graphics Cards > Best Video Cards For The Money: Dec '08

PCIe Interface: $310 and Up

06:10 - Thursday 4 December 2008 by Don Woligroski

Best PCIe Card For $320:

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail

**2x Radeon HD 4850 in CrossFire Configuration**
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 (1986 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model	DX 10.1 / SM 4.0

In the 4850 CrossFire benchmarks we’ve seen so far, we’ve found that AMD has really learned to squeeze the performance out of its new cards. While a single Radeon HD 4850 performs in the same realm as the GeForce 9800 GTX, two 4850s in CrossFire mode will completely decimate the dual-GPU GeForce 9800 GX2—and even put the hurt on the more expensive GeForce GTX 280.

Best PCIe Card For $370:

Good 1920x1200 performance in most games, 2560x1600 in most titles with some lowered detail

**Radeon HD 4850 X2**
Codename:	RV770
Process:	55 nm
Universal Shaders:	1,600
Texture Units:	80
ROPs:	32
Memory Bus:	256-bit
Core Speed MHz:	750
Memory Speed MHz:	900 (3,600 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model	DX 10.1 / SM 4.0

The 4850 X2 differentiates itself from a cheaper 4850 CrossFire setup with a full 2 GB of RAM, which usually allows this card to perform better than Nvidia’s flagship GeForce GTX 280 for less money. While the gains over two 4850s in a CrossFire setup might be minimal, those of you without a CrossFire-compatible motherboard will find the 4850 X2 more convenient—just make sure your case and power supply can accommodate the beast.

Best PCIe Card For Over $400:

Good 2560x1600 performance in most games, some with lowered detail

**Radeon HD 4870 X2**
Codename:	RV770
Process:	55 nm
Universal Shaders:	1,600
Texture Units:	80
ROPs:	32
Memory Bus:	256-bit
Core Speed MHz:	750
Memory Speed MHz:	900 (3,600 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model	DX 10.1 / SM 4.0

In this author’s opinion, with exponentially increasing prices over $370 offering smaller and smaller performance increases, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than two Radeon HD 4850s. While the 4870, GTX 260, and GTX 280 perform impressively in multiple-card configurations, there’s just not enough of a gain compared to a Radeon 4850 X2, unless you’re playing at resolutions beyond 1920x1200.

Then again, while we often recommend against purchasing any graphics card more than $370 from a value point of view, there are those of you for whom money might not be much of an object, who can afford a 30” LCD monitor and who require the best possible performance money can buy. For those of you, we recommend the $500 Radeon HD 4870 X2, the fastest video card on the planet.