PCI-Express Interface

03:55 - Tuesday 3 July 2007 by Don Woligroski
Source: Tom's Hardware – Keywords: the, best, gaming, video, cards, for, the, money, uk

PCI-Express Interface

Ad
Best PCI-E Card For Under £50 / €90
GeForce 7300 GT DDR2
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)

With the price of the X1650 XT and 7600 GT touching the same price point, 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. The 7300 GT is a good fit for that job.

Best PCI-E Card For ~£80 / €100
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)

Prices of the new midrange DirectX 10 video cards have dropped like a rock in the past month. The 8600 GT was a terrible buy previously, but now it's much more attractive. The 8600 GT will slightly beat the old 7600 GT and X1650 XT in raw performance in the 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.

NOTE: beware of slower DDR2 versions of the 8600 GT! The GDDR3 versions are the recommended cards. Also note that the upcoming Radeon 2600 XT will also be a good alternative to the 8600 GT if it's released at the same price.


Talkback
Be the first to comment on this review!

Note You are going to post a comment as anonymous.



  •
Submit my comment
Google Ads