Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Graphics Cards > THG Graphics Card Buyers Guide

Price Categories

06:00 - Wednesday 10 November 2004 by Lars Weinand

Let's now take a look at the three main price categories. We begin with the cheapest cards, which are the entry-level or low-budget products. These fall either into the sub $100 category, or the price bracket between $100 and $150. The second category, usually called the "mainstream", begins at $150 and reaches up to the $300 mark. In this category, the largest selection of cards can be found between $150 and $250. Last, we have the enthusiast category which starts at around $300 and extends to $500 (and well beyond, in some cases.) This is where the latest top models from ATI and NVIDIA are to be found.

In the following overview, we have also listed cards from older generations that are still available in the market. The prices quoted here are current as of mid October 2004; we take no guarantee for the correctness of this information.

Entry-Level
Price Range	Bus	Lowest Price	Model	Memory	Memory Bus	Shader Model	Pixel Pipes
<$99	AGP	$35	XGI Volari V3	64 MB	64 bit	1.3	2
		$45	XGI Volari V3	128 MB	64 bit	1.3	2
		$46	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200	128 MB	64 bit	2	4
		$55	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$56	ATI Radeon 9550 SE	128 MB	64 bit	2	4
		$60	ATI Radeon 9600 SE/LE	128 MB	64 bit	2	4
		$63	Matrox Millennium G550	32MB	64 bit	DX6	2
		$64	ATI Radeon 9550	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$65	ATI Radeon 9600 SE/LE	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$70	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$79	ATI Radeon 9550	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$80	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500	128 MB	64 bit	2	4
		$80	ATI Radeon 9600	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$82	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$92	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$95	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 LE	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
	PCIe	$75	ATI Radeon X300 SE	128 MB	64 bit	2	4
		$77	NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5300	128 MB	64 bit	DX7	2
$100 - $149	AGP	$100	ATI Radeon 9600	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$106	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$110	ATI Radeon 9600 Pro	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$130	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200U	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$125	ATI Radeon 9600 Pro	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$126	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$131	ATI Radeon 9800 SE	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$140	ATI Radeon 9600 XT	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
	PCIe	$105	ATI Radeon X300	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$115	NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5750	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$135	NVIDIA GeForce 6600	128 MB	128 bit	3	8
Mainstream
Price Range	Bus	Lowest Price	Model	Memory	Memory	Shader Model	Pixel Pipes
$150-$199	AGP	$160	Matrox Millennium P650	64 MB	128 bit	1.3	2
		$161	ATI Radeon 9600 XT	256 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$164	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$175	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 SE/XT	128 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$195	Matrox Millennium P750	64 MB	128 bit	1.3	2
	PCIe	$150	ATI Radeon X600 Pro	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$170	NVIDIA GeForce 6600	256 MB	128 bit	3	8
		$175	ATI Radeon X600 XT	128 MB	128 bit	2	4
		$180	ATI Radeon X700 Pro	128 MB	128 bit	2	8
$200-$299	AGP	$200	ATI Radeon 9800 Pro	128 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$215	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900	128 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$250	ATI Radeon 9800 Pro	256 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$270	NVIDIA GeForce 6800	128 MB	256 bit	3	12
		$288	Matrox Parhelia 128	128 MB	256 bit	1.3	4
	PCIe	$200	NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5900	128 MB	256 bit	2	8
Enthusiast
Price Range	Bus	Lowest Price	Model	Memory	Memory	Shader Model	Pixel Pipes
$300-$399	AGP	$303	ATI Radeon 9800XT	256 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$350	NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT	256 MB	256 bit	3	16
		$369	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra	256 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$370	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra	256 MB	256 bit	2	8
		$380	ATI Radeon X800 Pro	256 MB	256 bit	2	12
	PCIe	-	-
$400-$499	AGP	$465	ATI Radeon X800 XT	256 MB	256 bit	2	16
	PCIe	-	-
>$500	AGP	$525	NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra	256 MB	256 bit	3	16
		$550	Matrox Parhelia 256	256 MB	256 bit	1.3	4
		$680	ATI Radeon X800 XT PE	256 MB	256 bit	2	16
	PCIe	$560	ATI Radeon X800 XT	256 MB	256 bit	2	16
Not Available Yet (in USA)
Price Range	Bus	Lowest Price	Model	Memory	Memory	Shader Model	Pixel Pipes
	AGP		NVIDIA GeForce 6600	128 MB	128 bit	3	8
			NVIDIA GeForce 6600	256 MB	128 bit	3	8
			NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT	128 MB	128 bit	3	8
			NVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE	128 MB	128 bit	3	8
			S3 S8 Deltachrome
			XGI Volari V5 Series
			XGI Volari V8 Series
	PCIe		NVIDIA GeForce 6800U	256 MB	256 bit	3	16
			NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT	256 MB	256 bit	3	16
			NVIDIA GeForce 6800	128 MB	256 bit	3	12
			NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT	128 MB	128 bit	3	8
			NVIDIA GeForce 6200	128 MB	128 bit	3	4
			ATI Radeon X700 Pro	256 MB	128 bit	2	8
			ATI Radeon X700 XT	128 MB	128 bit	2	8
			ATI Radeon X800 Pro	256 MB	256 bit	2	12
			ATI Radeon X800 XT PE	256 MB	256 bit	2	16

Note that in some cases it is rather difficult to determine which models actually exist in the market and what specifications they use. The low-cost sector, especially, is flooded with a multitude of different configurations for the same basic chip. A good starting place to get an overview is Gigabyte's product page .