Best Graphics Cards for November 2010
Buying the best graphics card that gives you be best performance at the cheapest price is not easy to manage unless you are an expert. We make it easy by reviewing the latest graphics card available so that we can recommend the best graphics card for you at the lowest cost no matter what your budget is. Here are our weekly recommendations.
Best graphics card for under £50: ATI HD 4650 1GB
For under £50 we have to be realistic, you are not going get a graphics card capable of playing the latest games on the highest graphics settings but you can still get some great performance at this price rang provided that you know what to look for. Most companies will try to sell you very weak cards at this price so be especially careful.
We have found a real bargain this month: the ATI HD 4650 for £48 available right here from Amazon. With 320 stream processors you will be able to play all of the latest games at medium graphics settings which is some feat for a £48! It uses little power too so almost any power supply should be able to run it.
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Best graphics card for £100
This is a tricky price point. Not because there are no good graphics cards under £100 but because for just a little bit more you will get a lot more power and subsequently value for money. So we recommend to spend that little bit more and get an Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 768MB for £130. This is the card we are talking about, the Asus TOP GTX 460 offering Asus top build quality and superior 3 year warranty and if that wasnt enough the top signifies that Asus have overclocked this card to make it faster than what other manufacturers offer.
Why do we love this card? Simple. It will play any of the latest games on the highest graphics settings, which is quite astonishing at a £130 price tag.
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Best graphics card for £200: ATI HD 6870 1GB
Just released are the latest ATI 6 series graphics cards and boy are they powerful. The HD 6870 1GB is a beast of a card giving you great performance at any graphics settings and resolutions. If you have £200 buy the HD 6870 if you cant spare as much than that then the GTX 460 will serve you well. The cheapest HD 6870 is available here at Novatech for £205 with free delivery, but hurry as they are so new that they are hard to find.
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Best graphics card for £300
Another tricky price point where things get really expensive. Part of me suggests you should not be spending so much on a graphics card especially when the HD 6870 above already gives you perfect performance in games. Then again, some of us just need the latest hardware and want to be future proof allowing us to be able to play games coming out next year.
The best value is to get two GTX 460 cards and hook them up in SLI mode costing £260 if you use these cards. You could go out and spend over £300 on a GTX 480 but It isnt worth the money. The same goes for the HD 5970 the fastest single graphics card available today.
Best AGP 8X Graphics Card
Not everyone can afford top of the range and a few have not yet upgraded to PCI-Express graphics cards. Many still try to squeeze the last bit of performance out of their systems before having to upgrade. Luckily ATI and NVIDIA are still making AGP cards leaving you with a couple of upgrade options. As computer game performance is driven mainly by graphics card performance rather than processor (about 75% graphics card, 25% processor) it is still possible to get a large performance gain out of your PC by imply upgrading your graphics card.
For the best AGP graphics card on the market there is no competition as the ATI HD 3850 512MB AGP card is by far the best card out there. No other AGP card comes close. Currently at £90 from Amazon
For those of you that dont want to spend so much there really isnt a middle option. Your next best bet is the ATI X1650 PRO 512MB AGP pro found at Amazon
The ATI HD 3650 512MB AGP card is potentially another option but at £65 and far less powerful then the 3850, I cannot see the logic in getting this card over the 3850. I suppose if you simply cant spend a penny over £65 then this would be your second choice, it is considerably more powerful then the X1650.
In conclusion if you have a budget of £90 then its obvious that the ATI HD 3850 PRO 512MB AGP is the only choice for you. If you are on a stricter budget and cant spend £90 your choice is either to spend £37 on the ATI X1650 PRO 512MB AGP or £65 on the ATI HD 3650 512MB AGP. If you can afford it do stretch and go for the 3650 otherwise the X1650 should still serve you well.
Best Value Graphics Card: ATI HD 2600 PRO 512MB
The Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB is the budget king. At £30 it will enable you to play the latest games albeit at low to medium graphics settings as well as let you watch high definition (HD) movies on your computer.
It obliterates and integrated graphics and just six months ago this was a medium range gaming card. It can now be had for an amazingly low price and offers the best performance for your money.
If you are an occasional gamer or dont need absolute power for your games this is a must have. For those of you that can triple your budget, take a look at the ATI HD 3850 and 9800GT as the extra cash really does pay off at that price range.
ATI HD 4850 512MB Review: The New King of Value for Money
The ATI Radeon HD 4850 is the successor to the respectable ATI Radeon HD 3850 we reviewed a few months ago. Unlike most recent successors the HD 4850 is a completely different card with a massive 800 stream processors and 40 texture units compared to the HD 3850s 320 stream processors and 16 texture units giving the 4850 an incredible advantage over the 3850. We were not surprised to find that the 4850 obliterates the 3850 in any test we threw at it.
Anyone considering purchasing the 3850 would be a fool to choose it over the 4850 right now. In fact, the sheer power of the ATI HD 4850 makes the upgrade decision for any gamer on a budget obvious: you wont find better value for money as the price/performance ratio is the best we have seen in 10 years.
Step aside Nvidia your 8800GT has been beaten. The 8800GT while still a strong card is outperformed by the HD 4850 often by a very wide margin. Anyone considering a 8800GT purchase is strongly recommend to go for the 4850 instead.
The card, available for £120 including delivery at the time of writing will play any current game on the market. It has no problems with Crysis or Farcry 2 unless you want to play them at ridiculous resolutions.
If you are looking for a great graphics card this Christmas you wont find a better card and such a great price. For those that can hold out for the January sales, save £120 for this outstanding card.
Nvidia 8800GT 512MB Review
Move over HD 3850 the Nvidia 8800GT is in town. With current prices of the 8800GT 512MB around £108 you might find it difficult choosing the HD 3850 over the 8800GT even at its lower price.
The 8800GT is clearly the gaming king at the moment for the gamer on a budget. It is roughly 5-10% slower then the £160 8800GTS 512MB making it the best price/performance card on the market today.
With the Nvidia Flagship: the 8800GTX approximately 15% faster in games at then the 8800GT at double the price, it is almost unfathomable for even high end gamers to purchase a 8800GTX at that price take.
It would seem that Nvidia have finally made up for the unimpressive performance of the 8600GT and provided the price conscious gamer with an extremely powerfully card for their money. Any computer gamer currently in the market for a new graphics card wont find a better card.
ATI HD 3850 Review
The ATI HD 3850 provides a lucrative buy for the dedicated gamer on a medium budget. Essentially the HD 3850 is an updated 2900XT, providing last generations top of the range performance but for as low as £110.
The cards overall gaming performance is impressive, putting it about 20% slower then the 8800GT 512MB that is priced approximately 30% higher. The HD 3850 then gives you better value for your money making it the best value card on the market today.
Anyone who is looking to spend around £100 on a new card should without a doubt go for the HD 3850 as you will not find a better card for that budget. For those of you that need to squeeze that extra performance out of your games then spend a little more and go for the Nvidia 8800GT 512MB or even the 8800GTS 512MB.
ATI X1950 PRO The Budget Gaming King?
With prices as low as £73 inc VAT the X1950 Pro 256MB provides impressive gaming performance at an unbelievable price. Greatly outperforming the latest 8600GT(£80) and even the 8600GTS(£120).
With 36 pixel pipelines the X1950 is capable of maintaining high frame rates at high resolutions. For those that are running AGP 8x systems and are looking for an upgrade to PCI-E you wont find a better value card.
Nvidia 8600GT: lacking performance?
It has been some time since the launch of the DX10 cards leaving us with the 8600GT as a medium budget card from the Nvidia camp. With prices starting at £70 the 8600GT follows in the footsteps of its predecessors the 7600GT and the 6600GT Yet comparatively performance seems to be lacking in comparison to the launch of the 6600GT. The new 8600GTS can be blamed, creating yet another category of cards separating the flagship chipset (8800) and the mid range 8600GT. Perhaps Nvidia are moving away from the GS rating that can be seen on the 6600GS and 7600GS cards.
The 8600GT takes advantage of streem processors symbolising a significant step forward in graphics technology, yet their efficiency is left lacking, especially in the 8600GT where the X1950 Pro with 36 pixel pipelines is clearly faster in virtually every scenario.
One of the benefits of the 8600GT is the support of Direct X 10. It must be noted that very little difference can be noticed between direct X 10 and DX9 at this point in time. It is likely that DX10 will not show its true colours for another 6 months or so once game developers become accustomed to the new DX.
Perhaps the best feature of the 8600GT is its overclocking ability. Reports show that an overclock of 30%-40% are achievable without too much effort. For those looking to upgrade within the next month might want to consider the ATI X1950 Pro 256MB, otherwise the 8600GT is still a decent upgrade.
Hardware prices are lower then ever before, find the cheapest prices here at Graphics Card.