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The following article was published in our article directory on November 4, 2009.
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Best Video Cards for the Best Price

Article Category: Computers and Technology

Excessively detailed video card specifications are great—that is, if you have the time to do the research. But at the end of the day, what the true gamer needs is the best video card for the best price.

Now the only question left is, "What is the best video card for my price range?" Well have no worries, for us at the Overclocker Zone have come to offer a hand.

As more and more GPUs from ATI and Nvidia join the market, older cards keep getting cheaper and cheaper. The amount of very powerful graphics cards at the $100 price point is mind-blowing: The Radeon HD 3850, GeForce 8800 GS, 9800 GSO, GeForce 9600 GT, and GeForce 8800 GT 512MB can all be had in the neighborhood of this very low price.

In August 2008, the Radeon HD 4870 X2—AMD's dual-4870s-on-a-card—arrived in force, giving AMD the championship title in its ring again.

Nvidia, of course, was quick to retaliate in introducing the GeForce GTX 260 and GeForce 9800 GX2. This really softened the Radeon HD 4870's thunder and it now shares the $270 recommendation with these two excellent high-performing cards.

Now it is time to give you a taste of some powerful graphics cards that don't take a chunk out of your wallet. We will be posting video cards inthe following price ranges: Under $130, $130 to $300 and $300 and up. Enjoy!

Some Notes About Our Recommendations

A few simple guidelines to keep in mind when reading this list include:

- This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don't play games, the cards in this list are more expensive than what you really need;
- Prices and availability changes on a daily basis. We can't offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing info, but we can list some good cards that you probably won't regret buying at the price ranges we suggest;
- The list is based on some of the best U.S. prices from online retailers. In other countries or retail, your mileage will most certainly vary;
- These are new card prices. No used or open box cards are in the list; they might be a good deal, but it's out of the scope of what we're trying to do.

Best PCI Express Video Cards Under $130
In the Neighborhood of $60:
Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR3
Codename: RV630
Process: 65nm
Universal Shaders: 128
Texture Units: 8
ROPs: 4
Memory Bus: 128-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 700 (1400 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 10 / SM 4.0

The performance of the 2600 XT is a great gaming baseline, and it can handle most things at the 1280x1024 resolution. If you want a cheap gaming card to get you by, the 2600 XT will do the job—just make sure you get the GDDR3 version, not the slower DDR2 edition!

Now for the bad boy of the group, sold around $120, the GeForce 8800 GT 512MB:
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (aka GeForce 9800 GT 512MB)
Codename: G92
Process: 65nm
Universal Shaders: 112
Texture Units: 56
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 600
Memory Speed MHz: 900 (1800 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 10 / SM 4.0

The 8800 GT offers incredible GeForce 8800 GTX-class performance at almost half the price. It beats both the Radeon HD 3870 and GeForce 9600 GT by a notable margin, and has never been seen as cheap as it is seen today. Even with all of the excellent cards in the $90 to $110 category, such as the Radeon HD 3850, GeForce 8800 GS, 9800 GSO, and 9600 GT, the GeForce 8800 GT at $120 trumps them all.

Also look for the 8800 GTs near-identical sibling, the 9800 GT, which is essentially an 8800 GT with 3-way SLI support.

Best PCIe Video Cards $130 to $300
Best PCI Express Video Cards $130 to $300

For around $170 you can get:
Radeon HD 4850
Codename: RV770
Process: 55nm
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

The Radeon HD 4850 is the new people's champion, instantly bringing yesterday's $300 performance level down to the mainstream $170 price point. The Radeon HD 4850 will usually best the GeForce 9800 GTX, and even the more expensive 9800 GTX+. This card has a lot of potential when used on its own, and becomes a devastating force when paired with a second 4850 in a CrossFire configuration.

In the Neighborhood of $300 we have a tie—a tie between two superpowers, between two rivals—the Radeon HD 4870 and the GeForce GTX 260.
For ATI, in the blue corner, we have the:
Radeon HD 4870
Codename: RV770
Process: 55nm
Universal Shaders: 800
Texture Units: 40
ROPs: 16
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 750
Memory Speed MHz: 900 (3600 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 10.1 / SM 4.0

The Radeon HD 4870 offers the same architecture as the 4850-series paired with its secret weapon: brand new GDDR5 memory. Because GDDR5 provides about twice as much throughput compared to GDDR3, its 900 MHZ clock speed
is comparable to a 3600 MHZ effective memory speed. This edge allows the 4870 to up the ante and offer very compelling performance for the price, in some titles competing with the more expensive GTX 280.

In the red corner, for Nvidia, we have the:
GeForce GTX 260
Codename: GT200
Process: 65nm
Universal Shaders: 192
Texture Units: 64
ROPs: 28
Memory Bus: 448-bit
Core Speed MHz: 576
Memory Speed MHz: 999 (1998 effective)
DirectX / Shader Model DX 10 / SM 4.0

The GeForce GTX 260 offers compelling performance now that it's price has been reduced to the $270 price point, allowing it to trade blows with the Radeon HD 4870 on it's own turf. This is one of those situations where a buyer really should examine the game titles they plan to play and do some research into which performs better, although you really can't go wrong with either card.

Best PCIe Video Cards $300
Best PCI Express Video Cards $300 & up

Now we are getting in to the area of the big timers. We're not in Kansas anymore.

The best PCI Express card for more than $300 resides in the neighborhood of $340:
2x Radeon HD 4850 in CrossFire Configuration
Codename: RV770
Process: 55nm
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, AMD has really learned to squeeze the performance out of their new cards. It looks like while a single Radeon HD 4850 performs in the same realm as the GeForce 9800 GTX, two 4850's in Crossfire will completely decimate the dual-GPU GeForce 9800 GX2 and even put the hurt on the powerful new GeForce GTX 280. Remember, the GeForce GTX 280 costs about $80 more than two Radeon HD 4850 cards!
Best PCI Express Card For Over $350: None

With exponentially increasing prices over $350 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 two 4850's in Crossfire mode unless you're playing at resolutions beyond 1920x1200. But for now, the power of two 4850's in Crossfire is our top recommendation for price/performance.

On a final note, users with an Nvidia chipset or a single PCIe slot should remember that they are not able to purchase two Radeon 4850's in CrossFire, as their motherboards will not accept them. In this case, options like two GeForce 9800 GTX+ cards, the GeForce GTX 280, and the Radeon 4870 X2 are more attractive options. While these solutions are powerful and might be ideal for a few users who are playing at resolutions higher than 1920x1200, the price performance ratio is not attractive enough for us to include them on our recommended list.

Keywords: video cards, best graphics card, nvidia, ati

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