Winners and Losers
It's tempting to proclaim the fastest card the "winner" of any graphics card roundup, and that probably wouldn't be frowned upon at an enthusiast site like ExtremeTech, but we want to give you more. We realize that not everyone's budget is the same, nor does everyone feel the need to play games at high resolutions with AA and AF enabled. We're going to break our cards into four price categories and tell you the best and worst in each.
Sub-$100
Only the MSI RX1300 Pro is worth buying: Avoid the other two like the plague. Sure, they're better than Intel Integrated Graphics, but you can do a lot better without spending a whole lot more. If you pick up a Radeon X550 or GeForce 7300 GS, you're almost certain to be disappointed.
Sub-$200
There are lots of great options under $200. Nvidia's new GeForce 7600 cards lead the pack. eVGA's 7600 GS is passively cooled (look ma: no fans!) and delivers pretty impressive performance for only $139. Similarly, their slightly overclocked 7600 GT is a fantastic value closer to the $200 mark. The only "loser" in this price range is Diamond's X800 GTO. This is dated technology, and we recommend you avoid it in favor of a card from the newer X1000 series (from Diamond or another manufacturer). Doom 3 performance certainly played a role in Nvidia's dominance here, boosting up those cards' average frame rate. The cards based on ATI's X1600 chipset actually represent a better overall value if you don't plan to play games based on the Doom 3 engine.
Sub-$350
Just over $200 lies XFX highly overclocked GeForce 7600 GT XXX card, one of the best values in this entire roundup. It's right on the threshold where enabling AA and AF may slow down some games a little too much, while others will run fine. The next best value also comes from XFX, in the form of their overclocked GeForce 7900 GT XXX. The Radeon X1800 GTO from ATI is a good value as well, and without Nvidia's dominance in Doom 3 engine games, it looks even more attractive. Stay away from the X800 XL, though. This was one of our favorite value cards until recent weeks, when dramatic price drops brought newer-generation cards into its price range.
$350+
Moving into the high-end cards, overall value seems to even out. The best overall performance for the money is ATI's Radeon X1900 XT (not the XTX version). XFX's overclocked GeForce 7900 GTX XXX isn't really worth the dough, but don't let that steer you away from all 7900 GTX cards. As we noted in our GeForce 7900 review, other versions aren't much slower, and at around $50 to $60 cheaper, they're a better buy.
How much card do you need?
If you have an aging computer and only need a stopgap graphics card to hold you over until a major computer upgrade in six months to a year, eVGA's GeForce 7600 GS is a great idea. Of course, many people in this situation have an AGP slot, in which case this roundup doesn't necessarily apply. Still, at $139 you can't beat the performance.
If you absolutely, positively have to keep it under $100, get MSI's RX1300 Pro. No other sub-$100 card (except perhaps Radeon X1300 Pro cards from other brands) comes close, and they're not bargains.
We generally recommend that users expect to spend around $200 if they want a decent graphics card that won't force too many compromises in today's games. Cards based on Nvidia's GeForce 7600 GT are fantastic deals, with overclocked variants coming in just beneath or just over $200, depending on how highly overclocked they are. eVGA's e-GeForce 7600 GT CO is a steal, and XFX's higher-clocked GeForce 7600 GT XXX is a real bargain as well. These two cards represent the best price/performance ratio in this entire roundup, in any price category, and they don't even require a PCIe power plug.
If you're going to spend more than $200, we have two suggestions. One is to spend $300 to $350 for a GeForce 7900 GT-based card (XFX's overclocked XXX variant, at $350, is a good value). These cards are small and power-efficient, only take up a single slot, and their cooling solutions are relatively small and quiet. In some games, they're faster than cards costing $100 more.
If you really want to go all out with a 512MB card that will let you run nearly all modern games with AA and AF applied, and future games with all the details cranked up (though perhaps not with AA and AF), a Radeon X1900 XT is your best bet. The XTX version is an identical card, $80 more expensive and it's not even clocked that much higher.
For the Detailed Review visit ExtremeTech
It's tempting to proclaim the fastest card the "winner" of any graphics card roundup, and that probably wouldn't be frowned upon at an enthusiast site like ExtremeTech, but we want to give you more. We realize that not everyone's budget is the same, nor does everyone feel the need to play games at high resolutions with AA and AF enabled. We're going to break our cards into four price categories and tell you the best and worst in each.
Sub-$100
Only the MSI RX1300 Pro is worth buying: Avoid the other two like the plague. Sure, they're better than Intel Integrated Graphics, but you can do a lot better without spending a whole lot more. If you pick up a Radeon X550 or GeForce 7300 GS, you're almost certain to be disappointed.
Sub-$200
There are lots of great options under $200. Nvidia's new GeForce 7600 cards lead the pack. eVGA's 7600 GS is passively cooled (look ma: no fans!) and delivers pretty impressive performance for only $139. Similarly, their slightly overclocked 7600 GT is a fantastic value closer to the $200 mark. The only "loser" in this price range is Diamond's X800 GTO. This is dated technology, and we recommend you avoid it in favor of a card from the newer X1000 series (from Diamond or another manufacturer). Doom 3 performance certainly played a role in Nvidia's dominance here, boosting up those cards' average frame rate. The cards based on ATI's X1600 chipset actually represent a better overall value if you don't plan to play games based on the Doom 3 engine.
Sub-$350
Just over $200 lies XFX highly overclocked GeForce 7600 GT XXX card, one of the best values in this entire roundup. It's right on the threshold where enabling AA and AF may slow down some games a little too much, while others will run fine. The next best value also comes from XFX, in the form of their overclocked GeForce 7900 GT XXX. The Radeon X1800 GTO from ATI is a good value as well, and without Nvidia's dominance in Doom 3 engine games, it looks even more attractive. Stay away from the X800 XL, though. This was one of our favorite value cards until recent weeks, when dramatic price drops brought newer-generation cards into its price range.
$350+
Moving into the high-end cards, overall value seems to even out. The best overall performance for the money is ATI's Radeon X1900 XT (not the XTX version). XFX's overclocked GeForce 7900 GTX XXX isn't really worth the dough, but don't let that steer you away from all 7900 GTX cards. As we noted in our GeForce 7900 review, other versions aren't much slower, and at around $50 to $60 cheaper, they're a better buy.
How much card do you need?
If you have an aging computer and only need a stopgap graphics card to hold you over until a major computer upgrade in six months to a year, eVGA's GeForce 7600 GS is a great idea. Of course, many people in this situation have an AGP slot, in which case this roundup doesn't necessarily apply. Still, at $139 you can't beat the performance.
If you absolutely, positively have to keep it under $100, get MSI's RX1300 Pro. No other sub-$100 card (except perhaps Radeon X1300 Pro cards from other brands) comes close, and they're not bargains.
We generally recommend that users expect to spend around $200 if they want a decent graphics card that won't force too many compromises in today's games. Cards based on Nvidia's GeForce 7600 GT are fantastic deals, with overclocked variants coming in just beneath or just over $200, depending on how highly overclocked they are. eVGA's e-GeForce 7600 GT CO is a steal, and XFX's higher-clocked GeForce 7600 GT XXX is a real bargain as well. These two cards represent the best price/performance ratio in this entire roundup, in any price category, and they don't even require a PCIe power plug.
If you're going to spend more than $200, we have two suggestions. One is to spend $300 to $350 for a GeForce 7900 GT-based card (XFX's overclocked XXX variant, at $350, is a good value). These cards are small and power-efficient, only take up a single slot, and their cooling solutions are relatively small and quiet. In some games, they're faster than cards costing $100 more.
If you really want to go all out with a 512MB card that will let you run nearly all modern games with AA and AF applied, and future games with all the details cranked up (though perhaps not with AA and AF), a Radeon X1900 XT is your best bet. The XTX version is an identical card, $80 more expensive and it's not even clocked that much higher.
For the Detailed Review visit ExtremeTech