2
Hiarchy chart;
Now, for the best cards at price:
$50;
Radeon HD 6450
http://www.techpower...ws/AMD/HD_6450/
Cost: $40- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814161376
Max power consumption: 30 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: Low-medium
1280X720: minimum-low
1920X1080: unplayable
$75
Radeon HD 6670
http://www.techpower...ws/AMD/HD_6670/
Cost: $65- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102988
Max power consumption: 65 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: high-max
1280X720: mediumish
1920X1080: unplayable-low
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Note: If looking at purchasing a new system with a Radeon HD 6670/below, an AMD A10-5800k's integrated GPU with 2133mhz RAM is going to be a better solution in cost-effectiveness.
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$100
Radeon HD 7750
http://www.techpower...50_Low_Profile/
Cost: $99- http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131461
Maximum power consumption: 45 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: High-max
1280X720: medium-high
1920X1080: Minimum-low
$150
Radeon HD 7770
http://www.techpower...D_7770_iCooler/
Cost: $125 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127687
Max power consumption: 85 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: max
1280X720: high-max
1920X1080: low-medium
$200
Radeon HD 7850
www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/
Cost- $199 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131464
Max power consumption: 120 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: max 60+
1280X720: max
1920X1080: high-max
$250
Nvidia Geforce GTX 660
http://www.techpower...ct_Cu_II/1.html
Cost- $229 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130826
Max power consumption: 140w
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: max 60+
1280X720: max 60+
1920X1080: max
$300
Nvidia Geforce GTX 660ti
http://www.techpower...i_Direct_Cu_II/
Cost- $299 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130809
Max power consumption: 130w
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: max 60+
1280X720: max 60+
1920X1080: max
$350
Radeon HD 7950
http://www.techpower..._Upgrade/1.html
Cost- $310 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814202006
Max power consumption: 187 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: max 60+
1280X720: max 60+
1920X1080: max
$400
Geforce GTX 670
http://www.techpower...eForce_GTX_670/
Cost- $400 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814500242
Max power consumption: 160 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: max 60+
1280X720: max 60+
1920X1080: max 60+
$450
Radeon HD 7970 ghz edition (For those who would claim the Geforce GTX 680; The 7970 ghz edition is somewhat faster in gaming, massively [3-4] times faster in GPGPU, and is $50 cheaper.)
http://www.techpower...te/HD_7970_SOC/
Cost- $450 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814129265
Max power consumption: 270 watts
Speculated MWO Performance:
800X600: Max 60+
1280X720: Max 60+
1920X1080: Max 60+
Guide;
Unplayable (as description, below 30 frames per second.)
Minimum (lowest or near lowest settings)
Low (below middle settings)
Medium (middle settings, though not higher)
High (upper settings, though not maximum)
Max (maximum settings, 30-60FPS [frames per second])
Max 60+ (maximum settings, 60-120 FPS)
Max 120+ (maximum settings, 120+ FPS)
Overall performance per dollar;
Overall performance per watt;
A few other things to consider, is ask yourself truthfully;
1. Do I do things other than heavy gaming? If so, then a GPGPU strong card is in order. GPGPU, or general purpose computing on graphics processing units, involves everything from hardware acceleration, to folding at home (volunteering your PC to causes like finding a cure for cancer, SETI, etc.), or running heavy decoder software and the like.
Top five recent graphics card series in order of GPGPU performance;
1. AMD Radeon HD 7000 series (7750 on up)
2. Nvidia Geforce GTX 500 series (all)
3. Nvidia Geforce GTX 400 series (460 on up)
4. Nvidia Geforce GTX 600 series (670/680, others fall in as Nvidia 500 series.)
5. AMD Radeon HD 6000 series
Note that in more or less all cases, the high end processors in all these lines are going to have an exponential increase in GPGPU performance, save in the Geforce GTX 600 series.
You may want to opt for a slightly poorer gaming card if you decide you want to use GPGPU.
2. What is my budget?
Quite possibly the most important thing to ask when you're looking for a GPU. See the above.
3. Do I want to play PhysX titles heavily, and is it worth it to get a different GPU for the PhysX?
Very few titles implement Nvidia's PhysX technology, however to use the PhysX physics platform you need a Nvidia GPU, whether as your primary GPU, or as an add-on card, which the latter will take a good amount of tweaking to get it to work, and be more expensive than buying a single card of the performance you want with PhysX.
4. What is my PSU size?
Another thing to keep into consideration. Though usually a non-issue unless you're running a slim PC or are upgrading an OEM system (such as from HP, Dell, etc.) Or if you have your PC on for long periods of the day while doing GPU heavy tasks, like gaming or folding.
5. Heat and noise?
These are a couple other things to consider. Keeping an eye on aftermarket coolers is something you should do, as they will generally be cooler and quieter, though some are more notible than others.
Some notible quiet systems;
HIS IceQ X
Asus DCU II
Powercolor PCS+
And any passive cooling system will be quieter than the above, although run hotter.
6. Brand?
Many brands have different options, custom coolers, differing customer service reputations, etc. I'll cover that a bit.
(please note that this is pulling from newegg, unfortunately I am unfamiliar with some regional brands in Europe and Asia. If you know about any which you would like to add, let me know and I will do my best to include them.)
AMD/ATI:
HIS; Known for their cool running and quiet cards, HIS often times have lower prices than their competitors, while having somewhat above average customer service. Their graphics cards also generally have their RAM modules cooled.
Custom Cards;
IceQ - Blower style card with top-of-the-line cooling performance, and able to overclock well. Also generally quieter than reference designs. Newer versions use a blower fan which can draw air from both above and below, and their heatsink is made to draw air from both above and below. While this newer version takes up three slots instead of two, it improves air intake considerably.
IceQ X- fan style card with slightly lower cooling performance to the standard IceQ, trading for far quieter operation. Also usually cheaper.
IceQ X2- Currently only available on the Radeon HD 7970, the X2 has shown to be the highest overclocking Radeon HD 7970 (with the manufacturer cooler), while being among the quietest and running cooler than most competitor cards.
iCooler- HIS' value cooler. This designates their small form factor cooler for low TDP cards, and it is a quiet running cooler. (went unnamed up until the Radeon HD 7750; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814161403 )
iSilence- HIS' fanless heatsink, for silent operation.
Sapphire; A long standing partner of ATI/AMD, Sapphire has good value with their coolers, great customer service, and a track record for including a good number of accessories with the majority of their cards.
Custom Cards;
DualX: Dual fan high-end card with low temps and noise.
Toxic: High end overclock card, usually a slight value option.
VaporX: Low heat, high overclock card.
Flex: Multi-monitor card, usually with more RAM.
Atomic: Custom closed-loop liquid cooled card, only comes with top-of-the-line cards.
Ultimate: Fanless cooler for silent operation.
Unnamed dual cooler: Smaller version of dual-X.
Powercolor; Known for cards which come with high overclocks out of the box, quieter than average cards, and good power regulation. They have average customer service.
Custom Cards;
LCS: waterblock card for custom cooling solutions.
Devil 13: Top end custom card. Top-of-the-line overclocking, as well as factory overclock.
PCS+; Custom PCB and cooler card. High factory overclock, average tempratures, near silent operation. Great value, usually no more than $20 over MSRP for reference cards.
GO! Green; Fanless cooler for slient operation.
Diamond; Tending to stick to reference designs, they are known for having generally poor customer service.
Visiontek; Generally making reference cards, they have average customer service, and a few custom dual GPU cards. (namely the Radeon HD 6870 X2.)
Club 3D; Generally a cheaper brand, they generally have loud custom coolers.
Nvidia:
EVGA: Known for their outstanding customer service and the option for a true lifetime warranty on many of their cards, EVGA also has some of the best cards with waterblocks pre-installed, as well as having well overclocked cards out-of-the-box. However, as they tend to stick close to reference designs, they often have hotter running cards than many brands.
Custom cards;
Classified- Similar to reference designs, however with a larger fan and heatsink to improve heat dissipation to allow for higher overclocks.
Hydro copper- EVGA waterblock cards for custom liquid cooling systems.
Zotac; Manufactured at the same fab as Sappire, they have many of the same pros, however they do not have quite as many options for custom cooled cards, and while they may advertise a 'lifetime warranty', it only covers the sales lifetime of a card. Once a card is deactivated by Nvidia, the warranty ends there and then.
Custom Cards;
AMP!; Overclocked, dual fan card.
Galaxy; Tending to make cool running cards, Galaxy also implemented custom monitor setups on pre-GTX 600 series cards, allowing for triple monitor setups. They have average customer service.
Custom Card:;
WHDI; Wireless HD streaming card.
MDT: Multi-display technology card. Custom fan and overclocked.
Unnamed dual fan; overclocked card.
ECS; Usually known as a budget brand, they have somewhat sub-par customer service, though some of their higher end cards, namely their "black / gold" edition cards tend to be decent.
PNY; Offering mainly reference cards, as well as some overclocked versions, PNY generally has below average customer service.
Custom Cards;
XLR8; custom overclocked card, similar to stock with better fan.
XLR8 (liquid cooler hybrid); having both air and closed loop water cooling, it is made to overclock higher than many other cards.
Both:
Asus; Known best for their motherboards, Asus also makes generally balanced graphics cards. They have generally moderate factory overclocks, while having low temperatures and noise, especially on their DCU II line. Unfortunately, they don't have that great of customer service outside of warranty coverage.
Mars: custom dual-GPU super-high-end card.
DC II: Coming in both two-and-three slot coolers (depending on card TDP), the DC II line is usually made to run quiet, while cooling on an average level for an aftermarket cooler. They use two fans.
DC: Coming in both single fan and fanless variants depending on the card, the DC line tends to do quite well as quiet coolers.
Gigabyte; Known best for their motherboards, Gigabyte tends to have average customer service, and their custom heatsink line tends to consist of what is the largest fan/fans/number of fans we can put on top of the PCB?
Custom Cards;
Windforce 3: Triple fan card, low temps. Usually comes with a moderate factory overclock.
Unnamed dual-fan card; Low temps, low noise. Small factory overclock.
Unnamed single-fan card; Low noise, small factory overclock.
MSI; Known for their afterburner software and high end overclocking cards, MSI has average customer service and great coolers for their cards. However, they tend to also be somewhat higher priced than other brands.
Custom Cards;
Lighting: Top-end cooler, with additional overclocking hardware on the PCB.
Hawk: Overclocking version for the top value card. (560ti, 6870, 7870, etc.)
Power edition: Overclocking version for lower end cards.
Cyclone: large single-fan cooler with orb heatsink.
Twin Frozer IV: Newer version. Forgoes chrome appearance for lighter construction, and a startup phase which blows dust off the heatsink before operation.
Twin Frozer II/III: Older dual fan. low temps and noise.
Unnamed custom dual-fan coolers; Usually mildly overclocked, cool running cards.
XFX; While they make low-end Nvidia cards, the rest of their lineup are all ATI/AMD cards. They have average customer service, with true life-time warranties available on the majority of their cards, and nearly their entire mid-range on up. They have fast running cards, and many which overclock well, although they tend to run somewhat hotter than their competition.
Custom Cards;
Double dissipation- normally overclocked cards, with additional overclocking hardware. Run quiet and fast, although hotter than many other custom cards.
Jaton Corp.; Low-end, low power consumption card distributer.
Biostar; Low-end, low power consumption card distributer.
Anyone who has any real conflicts with the above, please post your arguments in a constructive, and civil manner, along with a credible source for what would be a better deal at a given price point.
This thread is made in the intention of aiding anyone who is looking at getting a new GPU find the best one for their needs. Hope it helps, and that this doesn't fall into chaos.
And just a bit for my advice, for a gaming rig, approximate percentages of component cost which I recommend;
GPU: 35-50%
CPU: 10-20%
Power Supply: 10-15%
Case: 2-10%
Motherboard: 8-20%
Storage: 5-20%
RAM: 2-10%
Other parts: remaining 0-33%
CPU Guide Here; http://mwomercs.com/...asic-cpu-guide/
PSU Guide Here; http://mwomercs.com/...r-supply-guide/
Computer Case Guide Here: http://mwomercs.com/...endation-guide/
Motherboard Guide Here: http://mwomercs.com/...herboard-guide/
Edited by Vulpesveritas, 01 January 2013 - 10:23 AM.
