Best Graphics Cards For The Money: July 2011

[cleeve]

Since the last time we updated this column, Nvidia released its GeForce GTX 560 and AMD launched the Llano APU. We've also seen a couple of notable price moves, which alter our recommendations compared to what you saw two months ago.

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: July 2011 : Read more

 

[Guest]

why no Llano?

 

[Guest]

Ok, you've got to tell me who has been having success unlocking the 1gb Radeon 5950s and what models!

 

[abswindows7]

No Ti -_-""

 

[Guest]

good test, but
Title is wrong. It's June 2011 not July 2011

 

[ChiefTexas_82]

[citation][nom]quirky[/nom]why no Llano?[/citation]

Best Graphics *CARDS* for the money. Llano is a APU, not GPU.

 

[alhanelem]

cant wait for new gfx cards to come out, im hoping some of them will come out by 2011 Q4

 

[ChiefTexas_82]

[citation][nom]ChiefTexas_82[/nom]Best Graphics *CARDS* for the money. Llano is a APU, not GPU.[/citation]Ok, read to last page. Perhaps the list is older than Llano. Llano just came out.

 

[undead_assault]

Hello Tom, please update the Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart with new GPUs for laptops too. HD 6000 series for laptops are already out.

 

[carlhenry]

the chart is a bit confusing unless you read the details. was confused if you were recommending the 560 or 560 Ti. anyway, thanks for this

 

[jshcastle]

i might suggest adding, at least in an honorable mention, the radeon HD 5830. when there is a proper stock of them, you can get it on newegg for 110$ or the supercharged sapphire edition for 130$. these card perform superbly, only slightly lower than the 5850.

 

[rohitbaran]

Radeon 6970 and GTX 570 are at the same price. At least on Newegg, you can get a Radeon 6970 for $319 (after rebate). So, I think that it shouldn't be considered a $350 card. Several of GTX 570 are also selling in the $350 range, but Toms mentions it as a $325 card.

 

[randomkid]

@Tom's, it will help readers who aspire for eyefinity or surround vision if the performance for resolution ~5760x1080 is included. Anyway, the trend is now towards multidisplay gaming...

 

[vaughn2k]

"why no Llano?"

Llano is an APU and not a discrete graphics.
My HD5770 is still in the list!

 

[izmanq]

AMD Fusion APUs still not updated into the Tom's Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart
Llano still new perhaps, but Brazos has been around almost 6 months :|

 

[boletus]

Naturally we will want to see how the new Llano and Brazos solutions compare, even if they are not "Graphics Cards". Finally, something a little exciting for people that don't have a lot of dough.

 

[Guest]

"Best Graphics *CARDS* for the money. Llano is a APU, not GPU"
But intel hd graphic are there in the final page. Please update the last page with LLano

 

[torque79]

Many comments regarding Llano are not clearly defining what you are asking for. I believe you want Llano to be showing up in the graphics hierarchy chart (last page of the article only). In the entire rest of the article these have no place, because as mentioned on the first page none of these can perform as well as a low cost discrete card, and this article is for gaming cards. ONLY on the graphics hierarchy chart could these be included, and I guess for those considering an HTPC or a laptop which will hopefully soon have these APU's it could be useful.

 

[DSpider]

Where would the Geforce 7025 (or 7050) be positioned in the hierarchy chart ?

I mean, you already have Intel graphics (which are basically integrated) in there.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]rohitbaran[/nom]Radeon 6970 and GTX 570 are at the same price. At least on Newegg, you can get a Radeon 6970 for $319 (after rebate). So, I think that it shouldn't be considered a $350 card. Several of GTX 570 are also selling in the $350 range, but Toms mentions it as a $325 card.[/citation]
...At least on Newegg, you can get a GTX570 for $290 after rebate. But Tom's doesn't count mail in rebates. I've never really understood your logic, it's never really seemed... impartial. There are several HD6970's selling in the $380+ range yet Tom's mentions it as a $350 card.
Does this mean Tom's should've increased the list price of the HD6970 based on these few higher priced models?

Of course there's overlap in the pricing of overclocked GTX570's and stock HD6970's, that usually happens when you have two cards positioned so close to each other in performance. But overall there is a $20 - $30 price discrepancy between the GTX570 and HD6970.

 

[clonazepam]

So when I score a 2nd gtx 570 for $330, that puts me at under $700 total, no rebates... i can live with that ;-)

Edit: Im gonna say two words most people here will hate and for good reason, "Best Buy" has the reference model PNY gtx 570 for $330. I have one and will get another. In most cases the 800mhz core / 2100mhz mem overclock works wonderfully but so far only when running 3dMarkVantage and Crysis 2 dx11 I have to bump the clocks down to 750mhz core. I'm never recommend Best Buy but if you are like me and happen to have a substantial amount of BB credit, it could be an option.

 

[forces]

i want llano too!!!!! and brazos if you can... you said it's not a GPU, it's an APU, but the intel HD its not a GPU too =.=. and its in the chart... btw, can llano perform better than the 3870? or the famous gpu that was recommended a lot of months, the 4650 and 4670...

 

[Onus]

Not really a lot to see here in the article, but the chart remains a useful reference.

 

[clonazepam]

I agree and thats why they skipped June but I'm sure they definitely didn't want to skip 2 months in a row.

 

[buzznut]

I'm kinda glad to see there is no "beyond reason" for graphics cards. Really is there such a point for enthusiasts? As always, one of the features here at Tom's that I really look forward to each month.

I also wondered if you might not include the APU's in the hierarchy chart, just as reference for those of us that make recommendations. Granted they're not graphics cards, but they are hardware accelerated graphics. And they can game!