Can someone give me a rundown of the GPU lineup?

[Guest]

I've been pc gaming for years and I know alot of graphics cards but when people mention a gtx 250 or an hd 5450 i never know how powerful it is, if someone could make a list of the power of each series form highest to lowest (And if you know, what type of games/fps) It would be appreciated.

Also if theres been something like this for CPU aswell, link me!!

 

[jimthenagual]

Here's a great list Tom's published

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[bgunner]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html this is for CPU
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html THis is for GPU at the end of each article there is a hierarchy chart.

 

[i7Baby]

Or - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

 

[Guest]

Here's a great list Tom's published

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Helpful.
I still wander what the hell the 580 is doing next to 650, and 660ti. makes no sence nvidia

 

[numanator]

Here is the list for the CPUs

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

 

[MalakiArtook]

Here's a great list Tom's published

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Helpful.
I still wander what the hell the 580 is doing next to 650, and 660ti. makes no sence nvidia

because the 580 is a old card and as tech get better the cards get better. like how a 770 is better than a 680.

 

[geofelt]

The tom's hierarchy list is a good one.
Do not put too much on differences between close tiers.
You will get fair value at every price point, it is a competitive market.

Once you have your budget, I would pick a newer gen card; they will be quieter and more power efficient.
On the new retail market, prices do not drop when newer gen cards appear. On the used market older cards will drop in price.

Pick your budget for a graphics card and buy amd or nvidia if you have a preference. I suggest budgeting 2x the cost of the cpu for a balanced gaming pc.

 

[Optimus_Toaster]

TL;DR Bigger numbers are better.

Here's a quickish run down of the naming schemes of the 2 companies.
Nvidia:
Geforce means it's a gaming GPU
GTX means it's in the upper half of performance, GT are the lower power cards.
All of the modern cards have 3 numbers.
First number is the series, most recently is the 700 series. Higher is newer.
2nd number is the tier within series. Typically 8 is the most powerful single GPU card with 9 reserved for dual GPU cards.
3rd number is mostly a 0, but sometimes a 5. It means it's between the 2 tiers.
Sometimes there is a "Ti" on the end. This means that it is a more powerful version of that tier's card - but less powerful than the next tier up. (eg GTX 660 Ti is more powerful than GTX 660 but not as powerful at GTX 670)

For example: Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 Ti. Geforce means it's a gaming card, GTX means it's from the top half of the tier. 6 means it's the 600 series (fairly new), 5 means it is a fairly middle of the road card in that series. 0 means nothing and the Ti means it's more powerful that a GTX 650 but not as powerful as a GTX 660.
A quick rule of thumb is that by cards where the sum of the first 2 numbers is the same are of equal power. This is not always the case but gives a rough idea. Eg. 570 ~ 660, 680 ~ 770.

AMD:
I don't know as much about AMD cards but I can tell you a few things.
For cards named "Radeon HD XXXX" the first number (denoted X) is the series and the other 3 numbers represent the tier within that series. Higher series numbers mean newer, higher tier numbers mean more powerful.
For cards named "Radeon RX 2XX" the first number after the R is either a 7 or 9. 7 is lower tiers, 9 is upper. The XX after the 2 represent the tier within the series (they are all 2 series at the moment) and higher is more powerful. Sometimes there is an X after the numbers, this means that it is in between tiers. The RX 2XX cards are AMD's newest cards, and for comparison most of them are identical to the 7XXX series with only a name change.
For example: HD 7970. The first 7 means 7000 series, and the 970 means it is very powerful tier card within the series. it also happens to be exactly the same as an R9 280x.

Hope this helps somewhat with understand Graphics card rankings!

 

[Guest]

Here's a great list Tom's published

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Helpful.
I still wander what the hell the 580 is doing next to 650, and 660ti. makes no sence nvidia

because the 580 is a old card and as tech get better the cards get better. like how a 770 is better than a 680.

considering the number values, anything from 590-640 should be equal to 650/580 (if the 580 is as powerful as 660), but are not, no sence :<

 

[Guest]

Is there even a point in getting an older card? New cards get new features like mantle, physx.
are the older cards better value then getting refurbished ones or something?
for eg, gtx 480 vs gtx 650ti, why get the 480? is it better value or something?