Holiday 2006 Shopping Guide: GPUs
by Jarred Walton on December 13, 2006 5:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Performance Overview
Now that we've covered all of the various graphics cards that are currently available, you might be wondering which solution is really best for your needs. Users looking to upgrade to a faster graphics card might also be wondering how their current hardware compares to newer hardware, and how much money they might need to spend on an upgrade. One of the critical factors in determining how much graphics power you need is going to be your display. If you don't run at high resolutions with antialiasing, you really don't need a ton of horsepower for most games. Running tons of benchmarks with most of the graphics cards we've mentioned on a variety of games is beyond the scope of this article; however, we've created a rough summary of what sort of resolutions and detail settings you should be able to get from the various GPUs on the latest games. (Older titles are less demanding, so you should be able to crank up the details/resolution.)
This is of course somewhat ad hoc, and individual opinions about what is acceptable will vary, but you should be able to get some general guidelines of what to purchase - either for a new system or as an upgrade to your current hardware.
You can see in most instances that two slower GPUs will end up offering a worse price/performance ratio than a single faster GPU. That's why we've downplayed multi-GPU configurations throughout this article. Why buy two 7300 GT cards when you can get a single 7600 GT for less money? Until you max out the single GPU options, there's not much point in buying two GPUs.
In terms of the recommended settings, we generally feel that you should disable antialiasing and increase your resolution first, and only when you are running at your monitor's maximum/native resolution would we begin to worry about turning on antialiasing. That is especially true with LCDs, as running at anything less than the native resolution will tend to create a blurry effect. If you disagree and prefer lower resolutions with antialiasing, on average turning on 4xAA will have the same impact on performance as increasing the resolution one or two notches, i.e. 1024x768 4xAA will often run about as fast as 1280x1024-1600x1200 0xAA. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but it should serve as a good baseline estimate.
The recommended settings listed on the table above are basically an estimate of what settings more recent/demanding games will allow you to use - games like Prey, Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2, Company of Heroes, etc. There are a lot of overlapping resolutions listed, which is to be expected. For example, the difference between an X1800 XT and an X1800 XTX isn't going to be so great that the latter allows you to run higher detail settings. If you are looking at upgrading your graphics card, you'll want to get something that opens the possibility of running clearly improved resolutions/settings. As another example, we wouldn't recommend upgrading from a GeForce 6800 GT to a GeForce 7600 GT, because even though the latter is faster they are fundamentally similar in terms of performance. You would be better off spending a bit more money to get something like a Radeon X1950 Pro instead, so that you would truly notice a difference in performance.
Now that we've covered all of the various graphics cards that are currently available, you might be wondering which solution is really best for your needs. Users looking to upgrade to a faster graphics card might also be wondering how their current hardware compares to newer hardware, and how much money they might need to spend on an upgrade. One of the critical factors in determining how much graphics power you need is going to be your display. If you don't run at high resolutions with antialiasing, you really don't need a ton of horsepower for most games. Running tons of benchmarks with most of the graphics cards we've mentioned on a variety of games is beyond the scope of this article; however, we've created a rough summary of what sort of resolutions and detail settings you should be able to get from the various GPUs on the latest games. (Older titles are less demanding, so you should be able to crank up the details/resolution.)
This is of course somewhat ad hoc, and individual opinions about what is acceptable will vary, but you should be able to get some general guidelines of what to purchase - either for a new system or as an upgrade to your current hardware.
| Approximate Performance Ranking | |||
| GPU | Resolution | Detail | Price |
| Radeon X300 SE | 640x480-800x600 | Minimum-Med; 0xAA | $38 |
| GeForce 6200 TC | 640x480-800x600 | Minimum-Med; 0xAA | $38 |
| Radeon X300 LE | 640x480-800x600 | Minimum-Med; 0xAA | $70 |
| GeForce 7100 GS | 640x480-800x600 | Minimum-Med; 0xAA | $49 |
| Radeon X550 HM | 640x480-1024x768 | Low-Med; 0xAA | $47 |
| Radeon X550 | 640x480-1024x768 | Low-Med; 0xAA | $60 |
| Radeon X700 | 640x480-1024x768 | Low-Med; 0xAA | $75 |
| GeForce 7300 LE | 640x480-1024x768 | Low-Med; 0xAA | $52 |
| GeForce 7300 GS | 640x480-1024x768 | Low-Med; 0xAA | $59 |
| Radeon X1300 | 800x600-1280x1024 | Low-High; 0xAA | $52 |
| GeForce 6600 LE | 800x600-1280x1024 | Low-High; 0xAA | $66 |
| Radeon X1300 Pro | 800x600-1280x1024 | Low-High; 0xAA | $75 |
| GeForce 7300 GT | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Low-High; 0xAA | $75 |
| Radeon X1300 XT | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Low-High; 0xAA | $108 |
| Radeon X1600 Pro | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Low-High; 0xAA | $91 |
| GeForce 6600 GT | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Med-High; 0xAA | $85* |
| Radeon X1600 XT | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Med-High; 0xAA | $119 |
| Radeon X1650 Pro | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Med-High; 0xAA | $105 |
| Radeon X800 | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Med-High; 0xAA | $85* |
| GeForce 6800 | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Med-High; 0xAA | $90* |
| GeForce 7600 GS | 1024x768-1280x1024 | Med-High; 0xAA | $109 |
| Radeon X1600 Pro CF | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $182 |
| Radeon X800 Pro | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $125* |
| GeForce 6800 GT | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $175* |
| GeForce 6800 GS | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $135* |
| GeForce 6800 SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $170* |
| GeForce 6600 GT SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $170* |
| GeForce 7300 GT SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $150 |
| GeForce 6800 Ultra | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $175* |
| Radeon X850 XT | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $135* |
| GeForce 7600 GT | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $135 |
| Radeon X1650 XT | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $156 |
| GeForce 7800 GS | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $230 |
| GeForce 7600 GS SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $218 |
| Radeon X1600 XT CF | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $238 |
| Radeon X1650 Pro CF | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-2xAA | $210 |
| Radeon X1800 GTO | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $145 |
| GeForce 7900 GS | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $186 |
| Radeon X1800 XL | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $240* |
| Radeon X1900 AIW | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $220 |
| GeForce 7800 GT | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $185* |
| GeForce 6800 GS SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $270* |
| GeForce 6800 GT SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $350* |
| GeForce 6800 Ultra SLI | 1024x768-1600x1200 | Med-High; 0x-4xAA | $350* |
| GeForce 7800 GTX | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $250* |
| Radeon X1800 XT | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $300* |
| Radeon X1900 GT v2.0 | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $176 |
| GeForce 7900 GT | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $246 |
| Radeon X1900 GT | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $176 |
| Radeon X1650 XT CF | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $312 |
| GeForce 7600 GT SLI | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 0x-4xAA | $270 |
| GeForce 7950 GT | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $249 |
| GeForce 7800 GTX 512 | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $460* |
| Radeon X1950 Pro | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $206 |
| GeForce 7900 GTO | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $310 |
| Radeon X1900 XT 256MB | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $275 |
| GeForce 7800 GS SLI | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $460 |
| GeForce 7800 GT SLI | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $370* |
| GeForce 7900 GS SLI | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $372 |
| GeForce 7900 GTX | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $430 |
| Radeon X1900 XT | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $335 |
| Radeon X1900 XTX | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $400 |
| Radeon X1950 XT 256 | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $259 |
| Radeon X1950 XTX | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $378 |
| Radeon X1900 GT CF | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $352 |
| Radeon X1800 XT CF | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $600* |
| Radeon X1950 Pro CF | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $412 |
| GeForce 7800 GTX SLI | 1280x1024-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $500* |
| GeForce 7900 GT SLI | 1600x1200-1920x1200 | High; 2x-4xAA | $492 |
| GeForce 7950 GX2 | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 0x-4xAA | $465 |
| GeForce 8800 GTS | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 0x-4xAA | $455 |
| GeForce 7950 GT SLI | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 0x-4xAA | $498 |
| GeForce 7800 GTX 512 SLI | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 0x-4xAA | $920* |
| GeForce 7900 GTO SLI | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 0x-4xAA | $620 |
| GeForce 7950 GX2 QSLI | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 2x-4xAA | $930 |
| GeForce 7900 GTX SLI | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 2x-4xAA | $860 |
| Radeon X1900 XT CF | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 2x-4xAA | $770 |
| Radeon X1950 XTX CF | 1600x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 2x-4xAA | $774 |
| GeForce 8800 GTX | 1920x1200-2560x1600 | High-Max; 2x-4xAA | $610 |
| GeForce 8800 GTS SLI | 1920x1200-2560x1600 | Maximum; 2x-4xAA | $910 |
| GeForce 8800 GTX SLI | 1920x1200-2560x1600 | Maximum; 4xAA | $1220 |
* - Prices for these parts are prone to fluctuation, as these are discontinued products.
You can see in most instances that two slower GPUs will end up offering a worse price/performance ratio than a single faster GPU. That's why we've downplayed multi-GPU configurations throughout this article. Why buy two 7300 GT cards when you can get a single 7600 GT for less money? Until you max out the single GPU options, there's not much point in buying two GPUs.
In terms of the recommended settings, we generally feel that you should disable antialiasing and increase your resolution first, and only when you are running at your monitor's maximum/native resolution would we begin to worry about turning on antialiasing. That is especially true with LCDs, as running at anything less than the native resolution will tend to create a blurry effect. If you disagree and prefer lower resolutions with antialiasing, on average turning on 4xAA will have the same impact on performance as increasing the resolution one or two notches, i.e. 1024x768 4xAA will often run about as fast as 1280x1024-1600x1200 0xAA. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but it should serve as a good baseline estimate.
The recommended settings listed on the table above are basically an estimate of what settings more recent/demanding games will allow you to use - games like Prey, Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2, Company of Heroes, etc. There are a lot of overlapping resolutions listed, which is to be expected. For example, the difference between an X1800 XT and an X1800 XTX isn't going to be so great that the latter allows you to run higher detail settings. If you are looking at upgrading your graphics card, you'll want to get something that opens the possibility of running clearly improved resolutions/settings. As another example, we wouldn't recommend upgrading from a GeForce 6800 GT to a GeForce 7600 GT, because even though the latter is faster they are fundamentally similar in terms of performance. You would be better off spending a bit more money to get something like a Radeon X1950 Pro instead, so that you would truly notice a difference in performance.
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JarredWalton - Thursday, December 14, 2006 - link
Fair enough - I added a Midrange Overclocking for you. It's still more like $165 according to the prices I found at Newegg and ZipZoomFly, unless you're seeing something cheaper?Noya - Saturday, December 16, 2006 - link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...JarredWalton - Saturday, December 16, 2006 - link
Got a better one for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">Sapphire X1900 GT v2Sure, it's the slower clocked version of the GT, but no rebate and $141 shipped is quite tasty. This wasn't available two days ago, I can say that for sure.
TechLuster - Thursday, December 14, 2006 - link
The 7600GT (and GS as well I think) has 8 ROP's, not 6. Jarred, you may want to fix this.And, though I have no resource to back this up, I have a hunch that the 6600GT has 8 (not 4) also.
JarredWalton - Thursday, December 14, 2006 - link
You're correct on the 7600 GT, but there are quite a few places that agree 6600 has 4 ROPs, like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Render_Output_unit">Wiki for example.TechLuster - Friday, December 15, 2006 - link
According to this articlehttp://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=...">http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=...
the 6600GT has 8 ROP's. Perhaps the Wiki is referring to the vanilla 6600, but I still doubt that NVIDIA broke with the 1:1 pixel pipe:ROP ratio with any version of the 6 series.
JarredWalton - Friday, December 15, 2006 - link
I know some places say 8 ROPs, but I think more say 4.http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/geforce-6200/...">TechReport
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_6_Series">Another Wiki Link
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=536">Legion Hardware
http://www.behardware.com/articles/514-1/nvidia-ge...">BeHardware - why 8 ROPs isn't necessarily a good idea
Basically, the way I see it is that it probably doesn't matter too much either way - X1900 and 78/7900 have both shown that 16 ROPs for more pixel shaders is fine - and the idea was to make a more budget oriented part. One of the ways to do that is to cut unnecessary extras like additional Render Output Pipelines. As for 6600 vs. 6600 GT, those are the same chip with different clock speeds, so they have the same number of functional units.
Even if 6600 does have 8 ROPs (I can't find anything official from NVIDIA), the important thing is that a 6600 GT is now slower than a lot of the newer ~$100 cards. :) But hey, if someone gets a specific answer from NVIDIA, I can update. I can also fire off an email just to verify, but it might take a bit to get an answer (if they answer at all).
microAmp - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
Not sure if this is worth a mention in the article or not, but Dell.com currently has 15% off which can be used on the XFX 8800 GTS/X cards. If you can dig up a another coupon, Dell sent me one via email for 10% off, the deal can be even sweeter.I got the 8800 GTS for $382.50 and free shipping. Sweet deal for others not living in Texas like me. About $420 with tax.
Only reason I mention this is because you mention using MIR on the EVA 8800 GTS.
LoneWolf15 - Thursday, December 14, 2006 - link
I did the same thing. Mine came out to $404 after tax here in Michigan.XFX also has a double-lifetime warranty; that is, a lifetime warranty which applies to the first owner, and a second owner, should the first resell the card. You have to make sure you register the card, but it's a neat feature.
SonicIce - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
So I guess it's RIP AGP. :(