Holiday 2006 Shopping Guide: GPUs
by Jarred Walton on December 13, 2006 5:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Final Recommendations
We've mentioned a lot of GPUs worth considering on the previous pages, but some people just want a quick answer. If we had to pick one or two options for each price bracket as the overall "best", we would recommend the following. For the most part, similar cards from different manufacturers are going to offer the same level of performance. Pay attention to GPU and memory clock speeds if you are comparing two cards from different manufacturers, however, particularly in the less expensive markets where there's a lot of flexibility given to the card manufacturers.
If you're looking for a new graphics card for yourself or someone else, hopefully we have been able to shed some light on the situation. Once again from all of us at AnandTech, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays (and whatever other appropriate greetings you might want)!
We've mentioned a lot of GPUs worth considering on the previous pages, but some people just want a quick answer. If we had to pick one or two options for each price bracket as the overall "best", we would recommend the following. For the most part, similar cards from different manufacturers are going to offer the same level of performance. Pay attention to GPU and memory clock speeds if you are comparing two cards from different manufacturers, however, particularly in the less expensive markets where there's a lot of flexibility given to the card manufacturers.
| GPU Recommendation Summary | ||
| Class | GPU | Price |
| Integrated 775 | ECS P4M800Pro-M V2 + E6300 Bundle CPU = $160 value |
$160 |
| Integrated 775 | ASUS P5L-MX 945G | $83 |
| Integrated AM2 | Abit NF-M2 nForce 6150 | $96 |
| Cheapest | Sapphire 100190L Radeon X550 HyperMemory | $47 |
| Budget | EVGA 256-P2-N443-LX GeForce 7300GT | $75 |
| Lower-Midrange | EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT $20 MIR |
$135 - $20 |
| Midrange Overclocking | EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS $20 MIR |
$185 - $20 |
| Upper-Midrange | Sapphire 100176L Radeon X1950 Pro | $206 |
| Lower High-End | Foxconn FV-N79GM3D2-HP GeForce 7950GT 512MB $35 MIR - Includes free gamepad |
$270 - $35 |
| Lower High-End | Sapphire 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB | $255 |
| High-End | Sapphire 100177L Radeon X1950 XTX | $386 |
| Extreme Overclocking | EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS $20 MIR |
$455 - $20 |
| Extreme | EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX | $603 |
| Ultra Extreme | 2 X EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX (SLI) | $1206 |
If you're looking for a new graphics card for yourself or someone else, hopefully we have been able to shed some light on the situation. Once again from all of us at AnandTech, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays (and whatever other appropriate greetings you might want)!
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
Has been for about a year now, but a lot of people keep dragging their feet. The fastest AGP systems are still able to run most games okay, but if you really want high-end graphics performance you are going to have to upgrade to PCI-E.pottervillian - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
Merry Christmas, and thanks for a great guide!aakoch - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
I've never tried to run two/dual monitors. I have an old CRT (VGA) and a new LCD (DVI). Can any card with both slots run 2 monitors? Or only specific ones?Chapbass - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
I cant think of any gfx card that has dual outputs that CANT support dual monitors...so im gonna go with all of them can. definitely all the ones listed in this article (meaning everything that is current or close to current tech.) in fact, im doing dual monitors on my 6600gt (soon to be 8800gts!) right now : ).kleinwl - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
One point to add, would be PCI video cards. Since there are a number of Dell machines that have shipped without AGP/PCIE slots, it would be nice to know what PCI card you would recommend as bang for the buck. Right now I'm using Radeon 9250s... but I don't know if that is the best option. Yes, it's slow... but it's still cheaper than canning the entire system for people that want something just a little faster.JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
The fastest currently available PCI video card is going to be a Radeon X1300 I think, going for around $110 (and I see at least one that has a $20 mail-in rebate). That isn't a very fast graphics card to begin with, and I would expect the PCI interface to further bottleneck the card, but I'm not sure there's anything better if you're stuck looking for PCI parts.I'm just looking around on Newegg, so perhaps there's something better elsewhere (I seem to recall seeing GeForce 6600 cards on PCI at one point, which might be slightly faster in some cases), but if you need more performance from your graphics subsystem you really will need to look at upgrading to a new motherboard/computer that supports something other than PCI graphics.
mgambrell - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
Geforce 8800 may be fast, but it can't run directx10.http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=22248">http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=22248
Witness the driver debacle. Just beware.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
Given that DirectX 10 is not actually available -- no games support it, Windows Vista hasn't shipped, and even after Windows Vista becomes available it will probably be a couple months at least before you get DirectX 10 enabled games (i.e. games that actually add new DirectX 10 features). NVIDIA says it best:The inability to run beta/nearly finished Windows Vista with all of the features enabled on brand new hardware isn't something that I consider a major problem. The nature of beta/release candidate software is that there are still many known problems. For all we know, DirectX 10 performance on the G80 chips is going to be terrible... or it might be the greatest thing since sliced bread. The only way we will find out for sure is when Windows Vista is finally released and we actually get games that use DirectX 10's new capabilities.
Jodiuh - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
You guys list an EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR, but the one I got from Fry's electronics differs at the end w/ EVGA 768-P2-N831-FR. Does the FR=Retail, AR=Online? Or would AR be the newer "fixed transistor" SKU?Thanks for the guide!!
JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - link
Honestly, I have no idea. EVGA (and many GPU manufacturers) tend to have so many different SKUs available with only negligible differences between them. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the models has a slight tweak to the transistors, but as for which one is "newer/better" I don't know. You could always email EVGA and ask.