£100 graphics card?

[localzuk]

So, I'm planning on doing some shopping soon and on that list is a graphics card. Can someone say what sort of card I should go for around the £100 mark? By around, I mean 'not over'.

 

The AMD/ATI 5850 Radeon seems to come in around there, as does the Nvidia GeForce GTX 550Ti.

 

Thoughts?

[FN-GM]

So, I'm planning on doing some shopping soon and on that list is a graphics card. Can someone say what sort of card I should go for around the £100 mark? By around, I mean 'not over'.

 

The AMD/ATI 5850 Radeon seems to come in around there, as does the Nvidia GeForce GTX 550Ti.

 

Thoughts?

 

Is it for a person purchase or school? Do you pay VAT?

[siuko]

Also what are you planning on doing with the card?

 

I just got an Nvidia 560ti (was about £180) for playing mmo's etc and it runs them great...

 

But if you arent needing much power you probably dont need much of a card

[Arthur]

The GeForce is more energy efficient than the Radeon...

 

http://i.imgur.com/2EEa6.png

 

Source: TechARP

 

... but the Radeon is better for gaming.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ktAtb.png

 

Source: Anandtech

Edited May 28, 2011 by Arthur

[mrbios]

You can pickup a second hand 5870 for less than £100, though it depends if you are on any forums with for sale sections as i don't reallly mean ebay

 

other than that though i'd definitely recommend a 5850 over a 550Ti, i had a 5870 prior to my current card and can garuntee that a 5850 will do you proud for some time.

[synaesthesia]

If you're doing anything with dual/multi monitors then it's still ATI all the way. Geforce 460 can be had easily for sub £100, as can the ATI 5850 as has been mentioned. There's very little difference in real world terms these days, personal preference is probably one of the biggest reasons for going one way or the other.

[localzuk]

Its for a personal purchase, so inc vat. Also, I will be using multiple monitors with it too.

 

I'll be playing some games, but I rarely buy the 'latest' of any games - instead staying a while behind. Top games at the moment for me are Minecraft, GTA IV, EV Nova, etc... But I do play some up to date games such as any Command and Conquer games that get released.

[featured_spectre]

Asus GeForce GTS450 1GB PCI-Express Graphics Card - Misco.co.uk < £94.99 (My Recommendation)

Sapphire HD6770 1G GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI / DVI-I / DP.. | Ebuyer.com < £94.72

 

I hope that helps

[mrbios]

Charts, benchmarks 2011 Gaming Graphics Charts, Gamer Index

 

Use that, the 58xx series are faster in raw performance than the 6xxx series cards, you just lose out on the odd feature (but as you say, not playing the very latest games means you probably won't need those features)

 

The best purchase for you would undoubtedly be a second hand 5870 or GTX560 if you can find one, though that'd be right on the £100 mark. The best bought from new gpu for you would be a 5850.

[Brpilot99]

Just bought a 460gtx 1meg from ebuyer £108+vat ... Runs Crysis2 on full perfectly ... Very pleased with the card ...

[localzuk]

Ended up buying one of these - Asus ATI Radeon HD 6850 DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Shogun 2 Game - Aria Technology

[mac_shinobi]

Ended up buying one of these - Asus ATI Radeon HD 6850 DirectCU 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Shogun 2 Game - Aria Technology

 

That's more then £100 lol

[localzuk]

That's more then £100 lol

 

Yeah, I adjusted what order I'm buying in now. Buying 2 monitors and that card this month. Then the rest of the machine next month.

 

That card can be overclocked to the stock speeds of the 6870 without changing the voltage, and with only a 2 degree increase in temperature. Or for a 10 degree increase, you can take it up to 1Ghz... So, its a very robust and useable card I reckon.

[mrbios]

Is it a revision 1 card? (with the reference cooler) as rev1 cards can have their bios flashed to become a 6870 (possibly the 6950/6970s im thinking of though!)

[localzuk]

Is it a revision 1 card? (with the reference cooler) as rev1 cards can have their bios flashed to become a 6870 (possibly the 6950/6970s im thinking of though!)

 

I think you're thinkin of a different card? This one is sold with overclocking in mind rather than any other tricks. eg. they market it as being able to get 20% faster speeds than normal 6850s due to their direct cooler etc...

[mrbios]

I think you're thinkin of a different card? This one is sold with overclocking in mind rather than any other tricks. eg. they market it as being able to get 20% faster speeds than normal 6850s due to their direct cooler etc...

 

The bios trick isn't one that was ever marketed, or ever wil be, it's a cheeky overclockers trick someone found out when they were released. Overclocking alone won't get a 6850 to 6870 performance though, as the 6870 has more stream processors, the part which is usually unlocked using the bios trick.

 

That said, i was wrong the 68xx series isn't the one that can do it, it's the 69xx series, see here: AMD Radeon HD 6950 to HD 6970 Mod | techPowerUp

[localzuk]

According to several reviews I've read, the card *can* get 6870 performance via overclocking. ASUS Radeon HD 6850 Direct CU 1 GB Review - Page 31/32 | techPowerUp for example.