Nvidia launched its GeForce GTX 780 and 770 graphics cards in the last month, the former based on GK110 and the latter built using GK104. Both are fast, but only one earned our recommendation. We discuss them, and some price moves, in this month's column.
Detailed graphics card specifications and reviews are great—that is, if you have the time to do the research. But at the end of the day, what a gamer needs is the best graphics card within a certain budget.
So, if you don’t have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right card, then fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming cards offered for the money.
June Updates:
Nvidia rocked the high-end graphics card world with two introductions in the last month. You can read about the first in Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Review: Titan’s Baby Brother Is Born and the second in The GeForce GTX 770 Review: Calling In A Hit On Radeon HD 7970?
The GeForce GTX 770 can best be described as a GeForce GTX 680 with a slight overclock (up 40 MHz to 1046 MHz) and a more notable boost (up 250 MHz to 1752 MHz). Introduced at a compelling $400, the 770 doesn't sport an exciting new GPU, but it's certainly a value leader compared to AMD's Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, which tends to cost $40 to $50 more. At that price, the refreshed GK104-based board earns our recommendation.
In comparison, the GeForce GTX 780 is a de-tuned Titan with two of its SMXes disabled. The GPU still wields 2304 CUDA cores, though. In the process of slimming GK110 down, Nvidia axes the chip's advanced FP64 capabilities, dropping back to 1/24 of the FP32 rate. Gamers won't really care, though. On the plus side, GeForce GTX 780 costs $350 less than Titan. Even still, this $650 board is too expensive to garner any sort of value-oriented recommendation. It is an interesting option for builders looking to cram lots of performance into a small place with modest power use.
Nvidia is also getting more aggressive with the pricing on some of its existing products, particularly the GeForce GTX 670, which is down $20 to $350. The GeForce GTX 680 dropped $30 to $420, but with GeForce GTX 770 selling for less, informed gamers won't be touching that one. On a side note, GeForce GTX 690 and Titan are both tough to find, with single models going in and out of stock on Newegg.
As far as AMD's products go, we're seeing $10 drops on the Radeon HD 7970, 7950 Boost, 7870 2 GB, 7850 1 GB, and 7790. Unfortunately, none of those adjustments take those models close enough to competing GeForce models. In addition, we're surprised to see the average price of low-end Radeon HD 6450, 6570, and 6670 DDR3 cards increase about $10.
Some Notes About Our Recommendations
A few simple guidelines to keep in mind when reading this list:
- This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, then the cards on this list are more expensive than what you really need. We've added a reference page at the end of the column covering integrated graphics processors, which is likely more apropos.
- And remember to check out our new performance per dollar comparison page, where you can overlay the benchmark data we’ve generated with pricing, giving you a better idea where your ideal choice falls on the value curve. The criteria to get on this list are strictly price/performance. We acknowledge that recommendations for multiple video cards, such as two Radeon cards in CrossFire mode or two GeForce cards in SLI, typically require a motherboard that supports CrossFire or SLI and a chassis with more space to install multiple graphics cards. They also require a beefier power supply compared to what a single card needs, and will almost certainly produce more heat than a single card. Keep these factors in mind when making your purchasing decision. In most cases, if we have recommended a multiple-card solution, we try to recommend a single-card honorable mention at a comparable price point for those who find multi-card setups undesirable.
- Prices and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t base our decisions on always-changing pricing information, but we can list some good cards that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest, along with real-time prices from our PriceGrabber engine, for your reference.
- The list is based on some of the best U.S. prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail stores, your mileage will most certainly vary.
- These are new card prices. No used or open-box cards are in the list; they might represent a good deal, but it’s outside the scope of what we’re trying to do.
