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Best Gaming Video Cards for the Money

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the he-wants-us-to-think-for-ourselves dept.

Tom's Hardware has decided to take a step back with their latest video card review. Instead of wowing their audience with in-depth benchmarks they head right for what someone reading a review really wants, an opinion of the best bang for the buck. From the article: "So if you don't have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don't feel confident enough in your ability to make the right decision, fear not. We offer a simple list of the best gaming cards on offer for the money."

6 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. ATI VGA Wonder ISA by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can get them for free in a junk bin. It's a video card, and bang divided by bucks, as bucks approaches zero the value of bang doesn't matter.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. Summary by LoverOfJoy · · Score: 5, Informative
    Best PCIe Card For Under $100 - Radeon X800 GTO 128MB

    Geforce 7300 GT GDDR3 (second choice/tie?)

    Best PCIe Card For ~$140 - Geforce 7600 GT

    Best PCIe Card For ~$200 - Radeon X1900 GT

    Best PCIe Card For ~$250 - Radeon X1900 XT 256MB

    Best PCIe Card For ~$340 - Geforce 7900 GTX

    Radeon X1900 XTX (second pick)

    Best PCIe Card For ~$500 - Geforce 7950 GX2

    Best AGP Card For Under $100 - Radeon X700

    Geforce 6600

    Best AGP Card For ~$125: 3 Way Tie - Radeon X1600

    Geforce 6600 GT

    Radeon X800 GTO 128MB

    Best AGP Card For ~$130 - Geforce 7600 GS

    Radeon X1650 PRO

    Best AGP Card For ~$175 - Geforce 7600 GT

    Best AGP Card For +$200: None (Honorable Mention: Gainward Geforce 7800 GS+ silent 512)

    It looked like nearly every card one at whatever price they sell at. A category for $125 (a three way tie there) and a category for $130? It's ridiculous. 7 pages worth.

    1. Re:Summary by BrookHarty · · Score: 5, Informative

      What they dont say, an Nvidia 7800 GT is twice as fast as an ATI 800, 140 bux or 100 bux, 40 bux buys a lot more power.

      I like toms hardware video card graphs to help quickly show how a card stacks up.
      http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_ viii/page16.html

    2. Re:Summary by Damon+Cleeve · · Score: 5, Informative

      I wrote the article, and I can tell you I didn't sit on the fence unless there were legitimate close performance runs. The problem is, with different architectures some cards will win some benches and other cards will win others, it's difficult to difinitively say one is better than the other when they trade blows based on which game you're playing. The reason there's 7 pages of article is because there's so damn many categories. And for the record, I admit the AGP section I submitted was screwed up a bit. The $130 AGP section should have been omitted, that was a leftover from an old version... I've been doing this article on the forums for the past year and a bit. The $130 AGP category should have been the 7600 GS, X1650 PRO, and X800 GTO... which all do perform very closely.

  3. Video cards by pe1chl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don't play games but surf the Internet and edit video, the cards in this list are probably too expensive.

    It would be nice to have such a list for that type of usage.
    I want to run X with the usual apps, and to play video. At HD resolution.
    I think many "typical Linux users" are in the same boat: not too interested in playing games, want good performance for normal 2D and video.

    But the market is more focussed on gaming than on this, and when you get a low-end gaming card (I have an Nvidia 6600GT based card) you end up wasting a lot of power and generating heat, and still not have perfect video playing.

  4. Why all the negativity? by shoolz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My buddy Don wrote that article. Actually, wrote it and continually updated it on their forum for the past 2 years until Tom's decided it was so valuable to the community that it warranted a full Tom's article. Many, many people, myself included, use that list to help them make a sound decision for a card in their price range.

    How can everyone criticize it so frivolously and heavily when all the thinking and research and careful consideration has been distilled down into a no-nonsense, 7 page go-to guide?