Best PCIe Card For ~$400:
Honorable Mention: Radeon HD 5870 (Check Prices)
Good 2560x1600 performance in most games
| Radeon HD 5870 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV870 "Cypress" |
| Process: | 40nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 |
| Texture Units: | 80 |
| ROPs: | 32 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 850 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1,200 (4,800 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5.0 |
For the same price as this card, a couple of Radeon HD 4890s will perform better in the titles that matter today. And for $110 less, a Radeon HD 5850 offers near the same class of speed, plus the same DirectX 11 support. From a raw price/performance standpoint, this makes the Radeon HD 5870 a hard sell. But that is not to say this card is underpowered: it sports the fastest single GPU on the planet, relatively low power usage (remarkably low at idle), and the hardware needed to accelerate DirectX 11-based games. For folks without a motherboard that supports CrossFire and a hefty power supply, the new Radeon HD 5870 is definitely a more-than-viable option.
Read our full review of ATI's Radeon HD 5870 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Best PCIe Card For ~$680: None
Honorable Mention:
Radeon HD 5970
Great 2560x1600 performance
| Radeon HD 5970 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x RV870 "Cypress" |
| Process: | 40nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 3,200 (2 x 1,600) |
| Texture Units: | 160 (2 x 80) |
| ROPs: | 64 (2 x 32) |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 725 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1,000 (4,000 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5.0 |
3,200 shader processors. There isn't much more we need to say about the brutal rendering muscle that characterizes the world's fastest graphics card, the Radeon HD 5970. With two Radeon HD 5870 GPUs onboard, the only things we can complain about are scant availability and an extremely high price tag. Availability should improve over time; the price not so much. But if you're in the market for this card, price probably isn't an issue.
Read our full review of ATI's Radeon HD 5970 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
