Best PCIe Card: ~$300 To $350
Best PCIe Card For ~$310: Three-Way Tie
At approximately the same price, all three of these options retain the same advantages of their single-card counterparts: two Radeon HD 4870's offer the best price/performance ratio in CrossFire, two GeForce GTX 260's offer SLI compatibility, PhysX, and GeForce 3D Vision support, and two Radeon HD 5770's offer DirectX 11, Eyefinity, and high-def audio bitstreaming to CrossFire-compatible motherboard users. A good case can be made for any of these options, and none of them are a poor choice. Just pick your poison.
2 x Radeon HD 4870 1GB in CrossFire (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1920x1200 performance, good 2560x1600 performance in most titles
| Radeon HD 4870 1GB | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x RV770 |
| Process: | 55nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 (2 x 800) |
| Texture Units: | 80 (2 x 40) |
| ROPs: | 32 (2 x 16) |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 750 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (3,600 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10.1/SM 4.1 |
As we all know by now, these aren't the most fully-featured boards any more. However, when your bottom line is all about frame rate, there remains serious value in ATI's Radeon HD 4870 cards. We don't expect these to remain available for long, since ATI's current focus is on its new Radeon HD 5000-series boards. So, if you're interested, now's likely the time to jump.
2 x GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216) in SLI (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1920x1200 performance, good 2560x1600 performance in most titles
| GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216) | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x GT200 |
| Process: | 55nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 432 (2 x 216) |
| Texture Units: | 144 (2 x 72) |
| ROPs: | 56 (2 x 28) |
| Memory Bus: | 448-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 576 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 999 (1,998 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 10/SM 4.0 |
Nvidia doesn't have a DirectX 11-class architecture yet, but the caveat above applies here as well. If you're going to sink $300+ into DirectX 10 hardware, do so knowing that there are competing DirectX 11 boards available in the same price range. They won't offer the same level of performance as two GeForce GTX 260s in SLI; that's the trade-off for more modern functionality, though.
2 x Radeon HD 5770 in CrossFire (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1920x1200 performance, good 2560x1600 performance in most titles
| Radeon HD 5770 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x Juniper |
| Process: | 40nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 1,600 (2 x 800) |
| Texture Units: | 80 (2 x 40) |
| ROPs: | 32 (2 x 16) |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 850 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1,200 (4,800 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5.0 |
Though the 5770s are somewhat pricey compared to last-generation's technology, the added benefit of DirectX 11, triple display outputs, and the ability to bitstream high-definition audio content from Blu-ray movies contribute significant value to ATI's newest mainstream graphics cards.
Read our full review of ATI's Radeon HD 5770 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
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Ahh the article finally came out
The 2 monthly articles by Mr. Woligroski (Best Graphic Cards for the Money and Best Gaming CPUs for the Money) are some of the best and most informative articles here at THW and should be required reading for anyone posting questions about a new gaming build or an gaming upgrade.
Finally another! Was wondering when it'd come out. November is a good month to take a look at this.
A year and a half ago when I upgraded my 8800gt to a 9800gtx+ that card was considered one of the best and most efficient at a pricing/preformance standpoint. Now that card or any of its counterparts are nowhere to be seen..... Good job Ati for putting out the dismal 4850.....
would also be noteworthy to mention that the 58xx cards can be xfired for even better futureproofing. Honorable mention at 5850 290, recommended at $580 imo since its considerably faster than the 295 for $120 extra.
It makes sense to put the 5800 cards as honorable mentions, after all they are extremely hard to find online..I'm waiting to see their performance in DX11 games, probably I'll wait for the 2Gb version of 5870.
Isn't the 8600M GT a mobile variant?
To Nivdia.
ATI
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Merry Xmas from ATI, 2009
Honorable mentions are lame.
Thanks for the great article as usual! This time around it was more fun to read than the other times for some reason.
I also caught one typo in the hiearchy chart: HD 485?
Typo in last page
Discrete: HD 3870 X2, HD 485, HD 5750
**HD 4850**
September's hierarchy had the GTX295 one level above the 4870x2, this month they are on the same level.
typo also in last page third tear mistake on the 4890
Discrete: HD 4870, HD 489, HD 5770
Great article again. The ever changing GPU market keeps us on our toes.
Is there any merrit to suggesting CF setups with the note of minimum PCIe lanes? I know once you get into the boards that really start to saturate the lanes, you're in a budget that shouldn't be using x8/x8, but it might be worth noting when that happens.
Typo?
The 9600GSO is listed with a 256bit memory bandwidth. Never seen anything higher than 192.
Hey Don, question/comment. It's great to have mobile and integrated chipsets added to the hierarchy chart, but the huge amount of added text saying "discrete" makes things less readable. I think a good compromise would be to have a note at the top or bottom of the chart saying that all parts listed are assumed to be discrete unless otherwise noted. This will have the added benefit of making it easier to spot the mobile/integrated chipsets for those who are actually interested.
Ok, how likely is it that we'll be seeing exclusive DX11 games anytime in the next five years? The 5800 series gets a mention here because of their DirectX11 compatibility as 'Futureproofing'. I strongly suspect that even if games are released with DX11 support, they will run just fine on 9 and 10. That being said, we're probably better off with a pair of 4890's rather than a single 5870.
4890 x2 not on the list. Should be tier 1.
I'd like to point out that for really high resolution like 2560x1600, the limited 512MB of the 4870 in crossfire could be a limiting factor. Then again, if you were planning on spending only 250$ on a card to play at that resolution, you might be delusional
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4890 x2 not on the list. Should be tier 1.
The chart only include single cards, the X2 presents are for dual-GPU cards. Since there is no dual-gpu card based on the 4890, it isn't present. But if you are eager to see ATI on top, wait for the 5970 (aka 5870X2