Squeezing Value Out of Lower-End Cards

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Card Configurations

There are as many graphics cards makers from which to choose as there are model versions within a class of a graphics card. Some are feature rich or have faster memory, while others have inexpensive components and a price tag to match. To serve as a reference point, we used a $350 NVIDIA 7800 GT and the $550 NVIDIA 7800 GTX 512 to help make sense of where these cards fall into the grand scheme. The results are encouraging and even surprising. Included below is a chart of various GPU and memory configurations. This is by no means an exhaustive listing but it will give you an idea of the diversity of cards that exist in the marketplace.

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NVIDIA Cards
Row 0 - Cell 0	Chip	Memory	DX Generation	Chipclock	Memoryclock	Memory Buswidth	Pixel Pipelines
GeForce 7800 GTX 512	G70	512 MB	DX 9.0c	550	1700	256 bit	24
GeForce 7800 GTX	G70	256 MB	DX 9.0c	430	1200	256 bit	24
GeForce 7800 GT	G70	256 MB	DX 9.0c	425	1000	256 bit	20
GeForce 6800 Ultra	NV45	256 MB	DX 9.0c	400	1100	256 bit	16
GeForce 6800 Ultra	NV45	256 MB	DX 9.0c	350	1000	256 bit	16
GeForce 6800	NV45	256 MB	DX 9.0c	325	600	256 bit	12
GeForce 6800 GS	NV45	256 MB	DX 9.0c	425	1000	256 bit	12
GeForce 6800 GT	NV45	256 MB	DX 9.0c	350	1000	256 bit	16
GeForce 6800 XT	NV45	256 MB	DX 9.0c	350	600	256 bit	8
GeForce 6600 LE	NV43	256 MB	DX 9.0c	300	500	128 bit	4
GeForce 6600 GT	NV43	128 MB	DX 9.0c	500	1000	128 bit	8
GeForce 6600 DDR2	NV43	256 MB	DX 9.0c	500	800	128 bit	8
GeForce 6600	NV43	128 MB	DX 9.0c	300	550	128 bit	8
GeForce 6200	NV43	128 MB	DX 9.0c	300	550	128 bit	4
GeForce 6200 TurboCache 64	NV44	64 MB+	DX 9.0c	350	550	64 bit	4
GeForce 6200 TurboCache 32	NV44	32 MB+	DX 9.0c	350	700	64 bit	4
GeForce 6200 TurboCache 16	NV44	16 MB+	DX 9.0c	350	700	32 bit	4
GeForce 5900	NV35	128 MB	DX 9	375	700	256 bit	8
GeForce 5750	NV36	128 MB	DX 9	425	550	128 bit	4
ATI Cards
Row 21 - Cell 0	Chip	Memory	DX Generation	Chipclock	Memoryclock	Memory Buswidth	Pixel Pipelines
Radeon X1800 XT	R520	512 MB	DX 9.0c	625	1500	256 bit	16
Radeon X1800 XL	R520	256 MB	DX 9.0c	500	1000	256 bit	16
Radeon X1600 XT	R530	256 MB	DX 9.0c	590	1380	128 bit	12
Radeon X1600	R530	256 MB	DX 9.0c	500	780	128 bit	12
Radeon X1300 Pro	R515	256 MB	DX 9.0c	600	800	128 bit	4
Radeon X1300	R515	256 MB	DX 9.0c	450	500	128 bit	4
Radeon X1300 HyperMemory	R515	32 MB+	DX 9.0c	500	780	128 bit	4
Radeon X850 XT PE	R480	256 MB	DX 9.0b	540	1180	256 bit	16
Radeon X850 XT	R480	256 MB	DX 9.0b	520	1080	256 bit	16
Radeon X850 Pro	R480	256 MB	DX 9.0b	507	1040	256 bit	12
Radeon X800 XT PE	R423	256 MB	DX 9.0b	520	1120	256 bit	16
Radeon X800 XT	R423	256 MB	DX 9.0b	500	1000	256 bit	16
Radeon X800 Pro	R423	256 MB	DX 9.0b	475	900	256 bit	12
Radeon X800 XL	R430	512 MB	DX 9.0b	400	1000	256 bit	16
Radeon X800 XL	R430	256 MB	DX 9.0b	400	1000	256 bit	16
Radeon X800 GT	R480	256 MB	DX 9.0b	475	980	256 bit	8
Radeon X800 GTO	R430	256 MB	DX 9.0b	400	980	256 bit	16
Radeon X800 GTO	R423	256 MB	DX 9.0b	400	980	256 bit	12
Radeon X800 GT	R480	256 MB	DX 9.0b	475	980	256 bit	12
Radeon X800	R430	256 MB	DX 9.0b	390	700	256 bit	12
Radeon X700 Pro	RV410	256 MB	DX 9.0b	425	860	128 bit	8
Radeon X700 Pro	RV410	128 MB	DX 9.0b	425	860	128 bit	8
Radeon X700	RV410	128 MB	DX 9.0b	400	700	128 bit	8
Radeon X600 XT	RV380	128 MB	DX 9.0b	500	740	128 bit	4
Radeon X600 Pro 256	RV380	256 MB	DX 9.0b	400	600	128 bit	4
Radeon X600 Pro 128	RV380	128 MB	DX 9.0b	400	600	128 bit	4
Radeon X300	RV370	128 MB	DX 9.0b	325	400	128 bit	4
Radeon X300 SE	RV370	128 MB	DX 9.0b	325	400	64 bit	4
Radeon X300 HyperMemory	RV370	32 MB+	DX 9.0b	325	600	64 bit	4