(Our Tech Blog) As the latest games hit the stores our PCs have been dwarfed by the mind boggling system requirements. A powerful video card is the basic requirement of hardcore gamers looking to enjoy the latest titles. Today we take a peek at the most buffed up video cards.
No 2. Nvidia Geforce GTX 295
No 10. ATI Radeon HD 4890
ATI Radeon’s 4890 is an upgraded version of ATI 4870 featuring a brand new layout and faster clock speeds. This card was launched in April with a performance paralleled with rival Nvidia’s GTX 275 and 280. The card supports DirectX 10.1 and PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface. Other cool features of 4890 include Shader Model 4.1 along with accelerated physics processing. This card is priced at an affordable 243 USD.
No 9. Nvidia Geforce GTX 465
Nvidia calls this card an adrenaline shot for a gamers PC. The 400 series card boasts the latest DirectX 11 performance and futuristic, visually stunning graphics. The card was launched with a price tag of around 280 USD. The core speed are the same as GTX 470 but features a slimmer 256 bit memory bus. GTX 465 carries 1GB of GDDR5 video memory to satisfy your appetite.
No 8. ATI Radeon HD 5830
The 5830 is one of the eight GPU launched by ATI under its 5000 series title. This card supports DirectX 11 with revolutionary ATI Eyefinity Technology. The HD 5830 is considered to be the successor of HD 4890. It has lower clock speed as compared with HD 5850. The GPU comes equipped with 1GB GDDR5 RAM which is now the standard of a modern video card. The prices of this card ranges from 200-250 USD.
No 7. Nvidia Geforce GTX 285
This muscle GPU comes with an equally buffed price tag. The GTX 285 is a super clocked beast which can provide loads of frame rates without breaking a sweat. This cards allows DirectX 10 support with GPU accelerated NVIDIA® PhysX™ gaming effects, Stereoscopic 3D, and lightning fast video and image processing. This card has tough competition in the market from the ATI 5000 series. The price tag ranges from 300-450 USD.
No 6. Nvidia Geforce GTX 470
GTX 470 became the first Nvidia GPU to support DirectX 11. The card is a step down of the expensive GTX 480. Despite being cheaper than 480 this card packs enough punch for hardcore gamers. A slight drawback in comparison to ATI cards is a higher idle power consumption. This cards benchmarks close to Radeon HD 5850 and even the 5870 in some games. The GTX 470 is priced at 350 USD.
No 5. ATI Radeon HD 5850
This card is a trimmed down version of HD 5870, boasting nearly identical features including DX11, Eyefinity, HDMI bitstreaming, supersample anti-aliasing, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory. This card has gone to become one of the most popular high end card of the year. The GPU’s inferior performance in comparison to 5870 is compensated by a lower power consumption and compact design. This GPU will set you back by a reasonable 300 USD.
No 4. ATI Radeon HD 5870
The Radeon’s 5870 was easily the most powerful GPU in the market at the time of its launch, though it has now been overshadowed by even more ruthless cards. The 5870 is a revolutionary video card in terms of performance and quality. A clock speed of 850MHz coupled with 1GB GDDR5 and DirectX 11 support makes 5870 a dream of every gamer. This muscle card is larger than your ordinary GPU, occupying two slots. The ATI Radeon’s 5870 costs around a hefty 450 USD.
No 3. Nvidia Geforce GTX 480
The GF100 architecture introduced by Nvidia dented their market share over the DirectX 11 base due to extensive delay in the launch of 470 and 480 GTX.The GTX 480 was launched to counter the ATI 5000 series cards ruling the DirectX 11 market months beforehand. This state of the art GPU boasts heart-pounding, cinematic visuals on your favorite games with the combined power of DirectX 11, CUDA™, and NVIDIA® PhysX® technologies. The GTX 480 is priced around 500 USD which is extremely reasonable from Nvidia standards.
No 2. Nvidia Geforce GTX 295
This beast packs the power of two GTX 200 series GPUs on a single card. This is a top of the line product in the market when it comes to high end GPUs. This beauty is built on the SLi technology featuring two connected GPUs inside. This allows alternate frame rendering paving way for a flawless gaming experience. GTX 295 goes beyond traditional 3D graphics with Graphics Plus™ and experience GPU-accelerated NVIDIA® PhysX™ gaming effects, Stereoscopic 3D, and lightning fast video and image processing. This cards can cost you a fortune anywhere from 600-800 USD.
No 1. ATI Radeon HD 5970
The Radeon’s 5970 is claimed to be the fastest graphic card on the planet by the manufacturer. Looking at the specs and performance of this futuristic card, it is easily the most powerful thing you can get your hands on. Featuring cutting-edge graphic, display and memory technology, this next-generation powerhouse delivers unprecedented performance straight out of the box. Unlocked, this graphics card has massive headroom so you can take control and push your hardware to its full potential. Some cool features include dual GPUs with a total of 4.3 billion 40nm transistors, Shader Model 5.0 & ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology. This gaming powerhouse costs around 600 USD.
source: http://realitypod.com/2010/08/top-10-graphics-cards/5/