Best PCI Express (PCIe) Card For $65:
Radeon HD 5570 DDR3 (Check Prices)
Great 1680x1050 performance in most games, 1920x1200 in many games with lowered detail
| Radeon HD 5570 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV830 |
| Process: | 40 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 400 |
| Texture Units: | 40 |
| ROPs: | 8 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 650 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 900 (1800 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5.0 |
| Max TDP: | 43 W |
We've seen the Radeon HD 5570 GDDR3 for as low as $60 online. This card delivers playable 1680x1050 performance in most games, and is a great starting point for a budget gaming machine or as an upgrade for anyone stuck using integrated graphics.
Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 5570 for more information on the card and its underlying architecture.
Best PCI Express (PCIe) Card For $80:
Radeon HD 5670 (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1680x1050 performance in most games, 1920x1200 in most games with lowered detail
| Radeon HD 5670 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | RV830 |
| Process: | 40 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 400 |
| Texture Units: | 20 |
| ROPs: | 8 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 775 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1000 (4000 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5.0 |
| Max TDP: | 61 W |
The Radeon HD 5670 is the most powerful reference card you can buy that doesn't require an auxiliary PCIe power cable.
This card offers DirectX 11 compatibility, along with all of the other Radeon HD 5000-series features, such as multi-display support and high-def audio bitstreaming. Folks planning to buy one for a budget-oriented triple-monitor Eyefinity setup have to pay attention, as some manufacturers don't include the DisplayPort output needed to use three monitors simultaneously.
Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 5670 for more information on the card and its underlying architecture.
Best PCIe Card For ~$105:
GeForce GTS 450 (Check Prices)
Exceptional 1680x1050 performance in most games, 1920x1200 in most games with lowered details
| GeForce GTS 450 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | GF106 |
| Process: | 40 nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 192 |
| Texture Units: | 32 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core/Shader Speed MHz: | 783 / 1566 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 902 (3608 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5.0 |
| Max TDP: | 106 W |
The average frame rates seen from this card are quite close to the older and cheaper Radeon HD 4850 and GeForce GTS 250. But this newer model offers support for DirectX 11 and high-def audio bitstreaming over HDMI. The GeForce GTS 450's raw performance is slightly higher than the Radeon HD 5750, although the Radeon appears to perform a little better when anti-aliasing is employed (probably due to its increased memory bandwidth). Since the GeForce can be had for less money (there's one model below $100 on Newegg right now), and Radeon HD 5770 prices are dropping, the slightly more expensive Radeon HD 5750 is squeezed out of a recommendation.
Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTS 450 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
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