Tips for buying PCI graphics cards
There are many factors that are decisive in picking the right PCI Graphics Card. On one hand, you have video output incorporated into the motherboard itself, eliminating the need for a separate graphics card entirely.
On the other hand you have companies trying to persuade you to use multiple cards on the same PC.
Now when the discussion comes to purchasing PCI Graphics Card, the most important aspect is the purpose of usage.
Decisive factors
The graphic card, also called a video card, is primarily responsible for handling the calculations necessary to determine where and when pixels will fire and in what color, which is critical in any high end graphics application like gaming.
So the next question would obviously be that with so many different options out there, how do you choose the right card for you?
The big shots in the market
There are two major players in the chipset market; ATI and NVIDIA and the Graphics card manufacturers build cards around these chipsets. In generic terms, most motherboards will accept cards built around either chipset.
Presently NVIDIA is the dominant chipset producer. With the release of their 8800 series they have taken a firm grip on the lead.
The down side is that you got to shell out BIG BUCKS for that performance! However at the mid-range prices, both offer comparable models.
What defines your buying decision is, inevitably, what you intend to do with your computer.
Both and ATI and NVIDIA have a range of products that cater for the modest user right through to the money-no-object kind. They don’t label them in a consistent way, though, so let’s quickly work out what’s what.
ATI uses SE to denote its cheaper cards, and SE boards have half of the memory bandwidth as a compromise, with the price lower as a result. The Pro is next up the line, followed by the XL, the XT and the XT PE at the top.
Each varies by playing with the number of available pixel pipelines, the graphics core speed and the memory core speed, for instance. So an X800 SE would be a less capable board than an X800 pro or X800 XT.
Recently, the firm has launched the GT and GTO. An X800GT is a slightly budget variant of the X800, with the odd compromise but it has higher memory frequency as well. The X800GTO lies in the midst of an X800 and X800 Pro.
What are the best options?
Considering the options at the low cost end for NVIDIA, there’s Turbo Cache, LE is a slightly stripped down version of a card for cutting down the price, and the same applies to XT, although an NVIDIA XT will perform better than an NVIDIA LE.
NVIDIA XT has slightly compromised performance, however NVIDIA GT, has incorporates the better performing GDDR3 memory, which helps in boosting up the performance.
An Ultra version heads towards the top end, while the Ultra Extreme and the GTX are highest performing variants.
For most ATI users, the X300 is competent and boards based upon it come in at under $80.
X550 and X700s are available around the $100 mark, and are perfectly fine for those who don’t demand high 3D performance.
The X700 appears around the $150 mark and so does the X1300Pro. These are soundly mid-range graphics boards.
At around $225, X800 variants start to appear, and this is where you should be interested as a ATI-favoring gamer. The X800 XL’s are just below the $400 mark.
The high end extreme performers:
The best high-end performer tag keeps shifting from company to company, with ATI having recently been the champions for a couple of years, and NVIDIA’s 7800GTX currently the top-end board of choice.
ATI’s top boards, the X1800XL start from approx $500, with the premium X1800 XT selling for $550+.
You must be willing to shell out at least $800 for a fully specked variant of it.
Moving down the line, a gaming 7800GT board will cost you just under $600, while heading towards the mid-range is the 6800GT bearing a price tag of just under $400, which would suffice for gaming as well! The 6600GT is a solid performer for around $250.
