The Best Graphics Cards of 2013

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

What's the golden rule of building a gaming rig? You don't skimp on the GPU. Processors, RAM, hard drives and accessories can all be sacrificed without sabotaging the experience, but the graphics card is the heart of any gaming PC. 

It doesn't matter if it's a $500 budget machine or a $3,000 powerhouse.

Finding a balance between quality and price is tough. AMD and Nvidia are the two big manufacturers regarding chipsets (Radeon and GeForce), but several third-party companies assemble the actual video cards and add the memory.

Gigabyte GV-N670OC-2GD

Chipset: GeForce GTX 670

Memory: 2GB

Price: $285 on Newegg

This is the perfect card for the budget builder. The 670 is a middle-road chip from Nvidia capable of handling high settings from fan favorites like Skyrim and some GTA IV resolution mods. It's new anti-aliasing mode helps eliminate most of the jagged edges during gameplay without sacrificing frame rate, and you can game on three monitors from a single card (4-way SLI is optional if you want to go crazy).

On top of that, Gigabyte houses 2GB of video RAM on the card, which is standard, and keeps it all cool with three massive fans — all for less than $300.

EVGA 03G-P4-2784-KR

Chipset: GeForce GTX 780

Memory: 3GB

Price: $520 on Amazon

So the GTX 670 doesn't quite wet your whistle. We get it. You want to run that new Battlefield 4 download on ultra-high settings while gaming on several monitors. But at the same time, you're not made of money. The 780 is one of Nvidia's top chipsets and, while the price seems high at $520, it's actually modest in comparison to others (don't worry, we'll get to those).

The extra gigabyte of memory makes a difference too, as games like BF4 list 3GB as the recommended dosage for video memory. Any gaming PC equipped with an i7 and 16GB of RAM should have a card like this.

Sapphire Vapor-X

Chipset: Radeon HD 7970

Memory: 3GB

Price: $385 on Newegg

Nvidia and AMD are a bit like Ford and Chevrolet. Each have loyalists who swear by the product's superiority, but in the end it's really two versions of the same beast. The Radeon HD 7970 is the chipset from AMD that's comparable to a GTX 770 from Nvidia. Both chips can manage high to ultra-high settings on modern games and handle all the shadowing, smoothing and anti-aliasing a game can challenge.

The 3GB of memory is on par with any mid- to high-end card, and the Radeon is capable of 4K resolution if you can actually afford one of the displays.

EVGA 06-P4-2791-KR

Chipset: GeForce GTX Titan

Memory: 6GB

Price: $1,010 on SuperBiiz

Alright, no more child's play. You want the biggest, baddest video card on the market and you don't care what it costs. Nvidia has you covered. The GTX Titan is, by leaps and bounds, the sexiest chipset in gaming graphics. It packs every feature under the sun and is backed with 6GB of memory that could likely handle two games at once. This card doesn't run ultra-high settings on just today's games, but will run top-notch without skipping a frame for any 2014 game as well. It's a clean grand to buy, but this card is a Ferrari among Mustangs.

SEE ALSO: Game-Changing Reasons Why Parents Can Say Yes to Video Games

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*by andreascy*

AMD's Radeon HD 7970 super GPU is here

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

We've talked on an older post about AMD's Radeon HD 6950 & 6970 high end Video cards. Today we' ll talk about Radeon HD 7970, AMD's first high end card release in their 7000 series, which is built on the latest 28nm manufacturing process. The Radeon HD 7970 represents the fastest single - GPU video card from AMD with a new core design and architecture.

AMD’s HD6970 was a huge success for the company, so the replacement card is certainly going to get a lot of media attention over the coming weeks. AMD claim it has ‘significantly more compute power than the HD6970′ with a brand new revolutionary architecture. With new technologies such as ‘ZeroCore’ power saving, is this the discrete solution to start 2012 with a bang?

The high end graphics sector has certainly no shortage of lightning quick, expensive products. Dual GPU discrete solutions such as the HD6990 and GTX590 have been leading the performance charts since they were released. In the single GPU sector it would be fair to say that AMD have not been able to oust Nvidia’s GTX580 from the top slot, instead targeting the HD6970 at a lower price point. I have had a soft spot for the GTX580 now for a long time, it is one of my favourite video cards of all time.

AMD’s HD7970 has been designed from the ground up redress the imbalance and to ensure that AMD remain competitive when Nvidia release their GTX580 replacement, shortly. The HD7970 has 2,047 stream processors and 3GB of GDDR5 memory connected via a 384 bit memory interface, so it certainly doesn’t seem to be cutting any performance corners, but is it enough to claim the performance throne as we head into 2012?

Specifications :

MANUFACTURER : AMD

SPECS STATUS : Official

SERIES : Radeon HD 7000

GPU MODEL : Tahiti XT

RELEASE DATE : Q4 2011

INTERFACE : PCI-E 3.0 x16

CORE CLOCK : 925 MHz

MEMORY CLOCK : 1375 MHz (5.5GHz)

MEMORY BANDWIDTH : 264 GB/sec

MAX POWER DRAW : 250 W

MEMORY SIZE : 3072 MB

MEMORY TYPE : GDDR5

MEMORY BUS TYPE : 384 bit

DIRECTX : 11.1

OPENGL : 4.0

PROCESS : 28 nm

FRAGMENT PIPELINES : 2048

TEXTURE UNITS : 128

RASTER : 32

The 7970's numbers are heavy as hell on paper : 3 GB of RAM, up to 32 internal computing units, the first use of PCI - E Gen 3, Direct X 11.1 support, and a fat, CPU-style L2 cache. That adds up to a potential six monitors gaming at once. And that's just with one—you can sling together up to four of these things at once. AMD is promising enormous gains over Nvidia's top cards - billing it as the world's fastest - but we'll hold off on judgment until we have something firmer than internal, synthetic benchmarks. Still, there's no reason to think this thing will be anything less than incredibly powerful, with both games (of course) and the bevy of desktop software it's capable of accelerating.

But it's not all about power! The 7970 is power with responsibility, or something. It's capable of ramping up its power consumption when needed - and scaling it down to practically zero when your desktop has been idling for a while. And it'll be quiet, unlike many GPU powerhouses - no leaf blower, if AMD is to be believed. They claim a new fan design and smarter ventilation angles will mean softer cooling. With all that horsepower, we hope so!

Again, we'll have to wait until the 7970 drops on January 9th (for $550) to see how the card stacks up IRL. If you want to punch Battlefield 3 down into submission, be excited. [AMD]

Enjoy the video :

Reference info on :

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7970/Pages/radeon-7970.aspx

*by andreascy*

AMD Radeon HD 6950 & 6970 latest high-end Video Card series

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

With the "Cayman" GPU architecture from AMD came two very good video card models : the Radeon HD 6950 and the 6970. These have both been excellent sellers for AMD and product partners. 

ASUS Radeon HD 6950 DirectCU II Overclocked :

It seems that every time we turn around there a new PC component that is new to the market that we must have. Just recently we see that AMD just received a new processor featuring quad-cores, Intel is right around the corner (we hope) with their new offering and before we can blank we will probably be seeing new Radeon 7xxx series graphic cards as well as Nvidia 7xx family models.

Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of upgrading to the newest and faster product, will when I can afford them. But before we see these new GPUs, the current units are doing an awfully good job of performing and blasting through today’s video cards as well as other highly graphic utilized applications.

One of these graphic cards would be the Radeon HD 6950 from AMD. This particular GPU is considered by many to be the best band-for-the-buck cards out there. We won’t agree or disagree until we get a chance to put it on the bench.

The Radeon HD 6950 is from the Cayman Pro family that boasts an 800MHz core clock as well as 1250MHz GDDR5 memory clock. This along for many maybe enough to consider the card a worthy purchase but the 1408 shader processors and 2GB of memory definitely does help a lot.

Our sample we are testing today is from ASUS and you know they are not ones to leave reference numbers and parts alone. The Radeon HD 6950 DirectCU II increases the stock core clock to 810MHz while the memory clock remains the same. But where this Radeon HD 6950 is in the cooling department which is based on direct heat pipe technology to help keep core clocks are bay.

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB Dual Fan Overclocked:

If you were to take a look over at Sapphire’s website you will see several Radeon HD 6970 listed, 7 to be exact. Which, besides a possible bundled game, you may want to know what exactly the real differences between the models are. To put it briefly, all have a standard 880MHz core and 2GB of GDDR5 memory; some have a game bundle, some don't, but primarily it is a difference in the equipped cooler. That last one is where today's review sample comes in. It has dual fans to help with sound reduction, as well as better cooling in conjunction with the 8mm & 6mm heat pipes. There is also the dual BIOS switch, something normally available on many Radeon HD 6950 and HD 6990 models. We will get more into this during the review process, but felt we should break down what makes this model stand out.

The new SAPPHIRE HD 6970 has the same internal architecture as the standard model, with 1536 stream processors and 96 texture processing units, and clock speeds are 880MHz for the core and 1375 MHz (5.5Gb/sec effective) for the 2GB of GDDR5 memory. This new design has two 90mm fans with thin impellers that can move the same amount of air at 10% lower rotation speeds than conventional fans, keeping noise low, and their special dust repelling bearings contribute to high reliability. 

With the Dual BIOs set to the standard position, the Dual fans keep this model quiet and up to 25% cooler than the standard model even under load conditions. With the BIOS switched to the performance setting, the core voltage of the GPU is raised to 1.2V, the fan speed is set to a high performance profile and the power tune adjustment for overclocking is raised to 50% allowing the user to maximize performance of the card by increasing clock speeds either with AMD Overdrive or with SAPPHIRE TriXX up to a ceiling of 1500MHz core, 2000MHz memory.

*by andreascy*

Inno3D GTX 560 Ti 448SP HyperCore Graphics card

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

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Inno3D® announced the launch of the Inno3D GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448SP. The GTX 560 Ti 448SP boasts an amazing 448 CUDA cores, a 320-bit interface to 1.28GB of onboard GDDR5 RAM, and clock speeds of 760MHz and 3800MHz. GTX 560 Ti 448SP continues with the redesigned from the ground up architecture to deliver the best performance on DX11 - adding dedicated engines in the GPU to accelerate key features like tessellation. 

Game performance and image quality has received a tremendous boost, enabling film-like geometric realism for game characters and objects. Geometric realism is central to the GTX 560 Ti 448SP architectural enhancements for graphics. In addition, PhysX simulations are much faster, and developers can utilize GPU computing features in games most effectively. 

Key features

 Microsoft® DirectX® 11 Support :

 DirectX 11 GPU with Shader Model 5.0 support designed for ultra high performance in the new API's key graphics feature, GPU-accelerated tessellation. 

 NVIDIA ® 3D Vision™ Ready :

GeForce GPU support for NVIDIA 3D Vision, bringing a fully immersive stereoscopic 3D experience to the PC. A combination of high-tech wireless glasses and advanced software, 3D Vision transforms hundreds of PC games into full stereoscopic 3D. In addition, you can watch 3D movies and 3D digital photographs in eye popping, crystal-clear quality. 

NVIDIA ® 3D Vision™ Surround Ready :

Expand your games across three displays in full stereoscopic 3D for the ultimate "inside the game" experience with the power of NVIDIA 3D Vision and SLI technologies. NVIDIA ® Surround ™ also supports triple screen gaming with non-stereo displays. 

NVIDIA SLI ® Technology :

Industry leading NVIDIA SLI technology offers amazing performance scaling for the world's premier gaming solution. 

NIVIDIA® PhysX® technology :

GeForce GPU support for NVIDIA PhysX technology, enabling a totally new class of physical gaming interaction for a more dynamic and realistic experience with GeForce. 

NIVIDIA® CUDA™ Technology :

CUDA technology unlocks the power of the GPU's processor cores to accelerate the most demanding systems tasks – such as video transcoding – delivering incredible performance improvements over traditional CPUs. 

32x Anti-aliasing Technology :

Lightening fast, high-quality anti-aliasing at up to 32x sample rates obliterates jagged edges. 

NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology :

The combination of high definition video decode acceleration and post-processing that delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate colour, and precise image scaling for movies and video. 

PCI Express 2.0 Support :

Designed for the new PCI Express 2.0 bus architecture offering the highest data transfer speeds for the most bandwidth-hungry games and 3D applications, while maintaining backwards compatibility with existing PCI Express motherboards for the broadest support. 

Dual-link DVI Support :

Able to drive industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600 and with support for High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). 

HDMI 1.4a Support :

Support for HDMI 1.4a including GPU accelerated Blu-ray 3D support, x.v.Color, HDMI Deep Color, and 7.1 digital surround sound and video.

Inno3D® the Hong Kong-based company has been kicking lately. As always the card is going to be available in limited quantities, and only in a few North American and European markets. Let us know what you think. 

*by andreascy*

AMD announced FirePro V4900 Workstation graphics card

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Professional graphics offer strong performance and outstanding reliability while delivering features that help boost the productivity of professionals working with medium to large models, all in a single slot, half-length solution.

AMD announced the FirePro V4900 Workstation graphics card that expands the company's product line on the upper end of the entry-level professional graphics market. 

The card comes with 1 GB of 128-bit GDDR5 RAM with a memory bandwidth of 64 GB/s. the card integrates 480 stream processing units, two DisplayPort interfaces and one dual-link DVI port to run up to six independent displays simultaneously. AMD says that the maximum power consumption of the card is below 75 watts. DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.2 and OpenCL are supported.

"The AMD FirePro V4900 stands in a league of its own and redefines entry-level professional graphics card capabilities," said Sandeep Gupte, general manager of professional graphics, AMD. "The AMD FirePro V4900 leverages AMD’s most advanced graphics technology, which not only enhances user experience and boosts performance of professional applications, but also features AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology that supports up to six displays4 increasing user productivity."

AMD will be offering the card in workstation systems offered by Dell, Fujitsu and HP. The standalone card has an MSRP of $189.

The AMD FirePro™ V4900 has received outstanding acclaim from many of AMD's partners.

Take a look at what they have to say about it. 

Read also other interesting topics from AMD and don't forget to comment below your experience and expectations about V4900.

*by andreascy*

HIS Outs 2GB Radeon HD 6450 for HTPC Systems

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

HIS has been particularly busy lately releasing all sort of graphics cards covering the whole GPU market, and lately has introduced yet another model that targets entry - level systems and uses the Radeon HD 6450 design paired together with 2GB of video buffer. 

The new graphics card is known as the HIS 6450 Silence 2GB and it features a low - profile PCB as well as passive heatsink, making it a great solution for HTPC (Home Theater PC) users. Its home theater PC role is also accentuated by the bundled low profile expansion bracket, which is a great addition if the card must be fitted in a half - height computer case.

The rest of the card's specs include a Caicos GPU with 160 stream processors, 8 texture units and 4 ROP units that are linked to the installed video buffer via a 64 - bit wide memory bus. The memory used by HIS is DDR3 and is clocked at 1GHz (data rate), while the GPU has an operating frequency of 625MHz. 

Compared to AMD's reference design for the HD 6450, HIS' solution is actually slower as the DDR3 memory used provides a great deal less bandwidth than the 900MHz (3.6GHz data rate) GDDR5 recommended.

The graphics processor is also clocked lower than AMD's stock frequency (625MHz vs 750MHz), since HIS probably had to decrease the heat produced by its latest creation in order to make it fit on a low - profile PSB. Taking a look at the rear bracket, we find all the usual video outputs including VGA, dual - link DVI and HDMI 1.4a., but a DisplayPort connector is sadly missing. 

The recommended price for the HIS 6570 Silence 2GB has been set at $60, which translates into about (43.7 EUR). At the end of the day, going for a 2GB Radeon HD 6450 doesn't make much sense, so buyers should be better of opting for the regular 512MB or 1GB version of this graphics card and save a few bucks in the process. 

We hope you liked our article. Send us your suggestions and your experience with this graphics card.

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*by andreascy*