Best graphic cards

[IntaCepta]

Not really into games, but am willing to spend upto £60 on a PCI-e graphics card.



a) must be nvidia.
b) ideally passively cooled.
b) i) I don't mind an actively cooled card, so long as the fan won't overpower my scythe ninja s-flex fan.
c) will not require it's own power connection.
d) perform decent fps on average games @ 1280x1024 resolution.
e) cheap as possible, will stretch to £60 if needs be.
f) must be able to make coffee.

Suggest what you can oh worthy ones!

[redlight]

512MB Gigabyte 7600GS PCI-E Mem 800MHz GPU 500MHz 12Pipes D-Sub/Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV SLi Silent-Pipe
Scan today only £56.49
http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/

[Pob255]

I cannot fault that 7600GS, probably the best geforce for sub £60 (double checking it's normal cost is £60.98)
The 256mb version of that card is £51.92
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=470935

Only other alternative I can offer is a 7300GT 256MB made by Gigabyte @£47.35
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=470934
It's cheaper but it's not as good as thoes 7600GS

ps I do hope you've got a pci-e motherboard, because they don't fit into normal pci slots.

[Kumagoro]

hmm at 80 you could get the MSI 8600 GT. I know over what you want but it has the benefit
that the passive cooler is on the cpu side. I have the ninja with the fan facing the gpu, it fits
closely and the card is kept much cooler because it pulls the air over it and barely affects my
cpu temps and I have Oced it to GTS speeds.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=577065

[MrP]

does no one sell nvidia cards like retekdirect do ATI?

[Pob255]

hmm at 80 you could get the MSI 8600 GT.http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=577065

Well apart from

e) cheap as possible, will stretch to £60 if needs be.

Not sure what the 8600GT is like compaired to the 7600GS however I did check out the 8500GT as an alternative and it's performance is well under the 7600GS, which is why I didn't bother.
Also going by some of the reviews I've seen the 8600GT is performing below the 7600GT and well under a 7900GS.
Considering the a 7600GT 256mb can be got for around £65 (not silent) or £75 (silent) and a 7900GS for £91 (not silent) I don't think the 8600GT is worth it

[NightshadowUK]

7600GT > 7600GS >> 8600GT

You're right to have doubts, stick with redlight's suggestion.

[Kumagoro]

hence why I wrote 'hmm' and 'I know its over your budget'. The ninja and passive msi make a really
nice quiet combo, which he might have wanted to consider.

Damn there being no aeroplane going over a smiley face.

[Max Tractor]

8500GT DDR3(The new 7300gt ddr3 apparently) ebuyer had them for £50

[geezerone]

Was thinking of getting 8500GT passively cooled from komplett (£60) but these are fairly new cards. Anyone know their performance/power/heat stats compared to say a 7600Gt or 7900Gs?

Thanks.

[roorooroo]

My bro got one of those 8500GT Sonic Editions for under 50 quid from enuyer a while back and it performs admirably for the price.

[Pob255]

Well apart from the fact that we've already pointed out

The 8500GT has worse performance than the 7600GS and the 256mb versions of both cards are around £50

Also the cheap 8500GT are not slient.

Infact the cheapest 8500GT ebuyer has is £50.67 http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128084
and the cheapest 7600GS (silent) is £45.65 http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/121124

So if you only have £60 to spend and don't care about DX10 games get a 7600GS

If you want a card for DX10 games, then save up and get something decent.
I cannot see that a currently under performing graphics card is going to be much use on games with more advanced & complex graphics engines.

[NightshadowUK]

I think what we're trying to say is don't get the 8500 or 8600GT, they're pap.

[Mad-Max]

Dare I say it but save up a bit can get something around the £100 mark

[geezerone]

Thanks for the info. May just plump for 7600GT or 7900GS in that case.

All donations greatly appreciated!