Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart : September 2012

What about this other card that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?

This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen, because inventory levels and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that card you’ve got your eye on is a good buy in its price range?

Here is a resource to help you judge if a card is a good buy or not. The graphics card hierarchy chartgroups graphics cards with similar overall performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing cards available and performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.

You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two cards, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance.

At the request of readers, I have added mobile graphics and integrated chipsets to the hierarchy chart. I want to make it clear that there is very little performance data available for these graphics solutions. While the discrete video cards in the chart are placed in tiers based on a lot of information, many of the mobile and integrated devices in the chart are guesstimates based on their specifications. At worst, I don’t think they’re more than one tier away from their actual performance, but this is something to keep in mind when considering mobile graphics chipsets.

Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart
GeForce	Radeon	Intel
Discrete: GTX 690
Discrete: GTX 590, GTX 680	Discrete: HD 6990, HD 7970 GHz Ed.
Discrete: GTX 670	Discrete: HD 7970
Discrete: GTX 580, 660 Ti	Discrete: HD 5970, HD 7870, HD 7950
Discrete: GTX 295, GTX 480, GTX 570 Go (mobile): 680M	Discrete: HD 4870 X2, HD 6970, HD 7850 Mobility: 7970M
Discrete: GTX 470, GTX 560 Ti, GTX 560 Ti 448 Core	Discrete: HD 4850 X2, HD 5870, HD 6950 Mobility: 7950M
Discrete: GTX 560 Go (mobile): 580M	Discrete: HD 5850, HD 6870 Mobility: 6990M
Discrete: 9800 GX2, GTX 285, GTX 460 256-bit, GTX 465 Go (mobile): 675M	Discrete: HD 6850 Mobility: 6900M
Discrete: GTX 260, GTX 275, GTX 280, GTX 460 192-bit, GTX 460 SE, GTX 550 Ti, GTX 560 SE Go (mobile): 570M, 670M	Discrete: HD 4870, HD 5770, HD 4890, HD 5830, HD 6770,  HD 6790, HD 7770 Mobility: HD 5870, 6800M
Discrete: 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX+, GTS 250, GTS 450 Go (mobile): 560M, 660M	Discrete: HD 3870 X2, HD 4850, HD 5750, HD 6750, HD 7750 Mobility: HD 4850, HD 5850, 7870M
Discrete: 8800 GTX, 8800 GTS 512 MB, GT 545 (GDDR5) Go (mobile): GTX 280M, GTX 285M, 555M (GDDR5)	Discrete: HD 4770 Mobility: HD 4860, 7770M, 7850M
Discrete: 8800 GT 512 MB, 9800 GT, GT 545 (DDR3), GT 640 (DDR3) Go (mobile): 9800M GTX, GTX 260M (112), GTS 360M (GDDR5), 555M (DDR3)	Discrete: HD 4830, HD 5670, HD 6670 (GDDR5) Mobility: HD 5770, HD 5750, 6600M/6700M (GDDR5), 7750M
Discrete: 8800 GTS 640 MB, 9600 GT, GT 240 (GDDR5) Go (mobile): 9800M GTS, GTX 160M	Discrete: HD 2900 XT, HD 3870, HD 5570 (GDDR5), HD 6570 (GDDR5) Mobility: 6500M (GDDR5), 6600M/6700M (DDR3), 7730M
Discrete: 8800 GS, 9600 GSO, GT 240 (DDR3) Go (mobile): GTX 260M (96), GTS 150M, GTS 360M (DDR3)	Discrete: HD 3850 512 MB, HD 4670, HD 5570 (DDR3), HD 6570 (DDR3), HD 6670 (DDR3) Mobility: HD 3870, HD 5730, HD 5650, 6500M (DDR3)
Discrete: 8800 GT 256 MB, 8800 GTS 320 MB, GT 440 GDDR5 Go (mobile): 8800M	Discrete: HD 2900 PRO, HD 3850 256 MB, 5550 (GDDR5) Mobility: HD 3850
Discrete: 7950 GX2, GT 440 DDR3	Discrete: X1950 XTX, HD 4650 (DDR3), 5550 (DDR3)
Discrete: 7800 GTX 512, 7900 GTO, 7900 GTX, GT 430, GT 530 Go (mobile): 550M	Discrete: X1900 XT, X1950 XT, X1900 XTX
Discrete: 7800 GTX, 7900 GT, 7950 G, GT 220 (DDR3) Go (mobile): 525M, 540M	Discrete: X1800 XT, X1900 AIW, X1900 GT, X1950 PRO, HD 2900 GT, HD 5550 (DDR2)
Discrete: 7800 GT, 7900 GS, 8600 GTS, 9500 GT (GDDR3), GT 220 (DDR2) Go (mobile): 7950 GTX	Discrete: X1800 XL, X1950 GT, HD 4650 (DDR2), HD 6450 Mobility: X1800 XT, HD 4650, HD 5165, 6400M Integrated: 6620G, 6550D
Discrete: 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 7800 GS, 8600 GS, 8600 GT (GDDR3), 9500 GT (DDR2) Go (mobile): 7800 GTX, 7900 GTX	Discrete: X800 XT (& PE), X850 XT (& PE), X1650 XT, X1800 GTO, HD 2600 XT, HD 3650 (DDR3), HD 3670 Mobility: X1900, 3670 Integrated: 6520G, 6530D	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics 4000
Discrete: 6800 GT, 6800 GS (PCIe), 8600 GT (DDR2), GT 520 Go (mobile): 7800, Go 7900 GS, 520M, 520MX	Discrete: X800 XL, X800 GTO2/GTO16, HD 2600 PRO, HD 3650 (DDR2), Mobility: X800 XT, HD 2600 XT, 3650 Integrated: 6410D, 6480G
Discrete: 6800 GS (AGP) Go (mobile): 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 8600M GT, 8700M GT, 410M	Discrete: X800 GTO 256 MB, X800 PRO, X850 PRO, X1650 GT Mobility: HD 2600 Integrated: 6370D, 6380G
Discrete: 6800, 7300 GT GDDR3, 7600 GS, 8600M GS Go (mobile): 6800, 7700	Discrete: X800, X800 GTO 128 MB, X1600 XT, X1650 PRO Mobility: X1800, HD 5145, HD 5470 (GDDR5), HD 5450,
Discrete: 6600 GT, 6800LE, 6800 XT, 7300 GT (DDR2), 8500 GT, 9400 GT Go (mobile): 7600 (128-bit)	Discrete: 9800 XT, X700 PRO, X800 GT, X800 SE, X1300 XT, X1600 PRO, HD 2400 XT, HD 4350, HD 4550, HD 5450 Mobility: X800, 3470, HD 5470 (DDR3), HD 5430, 6300M Integrated: HD 6310, HD 6320	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Discrete: FX 5900, FX 5900 Ultra, FX 5950 Ultra, 6600 (128-bit) Go (mobile): 6800 (128-bit) Integrated: 9300, 9400	Discrete: 9700, 9700 PRO, 9800, 9800 PRO, X700, X1300 PRO, X1550, HD 2400 PRO Mobility: X1450, X1600, X1700, 2400 XT, X2500, 3450 Integrated: HD 3200, HD 3300, HD 4200, HD 4250, HD 4290, HD 6250, HD 6290
Discrete: FX 5800 Ultra, FX 5900 XT Go (mobile): 6600, Go 7600 (64-bit)	Discrete: 9500 PRO, 9600 XT, 9800 PRO (128-bit), X600 XT, X1050 (128-bit) Mobility: 9800, X700, X1350, X1400, X2300, HD 2400	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Core i5-6x1), 2000
Discrete: 4 Ti 4600, 4 Ti 4800, FX 5700 Ultra, 6200, 8300, 8400 G, G 210, G 310 Go (mobile): 315M	Discrete: 9600 PRO, 9800 LE, X600 PRO, HD 2300 Mobility: 9700 (128-bit), X600, X1300 Integrated: Xpress 1250	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Core i3 5x0, Core i5-6x0)
Discrete: 4 Ti4200, 4 Ti4400, 4 Ti4800 SE, FX 5600 Ultra, FX 5700, 6600 (64-bit), 7300 GS, 8400M GS, 9300M G, 9300M GS	Discrete: 9500, 9550, 9600, X300, X1050 (64-bit) Mobility: 9600	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Pentium G)
Discrete: 3 Ti500, FX 5200 Ultra, FX 5600, FX 5700 LE, 6200 TC, 6600 LE, 7200 GS, 7300 LE Go (mobile): 5700, 8200M, 9200M GS, 9100 Integrated: 8200, 8300	Discrete: 8500, 9100, 9000 PRO, 9600 LE, X300 SE, X1150 Mobility 9700 (64-bit)	Integrated: GMA X4500
Discrete: 3, 3 Ti200, FX 5200 (128-bit), FX 5500, Go (mobile): 5600, 6200, 6400, 7200, 7300, 7400 (64-bit)	Discrete: 9000, 9200, 9250 Mobility: 9600 (64-bit), X300
Discrete: FX 5200 (64 bit) Go (mobile): 7200, 7400 (32-bit) Integrated: 6100, 6150, 7025, 7050	Discrete: 9200 SE Integrated: Xpress 200M, Xpress 1000, Xpress 1150	Integrated: GMA X3000, X3100, X3500
Discrete: 2 GTS, 4 MX 440, 2 Ultra, 2 Ti, 2 Ti 200	Discrete: 7500	Integrated: GMA 3000, 3100
Discrete: 256, 2 MX 200, 4 MX 420, 2 MX 400	Discrete: SDR, LE, DDR, 7000, 7200	Integrated: GMA 500, 900, 950
Discrete: Nvidia TNT	Discrete: Rage 128	Discrete: Intel 740

Summary

There you have it folks; the best cards for the money this month. Now all that’s left to do is to find and purchase them.

Don’t worry too much about which brand you choose, because all of the cards out there are close to Nvidia’s and ATI’s reference designs. Just pay attention to price, warranty, and the manufacturer’s reputation for honoring the warranty if something goes wrong.

Also remember that the stores don’t follow this list. Things will change over the course of the month and you’ll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to deal with fluctuating prices. Good luck!

Source: Tom's Hardware

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Gigabyte Launches Flagship Z77X-UP7 Motherboard

Gigabyte's latest motherboard features a robust 32+3+2 power design using Ultra Durable 5 high current capable components.





On Monday Gigabyte announced the release of its current flagship motherboard, the Z77X-UP7. It offers a robust 32+3+2 power design (32 CPU phases, 3 Intel HD Graphics, 2 VTT phases) using Ultra Durable 5 high current capable components including 60A rated IR3550 PowIRstages chips from IR. This high phase count allows the board to share the workload between 32 phases, ensuring lower working temperatures and maximum CPU power delivery.
"With the Z77X-UP7 and its 32+3+2 power phase design featuring Ultra Durable 5 technology, we have created the very best CPU power design of any motherboard available today,” commented HiCookie, Gigabyte In-house Overclocking Expert. "Not only does this help extreme overclockers to reach 7 GHz+ on their Intel Core i7-3770K CPUs and take down benchmark records, but it also provides System Integrators with a platform cool and stable enough to withstand the rigors of an always-on, overclocked water cooled system for their customers."
Featuring an LGA 1155 CPU socket and the Intel Z77 chipset, the motherboard supports Intel 22-nm 3rd and 2nd generation Core CPUs. It also has four slots for 2 channel DDR3 RAM sticks, ten USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, six SATA 3 connectors and four SATA 2 connectors. It also offers PCI Express 3.0 x8 connectivity on 4 slots, supporting both 4-way ATI CrossFireX and Nvidia SLI configurations, or PCI Express 3.0 x16 connectivity using 2 slots.
"The Z77X-UP7 delivers ultra smooth 3D rendering, blazing-fast frame rates and enhanced graphics capabilities for users wanting to get the highest levels of graphics performance from their system, Gigabyte said on Monday. "The Single black PCI Express x16 slot provides a direct link to the CPU, enabling it to bypass the PLX chip. This provides the fastest possible connection for single graphics card benching."
The board also features an exclusive in-house designed UEFI BIOS sporting a GUI capable of 32-bit color imaging and user-friendly mouse navigation. The BIOS also provides two different levels of access, depending on the end-user: 3D mode for novice and casual users, and a more comprehensive Advanced Mode designed specifically for overclockers and power users. The 3D mode is a bit more simplistic so that it's easier to understand how the BIOS functions, and how each setting affects the motherboard.
"At the heart of this exciting 3D BIOS technology is a pair of physical BIOS ROMs containing Gigabyte’s exclusive in-house designed Dual UEFI BIOS technology, featuring the patented Gigabyte DualBIOS technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when main BIOS has crashed or failed," the company said.
For overclockers, the OC-Touch buttons allow overclockers to manually adjust the CPU ratio, BCLK settings as well as adjustments to the BCLK stepping ratio, to either 1 MHz or 0.3 MHz increments. These changes can be made in real-time, whether in BIOS, DOS, or Windows without the need for rebooting. Also included are onboard voltage measurement modules, and an onboard LN2 Mode switch for dropping the CPU frequency to x16 multiplier during extreme overclocking.
For more information about Gigabyte's new Z77X-UP7 Windows 8-ready motherboard, head here.

Source: Tom's Hardware

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AMD ''Vishera'' FX-Series CPU Specifications Confirmed

A leaked AMD document coming out of EXPreview, shows the details on the first three FX "Vishera" based processors by AMD.



The new CPUs incorporate AMD's "Piledriver" architecture, and will be available on launch as an eight-core, six-core, and four-core processors. In a document received by Chinese site EXPreview titled "2012 consumer-level desktop platform Quick Reference Guide for Desktops", AMD listed FX processors and the upcoming release of the APU model, the core number, frequency, and the TDP specifications.
The flagship FX-8350 is listed with a 4.00 GHz clock speed (4.20 GHz TurboCore speed), eight-cores, and TDP of 125W. The FX-6300 features 3.50 GHz clock speed (4.10 GHz TurboCore speed), six-cores and TDP of 95W. To round off the list, the FX-4320 features 4.00 GHz clock speed (4.20 GHz TurboCore speed), four-cores and TDP of 95W. None of the FX processors support integrated GPU, but support a full list of "Piledriver" features, such as AMD Perfect Picture HD, AMD Steady Video 2.0 Technology and AMD Wireless Display.
In addition, the leaked document confirms clock speeds, integrated GPU, and GPU cores of several FM2 A-series APUs, such as the A10-5700, A8-5500 and E2-1800.

Source: Tom's Hardware

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