A few days ago I wanted some advice on which video card to buy. All I heard was "buy the fastest one out there!!!! Gosh!!" or some other rhetoric. It wasn't too helpful. I did some research, not just on the current brands, but even on discountinued brands, marketing schemes, etc. Here are some preliminary results:
1. Newer cards aren't always better
2. Higher end cards offer marginal performance increases per $
3. Cards under $50 have almost no coorelation to performance. Just whatever the sale of the day is.
4. ATI and NVIDIA do a good job of confusing the average consumer with marketing gimmicks. 6000, 5000, SE, XT, GTX all can have vastly different impacts. A GeForce 6200 can suck next to a 5500 depending on specs.
I took all the Nvidia & ATI graphic cards rated by Adrian Rojak and computed a scorecard based on performance numbers (i.e., fill rate, memory bandwidth, etc). I looked up current prices on ebay, newegg, and pricegrabber and computed a score per $. Here are some preliminary findings.
Best Scores (some of the newest cards are not included):
1. GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB-----4.32
2. Radeon X1800 XT-------------3.60
3. GeForce 7800 GTX----------- 3.28
4. Radeon X850 XT PE-----------2.97
5. Radeon X800 XT PE-----------2.85
6. Radeon X850 XT -------------2.85
7. Radeon X1800 XL------------ 2.70
8. GeForce 7800 GT------------ 2.66
9. Radeon X800 XT------------- 2.66
10. Radeon X800 XT PCIe--------2.66
Then I looked at score per dollar:
Name----------------------(Score*100)/Price-----Score
1. GeForce FX 5950 Ultra------2.65 -------- 1.86
2. GeForce FX 5900 SE------- 2.41 -------- 1.47
3. Radeon X800 SE----------- 1.81 -------- 1.71
4. Radeon 9700 Pro ---------- 1.67 -------- 1.30
5. Radeon X800GT------------ 1.47 --------1.51
6. GeForce 6600 GT---------- 1.45 -------- 1.44
7. GeForce FX 5900---------- 1.36 -------- 1.64
8. Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB---- 1.35 -------- 1.44
10. GeForce 6200------------- 1.15 -------- 0.68
11. GeForce 6800------------- 1.11 -------- 1.61
12. GeForce 6800 XT---------- 1.07 -------- 1.86
13. Radeon 9600-------------- 1.03 -------- 0.58
14. Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB--- 0.96 -------- 1.45
15. GeForce FX 5500---------- 0.92 -------- 0.54
From what I can see, the best value seems to be a better, high-end older card like a 5900 Ultra (which scored as good as a GeForce 6800 XT). On ebay you can pick one up for not much more than generic Radeon 9200 SE's or whatever on sale at Fry's.
I'll still do some more analysis. Please ask questions or make comments. I know there are some drawbacks to this (Direct X, pixel shaders, other qualatative factors), but its a interesting start.
1. Newer cards aren't always better
2. Higher end cards offer marginal performance increases per $
3. Cards under $50 have almost no coorelation to performance. Just whatever the sale of the day is.
4. ATI and NVIDIA do a good job of confusing the average consumer with marketing gimmicks. 6000, 5000, SE, XT, GTX all can have vastly different impacts. A GeForce 6200 can suck next to a 5500 depending on specs.
I took all the Nvidia & ATI graphic cards rated by Adrian Rojak and computed a scorecard based on performance numbers (i.e., fill rate, memory bandwidth, etc). I looked up current prices on ebay, newegg, and pricegrabber and computed a score per $. Here are some preliminary findings.
Best Scores (some of the newest cards are not included):
1. GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB-----4.32
2. Radeon X1800 XT-------------3.60
3. GeForce 7800 GTX----------- 3.28
4. Radeon X850 XT PE-----------2.97
5. Radeon X800 XT PE-----------2.85
6. Radeon X850 XT -------------2.85
7. Radeon X1800 XL------------ 2.70
8. GeForce 7800 GT------------ 2.66
9. Radeon X800 XT------------- 2.66
10. Radeon X800 XT PCIe--------2.66
Then I looked at score per dollar:
Name----------------------(Score*100)/Price-----Score
1. GeForce FX 5950 Ultra------2.65 -------- 1.86
2. GeForce FX 5900 SE------- 2.41 -------- 1.47
3. Radeon X800 SE----------- 1.81 -------- 1.71
4. Radeon 9700 Pro ---------- 1.67 -------- 1.30
5. Radeon X800GT------------ 1.47 --------1.51
6. GeForce 6600 GT---------- 1.45 -------- 1.44
7. GeForce FX 5900---------- 1.36 -------- 1.64
8. Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB---- 1.35 -------- 1.44
10. GeForce 6200------------- 1.15 -------- 0.68
11. GeForce 6800------------- 1.11 -------- 1.61
12. GeForce 6800 XT---------- 1.07 -------- 1.86
13. Radeon 9600-------------- 1.03 -------- 0.58
14. Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB--- 0.96 -------- 1.45
15. GeForce FX 5500---------- 0.92 -------- 0.54
From what I can see, the best value seems to be a better, high-end older card like a 5900 Ultra (which scored as good as a GeForce 6800 XT). On ebay you can pick one up for not much more than generic Radeon 9200 SE's or whatever on sale at Fry's.
I'll still do some more analysis. Please ask questions or make comments. I know there are some drawbacks to this (Direct X, pixel shaders, other qualatative factors), but its a interesting start.