Sub-$250 graphics cards

So, which one won?
If one were studious enough in their observation of the graphs, you’d have noticed something quite interesting about the value of each of these cards. You’d also notice, of course, the performance. But what does this all mean, and how is this going to help you decide which card you’re going to buy next? Well, we’ve made some categories to give you that extra edge when taking the final plunge.

Best Performance
Win: GIGABYTE 9800GT Nearly-win: Elitegroup 8800GT
It goes without saying that in this roundup, there has been one card at the top of the deck throughout the entire time. The Gigabyte 9800GT was able to pull ahead in every single test, giving us the best performance, with a very good amount of memory, cooling and overclocking headroom. Not only that, but it looks rather interesting too!

This one isn’t the best in terms of value, nor is it the best for your buck, but if you do grab this one you’ll be very happy and secure in the knowledge that you’ve got the fastest budget card out right now – period.

Bang ‘fer ‘yer Buck
Win: Foxconn 9600GT Nearly-win: Elitegroup 8800GT
Apart from a Fallout 3-induced momentary lapse of correct Australian journalistic accent, this category will give you the highest amount of 3DMark06 points for each dollar you spend. Essentially, you’re going to be getting the best increase in performance for your hard-earned – and that is definitely a good thing. Keep in mind that while this won’t necessarily give you the highest performance, however.

The card of choice in this category is the Foxconn 9600GT. Giving you 73.63 3DMark06 points for every dollar you spend, there really isn’t another card that is as good value, making this one an excellent choice. And not only that, but it’s also a decent card for gaming too, and perfect for a LANning rig.


Best Overall Value
Win: Elitegroup 8800GT Nearly-win: Foxconn 9600GT
Our last category is Value. This isn’t quite the same as getting the best performance, nor is it the same as bang for your buck, but rather the amount of awesome stuff you get for the cash outlaid. We’ve picked the Elitegroup 8800GT, because you get the second-highest performance AND bang for your buck, AND you get a very good game included – all for only $175. You really can’t beat this amount of value, and if we were to recommend any of these cards on an overall weighting, this would definitely be the one to pick.

Through all of our benching, testing, calculating, plotting, scheming and dreaming, we’ve pretty quantitatively shown that the lower end cards are really not worth considering if you call yourself an enthusiast. Depending on your needs, there’s going to be something here for you – and if you want to kick it up a notch in performance, make sure you check out the upcoming issues of Atomic for all the latest and greatest graphics reviews – there’s some exciting cards on the horizon.