Try not to drool too much... The GTX 570 has incredible "specs" : 1280MB/ 320-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory 3800MHz/ Core 732MHz/ RAMDAC 400 MHz
If you are serious about in-game performance or taking your gaming to the next level, then you need to have the right video card. A fast PC without a proper video card fails vs. a decent CPU machine with a great video card.
While casual gamers might be able to use an inexpensive graphics card, gamers who try to rank or play games with the newest level of requirements need one in the $200-$500 range. The rule of thumb for professional gamers is to change their video card out every 12 months. At-home gamers can get away with this every 12-24 months.
Best Gaming Graphics/Video Cards 2011 – 2012
| Product | Price and Rating | Memory Size/ Interface/ Type/ Engine Clock | Ports | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS HD7850-DC2-2GD5 Radeon 2GB DDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort GPU Tweak Utilities PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card HD7850-DC2-2GD5 | 870MHz core clock/ 1024 Stream Processing Units/ 1210MHz (4.84Gbps) effective memory clock/ 2GB memory size/ | 1 x HDMI/ 2 x Mini DisplayPort/ 1 x DVI | 3 years parts and labor warranty. | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2 GB DDR5 HDMI/DVI-I/Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 11200-00-20G | 860MHZ core clock/ 1024 Stream Processing Units/ 1200MHz (4.8Gbps) effective memory clock/ 2GB memory size/ | 1 x HDMI/ 2 x Mini DisplayPort/ 1 x DVI | 2 years limited parts and labor | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC 3GB DDR5 HDMI/DVI-I/Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 11197-01-40G | 950/1000MHz Core Clock / 2048 Stream Processing Units/ 5700/5800MHz effective memory clock/ 3GB memory size/ 384-bit/ GDDR5/ | 1 x HDMI/ 2 x Mini DisplayPort/ 1 x DVI | 2 years limited parts and labor | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX480 1536MB GDDR5 Dual DVI, HDMI, SLI Graphics Cards 015-P3-1480-KR | 1536MB/ 384-bit/ GDDR5/ Core Clock 700MHz/ Shader Clock 1401MHz/ | 1 x mini HDMI/ 2 x DVI/ 2560 x 1600 max resolution | 3 years parts and labor warranty. | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card - Lifetime Warranty 01G-P3-1563-AR | 1GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5 | 1 x mini HDMI/ 2 x DVI | Lifetime warranty period for parts and labor. | |
| Sapphire Radeon Eyefinity HD 6970 2 GB DDR5 DL-DVI-I/SL-DVI-D/HDMI/Dual Mini DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 100311-2SR | 2GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5/ 1536 Stream Processing Units/ 1375MHz effective memory clock/ 880MHz core clock/ | 1 x HDMI/ 2 x Mini DisplayPort/ 2 x DVI/ max resolution of 2560 x 1600/ Eyefinity support, CrossFire X support | 2 years parts and labor warranty. | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti FPB 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1556-KR | 1GB/ 192-bit/ GDDR5 | 1 x mini HDMI/ 2 x DVI | 2 year parts and labor warranty. | |
| XFX ATI Radeon HD6870 GPU 1 GB DDR5 HD687AZNFC | 1GB/ 256-bit/ DDR5/ Effective Memory Clock 1050MHz (4.2Gbps)/ Core Clock 900MHz | 2 x DVI/ 2 x Mini DisplayPort/ 1 x HDMI | Lifetime Limited Parts and Labor Warranty | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2 GB DDR5 100312SR | 2GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5/ RAMDAC 400 MHz/ 1408 Stream Processing Units | 2 x DVI/ 2 x Mini DisplayPort/ 1 x HDMI | 2 Years Limited Parts and Labor | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 012-P3-1570-AR | 1280MB/ 320-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory 3800MHz/ Core 732MHz/ RAMDAC 400 MHz | 2 x DVI/ 1 x mini HDMI | Lifetime Limited Parts and Labor Warranty | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 590 Classified 3072 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 3DVI/Mini-Display Port SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 03G-P3-1596-AR | 3GB/ 768-bit/ GDDR5/ 3456MHz/ 630MHz/ Shader 1260MHz/ PCI Express 2.0 x16 | Max Resolution 2560 x 1600/ 1 x Mini DisplayPort/ 3 x DVI | Lifetime Limited Parts and Labor Warranty. | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1 GB GDDR5 | 1GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory Clock 1000MHz (4.0Gbps)/ Core Clock 775MHz | 1 x HDMI/ 1 x DisplayPort/ 2 x DVI | 2 Years Parts and Labor | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3072 MB GDDR5 PCB PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 03G-P3-1584-AR | 3072MB/ 384-bit/ GDDR5/ 1544MHz shader clock/ 772MHz core clock/ 400 MHz RAMDAC | 1 x mini HDMI/ 2 x DVI/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround Ready/ NVIDIA CUDA technolog/ NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology | Lifetime Limited Warranty for Parts and Labor. | |
| EVGA nVidia GeForce 9500GT graphics card - Over 800 days on the bestseller list and still number 1. | 1GB/ 128-bit/ DDR2/ 550MHz | 2 x DVI/ HDTV / S-Video Out | 2 years limited parts and labor | |
| HIS Radeon HD 4670 Graphics Card H467QR1GH | 1GB/ 128-bit/ DDR3/ 750MHz | 1 x HDMI/ 1 x D-SUB/ 1 x DVI | 2 years limited parts and labor | |
| MSI GeForce GTX560 1 GB DDR5 | 1GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory 4200MHz/ Core Clock - 880MHz | 1 x mini HDMI/ 2 x DVI | 3 Years limited parts/ 2 years limited labor | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX460 Graphics Card1024 MB DDR5 01G-P3-1371-AR | 1GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory Clock 3600MHz/ Core Clock 720MHz | 1 x mini HDMI 1.4/ 2 x DVI | Lifetime Limited Parts and Labor | |
| Sapphire Radeon HD5770 Video Card Vapor-X 1 GB DDR5 | 1GB/ 128-bit/ GDDR5/ RAMDAC 400 MHz/ 800 Stream Processing Units | 2 x DVI/ 1 x DisplayPort/ 1 x HDMI | 2 Years Limited Parts and Labor | |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 015-P3-1582-AR | 1536MB/ 384-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory 4050 MHz/ Core Clock 797Mhz | 2 x DVI/ 1 x mini HDMI | Lifetime Limited Parts and Labor Warranty |
As you can see we put a variety of graphics and video cards in our list to accommodate for every gamers level of playing. If you simply play an older MMORPG you can get away with a GPU under $100. The GTX 560 gives you great specifications – 1GB/ 256-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory 4200MHz/ Core Clock – 880MHz, for a very reasonable price at $250. Most gamers would be more than happy with a single card with this level of performance, but it’s very tempting for performance seekers to SLI/Crossfire a graphics card in this price range as well.
We also included the Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2 GB DDR5 100312SR which we think is a great deal considering you can flash it to a HD 6970 without much problem. The increased shading options/detail of this card should make it well worth the $275 price tag.
If you’d rather not SLI/Crossfire, then consider a single graphics card card in the GTX 580 for gaming. You get a lifetime parts and labor warranty and incredible performance (1536MB/ 384-bit/ GDDR5/ Effective Memory 4050 MHz/ Core Clock 797Mhz).
If you are looking for a media center card to play movies on, then grab the HIS Radeon HD 4670 Graphics Card H467QR1GH which has a HDMI port for easy connectivity between your PC and HDTV.
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We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of the best gaming graphics cards of 2011. If you have, then take a look at our other top ten lists in the “tab” sections above.