Graphics Card Options Information
 

The last two years has seen nVidia dominating the graphics card market with a phenomenal step up in performance from the 8800 G80 and then G92 series of Graphical Processing Units (GPU's).  This has meant for ultimate performance they have been THE choice, and probably still are with the new GTX 200.  However ATI are now closing the gap and have recently released the 4870X2 which in many tests shows an edge over nVidia.  However there is no doubt nVidia still are producing the best single GPU cards available.  Both manufacturers offer the opportunity of installing more than one card to offer you even more 3D graphics power.  For ATI its known as 'Crossfire' for nVidia 'SLI' but you need to have the right motherboard to support it.  The Intel Skulltrail dual CPU motherboard is currently the only board to support both SLI and Crossfire, however, the new Intel Nehalem chipset architecture due out Q4 2008 will support both.

For 2D graphics like video and photography a high end 3D graphics card is of questionable value and the low end cards at a tenth of the price are perfectly adequate, you wont notice the difference unless you run 3D graphics.

Our own graphics card page compares the nVidia cards for performance.

• nVidia 8800 series - Pretty much consigned to history now but 8800 Ultra cards are still worthy performers.
   

• nVidia 9800 series - A bit of a flop range of cards being barely any different to the 8800 cards and using the same G92 GPU.  The only card worth considering in the 9800GX2 which arguably is still the best performer in the real world, even over the new GTX 200 range.  It also supports DirectX10 which the GTX 200 doesn't!
   

• nVidia GTX 200 series - The latest and greatest cards from nVidia the GTX 260 and GTX 280.  For once nVidia seem to have made more of a statement with the low end card the GTX 260
   

• nVidia GT 300 Series 'Fermi' - Heralds a new architecture in GPU technology where the graphics card is a minicomputer in its own right with its own memory controller and a more rounded set of processing units in the main processor.  Expected availability March 2010.
   

• ATI Radeon 4800 Series - The last generation of ATI GPU's very good performance for value with DirectX10 support across the range.  Still more readily available and at a lower price than the newer 5800 series.
   

• ATI HD 4670 and 5770 Silent - The best value option for Video, graphics and Photography professionals for who 3D graphics is of secondary performance to good 3D performance and 2D graphics accuracy and video outputs (S-Video, HDMI, Dual-DVI) is of prime importance.
   

• ATI HD 5800 and 5900 series - The first 2+ Teraflop cards at a new low level of prefabrication at 40nm and more stream processors packed into the larger IC package.  A lot of power in a small space and the best single GPU available since Sept 2009.  That is until nVidia Fermi is available.  With support for EyeFinity (three monitors per card support), DirectX11 and DirectCompute.  ATI still need to work on those drivers though get get the performance out of the cards they are really capable of!

Physics processing - Spot the difference in the logos, hard isn't it??  Aegia Physx was acquire by nVidia and Havoc is ATI technology so its no surprise that physics processing is now integrated into the graphics cards.  The Havoc API seems to be winning more games support but its early days.  Either way a standalone Physics card is no longer required.  Though a good solution is to use a low cost card as a dedicated physics processor, a GTS 240 for example.

Crossfire - Crossfire drivers have always been a bit hit and miss, sometimes offering no more than 20-30% performance gains.  However this seems to be changing with the 4870X2 cards release!  ATI cards are generally supported on the Intel platform (P35, X48 etc) whereas you need to have the nVidia nForce (680i, 780i etc) chipset on the motherboard for SLI support.
 

Cooling upgrades - Our Super Silent cooling and water cooling options include upgrading the stock cooler that ATI and nVidia provide with a larger more efficient heatsink and a larger and higher flow rate fan.  This reduces the noise output from the cards (which is surprisingly high on stock cooling!) and increases the performance boost applied.

nVidia SLI - now offering triple and quad GPU support but due to the combination of SLI architecture and bus restrictions you will need triple or even quad GPU's to get anywhere near doubling the performance of a single GPU.  Typically dual SLI adds about 30-40% performance improvement over a single GPU.  You need to seriously question whether this is best value for you or whether you might just be better off waiting for the next release of card, and subsequent price crash, in six months.