Graphics Cards - DigitalVersus

Christmas Gift Guide 2008 >

Graphics Cards

Régis Jehl
Test date: November 12, 2008

This time last year, very few people would have predicted a return of ATI. Anybody who did, though, will have seen their bet pay off.

Just twelve months ago, the market was dominated by NVIDIA.

ATI, though, are back in business with their Radeon HD 4000 series, and we're to have them back.

Before you accuse us being ATI fan boys, let's not forget that they give the most bang for your buck in every part of the market.

If we can't favor the most powerful products at the best prices, what can we do?

Budget Buyer:
ATI Radeon HD 4830
(test in progress)

You can play fairly modest games like World of Warcraft, The Sims 2or Counter Strike Source and enjoy all the detail on offer. More demanding games like Call of Duty 4 or Fallout 3 wil need you to turn some details off, but are entirely feasible.

Find the best price

Demanding User:
ATI Radeon 4870

Resaonably quiet in 2D mode and with excellent gaming performance, this card offers it all. You can play all of the most recent games without having to reduce detail: Fallout 3, Far Cry 2 and Call of Duty 4 all worked perfectly on a 24'' screen. Only Crysis gave it a bit of trouble.


E-buyer	89.99
Amazon Marketplace UK	106.95
Misco UK	109.99
E-buyer	126.49
Amazon Marketplace UK	149.99
Dell (UK)	150.24
Compare prices

All in One:
ATI Radeon HD 4850

Quiet enough with 2D, this card will also power you through the most advanced of recent games, provided you don't ask it to support a screen bigger than 22''.


Pixmania.co.uk	69.00
Amazon.co.uk	89.27




Compare prices

Expert:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2

This card is the big news at the end of 2008. The X2 means that there are two HD 4870 chips on the same card, making this the most powerful card currently available. You shouldn't have any problems playing any games, even on the biggest monitors.

The pay-off, though, is that it uses a lot of energy, and makes a lot of noise. If you can find a version with a specially-adapted fan, then it's definitely a better bet than the 'regular' version.