Entry level cards (Less than 4k)

This category of GPUs serve users who are looking to boost their system's

graphic processing capabilities in order to run well, at least the less graphic

intense games and also for running Windows Vista smoothly with Aero. This

category had GPUs from both Nvidia and ATI.

3D Mark 06



We were not expecting anything spectacular when it came to 3D Mark scores in

this category as compared to cards in the higher price segments, but a couple of

cards did manage to surprise us with scores more than 5k. Nvidia ruled the entry

level segment with a huge lead over ATI, with the Zotac 9500GT scoring a

staggering 7028 which is amazing for its price.

Company of heroes



With the intricate detailing of infantry, vehicles and other elements of a

war zone, the game requires a decent graphic processor to run smoothly. COH made

things really simple for us as there was a huge difference between the winner

and others. It was the Zotac 9500GT which held the pole position again with 91

fps leaving every other card in this category far behind.

Crysis



Regarded as one of the most graphically demanding gaming titles of all

times, we had no hope from any of the GPUs to survive the Crysis thrashing and

well, we were right.

MSI NX 8500 GT

The GPU that scored the highest here was again Zotac 9500 GT scoring a meager

18 fps but nonetheless for the price it comes for we can safely say that it's

more than decent.

Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare



COD4 is an FPS title and is considered as one of the better looking shooter

titles. We were expecting a bit decent scores for this one as the game is a DX9

title. With a score of 35 fps, it was the Zotac 8500GT that won this battle and

was closely followed by MSI NX8500 GT and XFX 8500GT. Seems like the Nvidia 8500

series has been tweaked to run COD4 better than the other GPUs in this category.

Unreal tournament 3



UT3 is a title where we saw even the entry level GPUs stretching themselves

to the limit. It was the Zotac 9500 GT that led the pack with a score of 83 fps

followed by the Asus EAH 3650 Silent at 69 fps.

Zotac 9500 GT

Verdict



This being the price specific category, maximum weightage was given to price

as compared to the weightage for performance and features. Though by the end of

testing, it became quite obvious that it would be the Geforce based Zotac 9500

GT that would win it. The second and third positions were taken by the ATI based

Asus EAH 3650SILENT and Sapphire HD 3650.

Editor's choice



The Zotac 9500 GT was the clear winner in the entry level segment. The GPU

has a 512 MB GDDR3 RAM and even though it is the costliest card in the lot, the

edge in performance and features helped it claim the top spot with an overall

score of 70 out of 100. Overall, a good buy in terms of performance and cost.

Labs recommended



The MSI NX 8500 GT was in close proximity in terms of overall scoring.

Though it lagged a little behind the Zotac but had the added advantage of an

HDMI port. Another reason for it coming out as the winner even though its

performance was just decent is its price. At the price it is sold at the MSI is

a steal.

Budget cards (4 to 10k)

If you're ok with playing games at lower resolutions, then these GPUs are

decent enough for mainstream gaming. In this category slightly more weightage

was given to performance than price.

3D Mark 06



Unlike in the entry level category where the maximum score on 3D mark 06 was

less than 4k, in budget segment we saw a lot of GPUs scoring as high as 11k

plus. The Zotac 9800GT this time conquered the 3D Mark test with a staggering

13822 with the Gigabyte NX88T/8800GT, just few points behind. A score above

eleven thousand 3D marks has been considered awesome for this category and a few

cards were able to surpass this hurdle.

Company of heroes



There were a number of cards which scored above 100 fps in this title from

Relic Entertainment. It was the Gigabyte NX88T/8800GT that held the pole

position at 182 fps followed closely by the Zotac 9800GT at 180.

Zotac 9800 GT

Crysis



We were still sure that a number of cards in this category would fumble and

will fall face first when it comes to running Crysis smoothly. We were right in

most of the cases but there were a few GPUs that managed to score above 30 fps.

It was Nvidia again with the Zotac 9800GT that won the Crysis battle by

running the game at 46 frames per second again followed very closely by the

8800GT. Other cards that performed decently in this segment were Sapphire

HD3870, Powercolor, Asus EAH3850 OCG and Asus EAH3850 TOP, all three ATI GPUs.

Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare



Featuring true HDR lighting effects, dynamic effects and depth-of-field,

COD4 is an FPS title considered as one of the better looking shooter titles

based on DX9. It was Nvidia again that outperformed others. The Zotac 9800 GT

took the crown for COD4 with 63 fps.

Unreal tournament 3



This was the title in which we saw GPUs being able to cross 100 fps barrier.

The highest score achieved for this game title by a GPU was 140 frames per

second and it was the Nvidia 9800GT powered Zotac again. The ATI based

Powercolor, Sapphire HD3850 and ATI HD4670 scored 119, 116 and 114 fps

respectively.

ATI HD4670

Verdict



We know that by now you must be eagerly waiting to know who won the battle.

It was the Nvidia 9800GT and 8800GT which nailed it when it comes to

performance, but this being the budget category where pricing plays an important

role, it was an ATI that came out victorious in the overall scoring.

Editor's choice



In the final scoring, it was ATI HD4670 that won the battle because of its

decent performance and its low price. The HD4670 also gained the leading edge,

when it comes to features with an HDMI port which a few cards in this category

didn't have. Overall, The ATI HD4670 is a good combination of decent performance

and features at an amazing price.

Labs recommended



Even though priced a little higher, Nvidia cards performed brilliant in this

category. The Zotac 9800 GT held the second position quite close to the winner

thanks to the staggering scores in all the benchmarks.

With 512MB GDDR3 RAM, the Zotac 9800GT even though didn't have an HDMI output

port, managed to come out with flying colors due to its extraordinary

performance as compared to others.

Mid-range Cards (Rs 10k to 20k)

Aggressive performance is what we expect from this category. Sandwiched as

they are between entry level and high-end cards, it is always a do or die battle

for these expensive GPUs. Test as we did for hardcore gaming, the stakes were

raised a bit by increasing the weightage for performance than price and

features.

3D Mark 06



When mainstream gaming is the target, commendable 3D Mark scores is what we

want. In fact there were few cards that managed to touch 16k and others which

couldn't even cross 11k. ATI nailed the 3D Mark contest with Asus EAH3870 X2

scoring a mind boggling 16382.

Company of heroes



It was in this category and with this title where we saw GPUs crossing the

200 fps mark. Though scores in the upper limit were close but there were a few

cards that performed badly. NVIDIA led the pack in this game with the Zotac 9800

GTX+ scoring an amazing 207 frames per second, followed closely by ATI, with

GeCube HD 4870.

GeCube HD 4870

Crysis



Serious gamers know the importance of Crysis; after all it's considered as

the God of all graphically intense games ever developed. A GPU that could tackle

Crysis and show more than 50 fps is considered as more than good for this

category. We had a three way tie between Zotac 9800 GTX, Zotac 9800 GTX+ and

GeCube HD 4870, all showing 51 frames per second..

Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare



Like Crysis, COD 4 wasn't easy on the GPUs either. The max frame rate a GPU

could show was 74 with most of the cards scoring almost same as the ones in the

budget range. It was ATI all the way that took the cake with Asus HD 4870 and

GeCube 4870 scoring the most.

Unreal tournament 3



An interesting point that we noticed while testing UT3 was that a number of

cards in this category gave performances similar to cards in the budget range.

XFX 9800 GTX

The top scorer in this category was ATI with GeCube HD 4870 showing 176 fps.

The only other card that managed to score well was Asus ENGTX 260 with 173 fps

with a number of cards not able to cross even 120 fps.

Verdict



In the mid-range category more weightage is given to performance and equal

weightages were given to price and features. When spending more than Rs 10k for

a gaming card, along with performance, an HDMI output is something one should

look for. In this segment both NVIDIA and ATI cards performed well with making

the final decision more difficult.

Editor's choice



It's ATI that took the crown in this category with the GeCube HD 4870

scoring an excellent 91 out of 100. The GeCube HD 4870 gave an exceptional

performance and was the top scorer in all four gaming benchmarks. It has both a

GDDR5 RAM and an HDMI port helping it win the battle. Overall, a good buy with

tremendous features and breathtaking performance.

Labs recommended



NVIDIA wasn't far behind with the XFX 9800 GTX scoring well in all three:

performance, features and price. With a price tag of under Rs 15k, 9800 GTX

performed decently and is also equipped with an HDMI port unlike a few cards in

this category. The GDDR3 based GPU scored well in COD 4, Crysis and COH. A good

buy for this price.

High-end Cards (Rs 20k to 30k)

These cards are for serious gamers. They cards are built to give best video

resolution capabilities and support almost all graphic intensive games. If

required, then two or more cards can be put in parallel to get the desired

results. Out of the five cards under this category, two of them were from NVIDIA

while others were from ATI. Apart from GeCube 4870 X2 which had a RAM type of

GDDR5, others had GDDR3 RAM.

3D Mark 06



This is a well known industry benchmark used to check the graphic processing

capabilities of the card. All the ATI based cards have scored pretty higher than

the NVIDIA based cards in this benchmark. ATI was the undisputed champion in

this testing with GeCube 4870 X2 being the winner with a score of 18,143. Asus

EN9800GTX scored a minimum of 14,421.

Company of heroes



This World War II based game requires a considerable graphics processing

capability. To test the cards we had set all the settings to the maximum and the

resolution was also set to 1280 X 1024. In this test also GeCube 4870X2

outperformed the rest with a score of 232. Rest all cards finished close behind

in the range of 192 to 197..

MSI R3870 X2

Crysis



This game is one of the most graphical intensive games and is a real test

for a gaming card. For this game also we set the resolution at 1280 X 1024. Once

again, GeCube 4870 X2 was the winner with a score of 64. This time the two

NVIDIA based cards performed better than the two ATI cards..

Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare



Developed by Infinity Ward this game is a FPS title that runs on a

proprietary graphics engine and features true game visuals based on DX9. This

game was tested with a resolution set at 1280 X 1024 using FRAPS. The highest

scorer was again GeCube 4870 X2 with a score of 82. The second position was

taken by Zotac GTX 260 with a score of 73. The remaining 3 cards performed

equally well with very less difference in scores.

GeCube 4870 X2

Unreal tournament 3



This game has been developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes and has a

fast paced action. For testing, we used an UT3 DX10 external benchmarking tool

with resolution set at 1280 X 1024. GeCube 4870 X2 scored the maximum of 185

leaving others behind.

Verdict



As this category is for gamers, therefore more weightage is given to

performance than features or price. The two NVIDIA based cards lost on features

as they were the only one that did not have HDMI support amongst the rest in

this section. It was evident from the results that GeCube 4870 X2 would be the

undisputed winner.

Editor's choice



Editor's choice is awarded to GeCube 4870 X2. Thanks to the 2 GB GDDR5 RAM

that helped the card to perform better than some of the extreme end cards. This

card is costliest of all and had scored an overall 97 out of 100.

Labs recommended



MSI R3870 X2 won this title as it also performed admirably well. It has all the
nice features and gave an appreciable performance, at a price that's the least

of all in this category.

Extreme Gaming (Rs 30 k and above)

These cards are for professional gamers and for applications that require

high graphic intensive processing. There were 6 cards under this category and

all were NVIDIA based, supporting a RAM type of GDDR3. All cards support the new

PhysX and CUDA technology. Nvidia PhysX is a physics engine that is designed for

hardware acceleration by powerful processors with hundreds of cores. Combining

the PhysX technology with the processing power of the GPU, gives a new dimension

to high level gaming.

3D Mark 06



In this benchmark, there was not much difference amongst the scores for

different cards. The scores obtained were in the range of 14500 to 15500 with

XFX GTX 280 being the winner with a score of 15480.

ASUS EN9800 GX2

Company of heroes



To test the cards, the settings of the game were set to maximum and

resolution was set to 1280 X 1024. For this game ASUS EN9800 GX2 was the winner

with a score of 225 while XFX GTX 280 finished at the second position with a

score of 212. Rest all cards also performed well with not much difference in

scores.

Crysis



Being graphics intensive, this game was a true test for these cards and ASUS

EN9800 GX2 was the winner with the score of 61. The lowest score of 46 was

obtained by GIGABYTE GTX280. The remaining cards obtained scores in the range of

54 to 59.

Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare



All the cards performed well in this game. ZOTAC GTX 280 was the winner with

a score of 77 and XFX GTX 280 obtained a least score of 61.

Unreal tournament 3



We tested the game using a UT3 external benchmarking tool with resolution

set at 1280 X 1024. For this game XFX GTX 260 and ASUS EN9800 GX2 were the

winners with a score of 178. XFX GTX 280 could only score 147 which was the

least amongst all the cards.

XFX 9800 GX2

Verdict



As this is a category of cards that caters to professional gamers therefore

the maximum weightage ought to be given to performance. There was not much

difference as far as the performance of cards is concerned but XFX 9800GX2 and

ASUS EN9800 GX2 score more points for their features. Both these cards have HDMI

support while the rest did not have. It was a very close finish between XFX

9800GX2 and ASUS EN9800 GX2.

Editor's choice



Taking overall performance into consideration, ASUS EN9800 GX2 was the

winner with an overall score of 97 out of 100. This card has a 1 GB GDDR3 RAM

and performed consistently in all the tests. It would be a good buy considering

its worthy performance

Labs recommended



Though XFX 9800 GX2 finished at the second position but it gave tough

competition to ASUS EN9800 GX2. It scored an overall 95 out of 100. Another

reason for this recommendation is its lesser price than ASUS EN9800 GX2

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