Video Card Values
I’m probably breaking all sorts of internet etiquette rules here, but I think people will find this information useful. I pilfered the FPS scores from this article at tomshardware.com. So go visit them for much more detailed breakdowns of how the data was created or additional specs.
So, I just wanted to know what’s the best bang for my $$$ in video cards with recent video games like FarCry and Doom3. So a quick excel spreadsheet later, here is what I have…
| Card | Price | Farcry FPS* | Doom3 FPS** | $/FPS Farcry | $/FPS Doom3 | Avg $/FPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6800 Base | $275 | 60 | 55 | $4.58 | $5.00 | $4.79 |
| 9800 Pro | $163 | 40 | 25 | $4.08 | $6.52 | $5.30 |
| 6800 GT | $380 | 79 | 65 | $4.81 | $5.85 | $5.33 |
| 9800 Base | $140 | 35 | 21 | $4.00 | $6.67 | $5.33 |
| 9600 Pro | $100 | 22 | 12 | $4.55 | $8.33 | $6.44 |
| 9600 Base | $75 | 17 | 8.5 | $4.41 | $8.82 | $6.62 |
| X800 XT | $480 | 92 | 59 | $5.22 | $8.14 | $6.68 |
| X800 Pro | $385 | 71 | 42 | $5.42 | $9.17 | $7.29 |
| 6800 Ultra | $580 | 86 | 68 | $6.74 | $8.53 | $7.64 |
| 9800 XT | $407 | 45 | 27 | $9.04 | $15.07 | $12.06 |
Lower $/FPS is better
*Farcry VHQ No AA/AF 1024x768 — **Doom3 HQ Demo1 4xAA/8xAF 1024x768 — All cards 128MB
Also, there seem to be numerous reports of the 6800 Base (aka 6800NU (non-ultra)) being software unlockable to make it much faster. But, your milage may vary on finding a card that this works on.