PC GOTY - 2010 Graphics Cards

Graphic cards are one of the fastest evolving components in the PC market. In a blink of an eye, your top of line, high spec GPU will be beat by one that is even faster. GDDR3 became GDDR5, DirectX 10 soon became DirectX 11 and with them came a host of new graphic cards which pushed the envelope even further in terms of performance.

Tests, graphs, frame rates etc are all fine if you have the time for the research. But at the end of the day, what you need is the best performing graphic card for your budget. So we here at Tech2, have come up with a list of the top 3 graphic cards for different budgets for the year 2010.

Best Performance: ZOTAC GTX 580

The GTX 580 is the fastest single card GPU solution out in the market today. It's powered by 512 Shader Processors, a core clock of 772MHz and 1536MB of GDDR5 Memory. As you can see in our review, the GTX 580 has the ability to chew through every game on the planet. Even Crysis can be played at 1920 x 1080 with Enthusiast settings, which makes quite a statement regarding the raw horsepower in the GTX 580. So far, it's the fastest card out in the market - it'll chew through all you throw at it. But just keep in mind, as flawless as it may be at Rs 31,000, it will burn quite a big hole in your pocket.

Mid-Range: MSI GTX 460 OC (1GB)

The GTX 460 fills in the gap nicely for gamers who are on the lookout for a GPU which performs like a champ, but at the same time doesn’t empty their coffers. Bang for Buck is the criteria here and the GTX 460 does exactly that. It is very capable in handling games at 1680 x 1050, as well as most at 1920 x 1080, although you will have to lower details for the most demanding games (I'm looking at you Crysis). At Rs. 12,500, it’s a perfect balance between price and performance.

Entry Level: ASUS  EAH5670 (HD 5670)

One of the best performing entry level GPU on the market today. The 5670 boasts of DX 11 support and the ability to pull off good frame rates at 1280 x 1024, 1440 x 900 and even 1680 x 1050 (with lowered settings). At Rs. 5,850, the HD 5670 is the one to buy if you are new to the world of PC gaming or play at medium resolutions.

So there you have it, our choices for the best GPUs that were released this year. Next year will be even more exciting as both NVIDIA and ATI bring out the big guns and fight it out for the top spot. Stay tuned!