Holiday 2008 GPU Guide: Price Cuts Galore

Stuntin': $300+ Single and Multi-GPU Graphics Solutions

From the introduction of the GeForce GTX 280, it hasn't done enough to justify it's own price. The GTX 280 is the fastest single GPU in most games out there, but the Radeon HD 4870 1GB leads the GTX 280 in performance in too many cases for us to be comfortable recommending spending a lot more money even just to have the fastest single GPU out there -- since it sometimes is not. Until now, based on the value of the hardware, we recommend those looking at the GTX 280 go with the cheaper Radeon HD 4870 1GB or a highly overclocked GTX 260 core 216 unless they are looking at going with SLI. Price drops and rebate madness have gone quite far, and the GeForce GTX 280 is now available at a decent price. You do still pay a premium for the card, but it is a premium we can stomach and that makes sense. Since AMD doesn't have a part that directly competes with the GeForce GTX 280, we give the $300 nod to NVIDIA. Had the price remained closer to the $400 mark, we would left the GTX 280 off our recommended list altogether.

Selling at around half of what it debuted at: The GeForce GTX 280 (Image From EVGA.com)

Single-GPU Recommendation: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

What buyers get for their money here is playability on 30" monitors with the highest quality settings and antialiasing in almost every game. There are some new games that won't be playable with everything turned up, and as with everything else games that come out will continue to demand more and more horsepower. But in the meantime, this stuff is the cream of the crop. For monitors smaller than 30", spending this kind of cash isn't really necessary. For huge (60"+) HDTVs, these solutions could also be useful as they can provide huge levels of antialiasing that could help improve image quality on monitors with very large pixels. If you've got a smaller monitor (19x12 or below on a less than 30" display), you'll be better off going with a cheaper card and saving up for a bigger monitor.

Beyond $300, and aside from the GTX 280, this market encompasses the world of multiGPU solutions. The Radeon HD 4870 1GB, GeForce GTX 260 SLI and GeForce GTX 280 SLI are the options here. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 is currently the only single card multiGPU option available at the ultra high end, and thus this is the option you will want if you only have a single PCIe x16 slot on your board. The added advantage that the 4870 X2 runs in any PC also helps. It is for these reasons that the Radeon HD 4870 X2 gets our recommendation here.

Image From TigerDirect.com

Multi-GPU Recommendation: AMD Radeon HD 4870 X2

For those who don't mind multiple card multiGPU solutions, we whole heartedly recommend going with NVIDIA's SLI on a supported Intel Core i7 system. This combo will bring you the maximum performance you can find on PCs today. The return on investment isn't there, but there is always a premium to have the best of the best. Three way SLI with GeForce GTX 280 on a 3.2 GHz i7 system is the ultimate build today. Even though we don't recommend this option both for the protection of your wallet and because the cost benefit analysis is not favorable, this is the only option for those who need the highest performance out there.

Final Words

That does it for our recommendations for this holiday season. Remember that these prices might change even day to day at this point, but some of these deals are absolutely terrific. Of special note are the Radeon HD 4830 for $85, the Radeon HD 4850 for $130, and the 1GB Radeon HD 4870 for $220. Pay attention to mail in rebates here, as most of these great deals are enabled by them. You'll have to do a little more shopping around if avoiding mail in rebates is particularly important. But some of these deals are just too impressive to pass up.