{"id":180,"date":"2012-02-01T14:06:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T20:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/?p=180"},"modified":"2013-04-30T22:22:01","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T04:22:01","slug":"general-ranking-list-of-graphics-cards-released-2002-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/general-ranking-list-of-graphics-cards-released-2002-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"General Ranking List of Graphics Cards Released Between 2002-2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been following the gaming graphics card market for over a decade now, ever since I became interested in computer hardware. Over the past ten years, there have been many revolutions in graphics card technology, with 3D graphics in games becoming ever more realistic with each year. Watching the never-ending graphics war between nVIDIA and ATI (now AMD) has been intriguing and it’s this fierce competition that has driven many innovations that make today’s ultra high end 3D graphics possible.<\/p>\n

During that time, I have been constantly comparing the performance between graphics cards. I have kept up a general performance list for a majority of the graphics cards that have been released since 2002. I have extrapolated benchmark results from several graphic card reviews to create this list and categorize them into five categories, based on their performance in modern 3D games: ultra high-end, high-end, mid-range, low-end, ultra low-end and basic.<\/p>\n

This is by no means a definitive list, as graphic card performance really depends on what game is being played, the set resolution, processor, motherboard, and RAM that is used in conjunction with the graphics card. I have only listed graphics card capable of DirectX 9 and above, as older DirectX cards have become totally unusable in almost all 3D applications in use today. The list below is set as if there were no CPU\/RAM\/system bottlenecks in place.<\/p>\n

Graphic Cards General Performance Ranking (As of February 2012)
<\/strong>
\n(Ranked in Terms of General Performance, Best to Worst)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
ULTRA HIGH-END<\/strong>: Can play graphic intensive DirectX 9\/10\/11 games of 2011-2012 at max settings at extreme resolutions (1920×1200 and above) with extreme anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF) enabled. All games released prior to 2011 will run easily at the maximum settings and highest resolutions on these cards.
\n(Playable: Battlefield 3, Crysis, Crysis Wars\/Warhead, Metro 2033)<\/em><\/p>\n

HIGH-END<\/strong>: Can play graphic intensive games DirectX 9\/10\/11 (as of 2012) at max \/ very high settings at high resolutions (1680×1050 and above) with high anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF) enabled. All games released prior to 2008 will run easily at the maximum settings and highest resolutions on these cards.
\n(Playable: Battlefield 2: Bad Company, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Mass Effect 2, Resident Evil 5, StarCraft II, TES V: Skyrim)<\/em><\/p>\n

MID-RANGE<\/strong>: Can play graphic intensive games (as of 2012) at mid \/ high settings at standard or high resolutions with some or none anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF) enabled. Games released prior to 2008 will run games at maximum \/ high settings with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled, and high resolutions.
\n(Playable: Call of Duty 4, Fallout 3, TES IV: Oblivion, Half-Life: Episode I\/II, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Command & Conquer 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King)<\/em><\/p>\n

LOW-END<\/strong>: Can play graphic intensive games (as of 2012) at low settings at low or standard resolutions with no anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF). Games released prior to 2006 will run games at maximum \/ high settings with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled and high resolutions.
\n(Playable: Call of Duty 2, Doom 3, Quake 4, Far Cry, Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Guild Wars, The Sims 2, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory)<\/em><\/p>\n

ULTRA LOW-END<\/strong>: May or may not be able to run graphic intensive games (as of 2012), depending on if they support DirectX 10. Even if they do support DirectX 10, graphic cards in this category are likely to be unplayable. Games released prior to 2004 will run games at maximum \/ high settings with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled and high resolutions.
\n(Playable: Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offense, Final Fantasy XI, Max Payne 2, Unreal Tournament 2003, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow)<\/em><\/p>\n

BASIC<\/strong>: Graphic intensive games (as of 2012) are highly unlikely to run on any of these cards, due to lack of supported 3D features (such as SM 3.0 support), or just really extremely slow performance. Games released prior to 2002 will run games at high – low settings at standard resolutions, depending on the graphic card used.
\n(Playable: Quake III Tournament, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, WarCraft III, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Half-Life, The Sims, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Splinter Cell, Ragnarok Online)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

AMD \/ ATI<\/span><\/strong>
\n
INTEL<\/span><\/strong>
\n
NVIDIA<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n

ULTRA HIGH-END
<\/strong><\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 590 (DX 11)
<\/span><\/strong>
\nRadeon HD 6990 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 7970 (DX 11.1)<\/span>
\n
Radeon HD 5970 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 7950 (DX 11.1)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 580 (DX 11)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

HIGH-END
<\/strong><\/strong><\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 570 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 480 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 6970 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 560 Ti (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 6950 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 295 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4870 X2 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 5870 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 470 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4850 X2 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 6870 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 5850 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 465 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 460 1 GB (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 6850 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 460 768 MB (DX 11)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

MID-RANGE
<\/strong><\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 285 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 280 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 275 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4890 (DX 10.1)<\/span>
\n
Radeon HD 5830 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 6790 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 550 Ti (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9800 GX2 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 260 216 SP (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4870 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTX 260 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 5770 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTS 450 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 3870 X2 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GTS 250 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9800 GTX+ (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 5750 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4860 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4850 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8800 Ultra (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8800 GTX (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9800 GTX (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4770 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4830 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9800 GT (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8800 GT (DX 10)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

LOW-END
<\/strong><\/span>
\nRadeon HD 5670 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9600 GT (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8800 GTS 640\/320 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce GT 240 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 3870 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4670 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 2900 XT (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 3850 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7950 GX2 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7900 GX2 (DX 9c)<\/span>
\n
Radeon X1950 XTX (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1900 XTX (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7900 GTX (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1900 XT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7900 GTO (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1800 XT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 2900 GT (DX 10)
<\/span>GeForce 7950 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7800 GTX 512 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nHD Graphics 2000\/3000 [Core i3\/i5\/i7 Sandy Bridge] (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7900 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1900 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7800 GTX (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 5450 (DX 11)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7900 GS (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7800 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8600 GTS (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8600 GT (DX 10)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

ULTRA LOW-END
<\/strong><\/span>
\nGeForce 7800 GS (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1650 XT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X850 XT (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7600 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X800 XT (DX 9)<\/span>
\n
GeForce 6800 Ultra (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6800 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6800 GS (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X800 Pro (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X800 GT (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1600 XT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6800 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 7300 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X700 XT (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6600 GT (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X700 Pro (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9800 XT (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon X1300 Pro (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9800 Pro (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6600 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5950 Ultra (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5900 Ultra (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9800 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9700 Pro (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5900 XT (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9700 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9400 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8400 GS (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 9300 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nHD Graphics [Core i3\/i5\/i7 Clarkdale\/Arrandale] (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 4200 (DX 10.1)
<\/span>
\nRadeon HD 3200 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8300 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 8200 (DX 10)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

BASIC
<\/strong><\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5800 Ultra (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9500 Pro (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9500 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGMA X4500 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5700 Ultra (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9600 XT (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nRadeon 9600 Pro (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5700 Ultra (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5700 (DX 9)<\/span>
\n
Radeon 9600 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5600 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6200 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGMA X3100 (DX 10)
<\/span>
\nRadeon Xpress X1200 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5200 Ultra (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6150 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce 6100 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5500 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGeForce FX 5200 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGMA 950 (DX 9c)
<\/span>
\nGMA 900 (DX 9)
<\/span>
\nGMA 500 (DX 10.1)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/span>:
\nTechPowerUp – AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 GB
<\/a>
\nAnandTech – NVIDIA\u2019s GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470: 6 Months Late, Was It Worth the Wait?
<\/a>
\nXBit Labs – Clarkdale\u2019s Second Half: Intel HD Graphics Review
<\/a>
\nAnandTech – AMD\u2019s Radeon HD 5770 & 5750: DirectX 11 for the Mainstream Crowd
<\/a>
\nAnandTech – AMD’s Radeon HD 5870: Bringing About the Next Generation Of GPUs
<\/a>
\nTechPowerUp – AMD Radeon HD 4890 CrossFire
<\/a>
\nGuru3D – GeForce GTX 275 review | test<\/a>
\nDriverHeaven.net – Sapphire Radeon 4850 X2
<\/a>
\nGuru3D – ATI Radeon HD 4670 review
<\/a>
\nAnandTech – The IGP Chronicles Part 3: NVIDIA’s GeForce 9300
<\/a>
\nAnandTech – ATI Radeon HD 3870 & 3850: A Return to Competition
<\/a>
\nNotebook Check – Comparison of Graphic Cards
<\/a>
\nTom’s Hardware – All Gaming Graphics Charts Q1\/2008
<\/a>
\nTechReport – Nvidia’s GeForce 7900 GS graphics card
<\/a>
\nTom’s Hardware – All Desktop VGA Charts 2006
<\/a>
\nXBit Labs – Brother Against Brother: Gigabyte GV-RX19X512VB Vs. GV-NX79X512DB
<\/a>
\nTom’s Hardware – All Desktop VGA Charts 2005
<\/a>
\nFiringSquad – NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT Performance Preview
<\/a>
\nWikipedia – GeForce FX Series
<\/a>
\nHardOCP – GeForce FX 5800 Ultra Preview<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been following the gaming graphics card market for over a decade now, ever since I became interested in computer hardware. Over the past ten years, there have been many revolutions in graphics card technology, with 3D graphics in games becoming ever more realistic with each year. Watching the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[70,61,60,58,41,22,59],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","tag-amd","tag-ati","tag-gpu","tag-graphics-card","tag-intel","tag-nvidia","tag-video-card"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yoonhuh.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}