HEXUS.bang4buck
In a rough-and-ready assessment of the cards' bang per buck, we've aggregated the 1,280x1,024 frame-rates for the four games and taken account of the cards' prices.
But there are more provisos than we'd care to shake a stick at. We could have chosen four different games, the cards' prices could have been derived from other sources and pricing tends to fluctuate daily.
Consequently, the table and graph below highlight a metric that should only be used as a yardstick for evaluating comparative performance with price factored in. Other architectural benefits are not covered, obviously.
| Graphics cards | XFX Geforce 9600 GSO XXX 384MB GDDR3 | XFX GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB GDDR3 | ZOTAC GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 | Inno3D 9800 GT 512MB GDDR3 | Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual aggregate marks at 1,280x1,024 | 244.71 |
186.20 | 232.24 |
279.80 |
201.65 |
| Current pricing, including VAT | £66.93 | £69.31 | £76.42 |
£97.76 |
£64.59 |
| HEXUS.bang4buck score at 1,280x1,024 | 3.65 |
2.68 |
3.03 |
2.86 |
3.12 |
| Acceptable frame rate (av. 60fps) at 1,280x1,024 | No (ET:QW, COD 4, GRID) | No (COH:OF, ET:QW, COD 4, GRID) | No (COH:OF, COD 4, GRID) | Yes | No (COH:OF, COD 4, GRID) |
Here's the HEXUS.bang4buck graph at 1,280x1,024. The graph divides the aggregate score by the price.
| HEXUS.bang4buck | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEXUS.bang4buck | ||||
| ZOTAC 9600GT | XFX 9600 GSO | Sapphire HD 4670 512 | XFX 9600 GSO XXX | Inno3D 9800 GT |
| 3.03 | 2.68 | 3.12 | 3.65 | 2.86 |
The Sapphire HD 3850 is absent from the results as its inability to provide either Enemy Territory or GRID numbers would have hugely distorted the comparison. Needless to say, it would not have offered good HEXUS.bang4buck, with a price incommensurate to the level of performance.
XFX's 9600 GSO XXX Edition proves far better value than the stock-clocked edition - considering it is actually available for a little less if you shop around, and offers higher performance.
Value-for-money is high across the board (pun intended), however, and any of the cards could make a good choice depending on your priorities.
