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Minimum system requirements often mean minimum fun. Is the industry honest about what hardware games need?
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By now you’ll have realised that a clear top-to-bottom list of what processor or 3D card is best is hard to draw up. Nevertheless, based on performance, features and value for money, that is what we’ve attempted to do right here. You may disagree with our conclusions: you may value DX10 ability over raw speed, or quad core over game performance. But, hush. This is as definitive a list as we can muster, and most will find it a good guide for judging the performance of their PC and the benefit of a specific upgrade.
GFX cards (from best to worst)
Article continues below> GeForce 8800Ultra
> GeForce 8800GTX
> GeForce 8800 GTS 512
> GeForce 8800 GT - excellent high-end choice for the price
> Radeon HD 3870
> GeForce 7950GX2
> GeForce 8800GTS 320/640
> Radeon HD3850
> Radeon X1950XTX
> Radeon X1950 XT
> Radeon HD2900 XT
> GeForce 7950GT
> Radeon X1900 XTX
> GeForce 7900GTX
> Radeon X1900 XT
> Radeon X1900
> Radeon X1800 XT
> Radeon X1800 XL
> GeForce 7900GTO
> Radeon X1800 GTO
> GeForce 7900GT
> Radeon HD2900 Pro
The below cards (through the Radeon 9800 XT) span several generations of hardware, yet performance between them all is pretty much identical in modern games. Don’t switch from one of these to another - it’s just not worth it.
> GeForce 8600GTS
> GeForce 7900GS
> GeForce 7800GTX
> GeForce 7800GT
> GeForce 7800GS
> Radeon X850 XT
> Radeon HD2600 XT
> GeForce 8600GT
> Radeon X850 Pro
> Radeon X800 XT
> Radeon X800 XL
> Radeon X800 GT
> Radeon HD2600 Pro
> GeForce 7600GT
> GeForce 6800Ultra
> Radeon 9800 XT
> Radeon 9800 Pro
> Radeon 9800
> Radeon X1650 XT
> Radeon X1600 XT
> Radeon 9700 Pro
> Radeon 9700
> GeForce 6800GT
> GeForce 6800GS
> GeForce 6800GTO
> Radeon X800 Pro
> GeForce 6800
> GeForce 6800XT
> GeForce 6800LE
> GeForce 7600GS
> Radeon 9600XT
> GeForce 6600GT
> Radeon X1600 Pro
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
3D cards below this point may well boast high levels of DirectX ability, but are hampered by low memory bandwidths and data processing ability to the point of being near useless for games.
> GeForce 6600
> Radeon X600 Pro
> Radeon 9600 Pro
> GeForce 6600LE
> GeForce 8500GT
> Radeon 9600LE
> Radeon HD2400 XT
> GeForce 8400GS
> Radeon HD2400 Pro
> GeForce 7300GT
> Radeon X1300
> Radeon HD2350
> Radeon 9550
> GeForce 7300GS
> GeForce 7200GS
> GeForce 7100GS
> GeForce 6200
> GeForce 6150LE
> GeForce 6100
CPUs (from best to worst)
> Core 2 Extreme QX9650 - Only a fool would buy this. Yes, we said a FOOL.
> Core 2 Extreme QX6850
> Core 2 Extreme QX6800
> Core 2 Duo E6850
> Core 2 Extreme X6800
> Core 2 Extreme QX6700
> Core 2 Quad Q6700
> Core 2 Duo E6750
> Core 2 Duo E6700
> Core 2 Quad Q6600 - Our favourite chip: near-top speed, and cheaper.
> Core 2 Duo E6600
> Athlon 64 X2 6400+
> Core 2 Duo E6550
> Athlon X2 6000+
> Phenom 9600+
> Phenom 9500+
> Athlon 64 X2 5800+
> Core 2 Duo E6420
> Core 2 Duo E6400
> Athlon 64 X2 5600+
> Athlon 64 X2 5400+
> Athlon 64 X2 5200+
> Athlon 64 FX-74
> Athlon 64 FX-72
> Pentium D EE 965
> Pentium D 960
> Athlon 64 FX-70
> Core 2 Duo E6300
> Athlon 64 FX-62
> Athlon 64 X2 5000+
> Athlon 64 FX-60
> Pentium D EE 955
> Pentium D 950
> Core 2 Duo E4600
> Athlon 64 X2 4800+
> Core 2 Duo E4500
> Core 2 Duo E4400
> Core 2 Duo E4300
> Athlon 64 X2 4600+
> Pentium D EE 840
> Athlon 64 X2 4400+
> Athlon 64 X2 4200+
There are some serious bargains to be had around this range. If you’re self-building or upgrading from an older machine this is where those on a tight budget should start.
> Athlon 64 X2 4000+
> Athlon 64 X2 3800+
> Athlon 64 X2 3600+
> Athlon 64 4000+
> Athlon 64 FX-55
> Athlon 64 3800+
> Pentium D 945
> Pentium D 840
> Pentium D 820
> Pentium 4 3.8GHz
> Athlon 64 3700+
> Athlon 64 FX-57
> Pentium 4 3.6GHz
> Pentium D 940
Once the best of the best, even the fastest single core CPUs are struggling to keep up with modern games. If you’re lucky, though, your motherboard will accept a cheap dual core upgrade - the FX chips of this generation, however, used the server spec socket 940, which you’ll struggle to find an upgrade for.
> Athlon 64 FX-53
> Athlon 64 FX-51
> Pentium D 930
> Athlon 64 3600+
> Athlon 64 3500+
> Athlon 64 3400+
> Pentium D 830
> Pentium 4 3.4GHz
> Pentium 4 3.2GHz
> Pentium D 805
> Pentium D 925
> Athlon 64 3200+
> Pentium 4 3.06GHz
> Pentium D 920
> Pentium D 915
> Pentium 4 3.0GHz
> Athlon 64 3000+
> Athlon 64 2800+
> Athlon XP 3200+
> Pentium 4 2.8GHz
> Pentium 4 2.6GHz
> Athlon XP 2800+
> Pentium 4 2.4GHz
Mar 5, 2008
