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Buying Guide: The Best Video Cards for Mother's Day
You've been there, I've been there, we've all been there. Year after year, as Mother's Day approaches, you kill countless hours and brain cells trying to come up with the perfect gift for one of the most important women in your life. It's never as easy as it seems like it should be: Sure, she might like flowers, chocolates, or even just a plain old mass-produced Hallmark, but you've given her all of those time and time again. You and she are both ready for a change: She wants something smart and practical, you want something you know she'll use and that will make the time you spend visiting her even more entertaining and productive.
So have you considered a video card?
It sounds absurd, I know. But almost everyone plays games today, and even if your mom isn't big into 3D first-person shooters, casual titles like those from PopCap (think Zuma's Revenge and Bejeweled 3) can also take advantage of hardware acceleration. And if she happens to be a photographer who relies on software (such as Adobe Photoshop) for helping her process and touch up her images, an expansion card will work wonders there, too. Not to mention how it will improve just use of Windows 7 and Windows 8. And, yeah, maybe when you come over you can play a game or two, too...
There are plenty of choices out there for almost every price range and interest level, so you shouldn't have trouble finding one that will be just what she and her computer need. Here are our top three selections; take a look at them if you want to give your mom a gift she'll always remember. Of course, if she loves roses or candy, those can be good choices, too. But if you're going to present her with a card, why not make it one that also gives her improved frame rates and tessellation?
For the Basics:
AMD Radeon HD 6670
$65-$80 street
We know that the chances are pretty good your mom doesn't spend her free time (or at least all her free time) playing Mass Effect 3, Batman: Arkham City, or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. But even if she just uses her computer for ordinary everyday tasks, she'll benefit from having a video card that relieves the CPU of many of its display chores. Our current favorite cards for this generic-but-vital purpose are based on AMD's Radeon HD 6670 GPU, which offers considerably better performance than you can get with cheaper cards, but is still small and power-efficient enough to fit in lower-end computers and flexible enough to work with almost any system. Your mother may not appreciate at first the basic acceleration even a card this inexpensive provides, but she will unquestionably notice it in the days, weeks, and months to come. Read the full review ››
An Amazing Deal:
Nvidia GeForce GTX 670
$399 list
After "look both ways before crossing the street" and "finish what you start," the best thing your mother taught you was probably to figure out exactly what you need and never spend more than necessary to get it. Nvidia is living up to that cherished maternal ideal with its latest release, the GTX 670, which delivers almost as much performance as its top single-GPU model, the GeForce GTX 680, but costs a full $100 less. In other words, you'll be giving your mom some of the best video capabilities she can get—and you'll be saving a lot of money at the same time. Even if she only ever uses it to play The Sims 3, she'll be touched at how much you took to heart her lessons about the value of the dollar. Read the full review ››
Simply the Best:
Nvidia GeForce GTX 690
$999 list
Okay, mom might not have a sufficiently hefty power supply (650 watts) or even a big enough case to house Nvidia's newest behemoth. But if she does—or if you're willing to go all out for her!—don't you want her to have the fastest card in the world? Uniting two of Nvidia's most powerful GPUs within one product, it plows through any game at any resolution, and should be able to do so for years to come. With this card in her PC, mom will find that the sky really is the limit—and isn't making her wildest computing dreams come true about the nicest thing you could possibly do for her on Mother's Day? Read the full review ››