GeForce GTS 450 Final Thoughts

The Fermi family has been a great comeback for NVIDIA after initially falling behind in the DirectX-11 to the Radeon HD 5000 series. With the GTS 450, NVIDIA puts video cards solidly in the mid-range price segment for consumers. Recently, the prices have dropped on the GTS 450's closest competitor, the Radeon HD 5770, making them even more closely aligned in price to the GTS 450.

The two video cards we used to test in article were both factory overclocked to very similar levels. Their prices were also within $5 of each other. With rebates and discounts, either of these cards is easily available in the $125 range, which makes them that much more valuable.

Throughout the DirectX-10 benchmarks, the MSI N450GTS Cyclone consistently showed better frame rates than the Radeon HD 5770, but only slightly. The price per FPS was also slightly lower for the MSI N450GTS Cyclone. When we got into the DirectX-11 tests, the cards battled back and forth and there was really no clear winner between the two. This is what good competition in manufacturing is all about. Both of these cards compete very well with each other. It is up to the consumer, then, to decide what features special to each side are more important.

The MSI N450GTS Cyclone offers a few things the Radeon HD 5770 can't. CUDA and PhysX compatibility may be a deal breaker if you are interested in these things. PhysX is becoming more popular in games that NVIDIA helps to develop and allows players to immerse themselves in more realistic ways than has ever before been possible. In the new world of 3D vision, NVIDIA was first out of the gate, but AMD has since developed drivers and partnerships that allow its cards to compete in the 3D revolution as well.

While NVIDIA offers PhysX, ATI offers its own set of features such as ATI Eyefinity, allowing three monitors to be powered by a single Radeon HD 5770. You'd need two GTS 450's for that. ATI Avivo HD, Stream acceleration, and PowerPlay are other features that the AMD side brings the table.

So, in the end, it comes down to the features that matter most. If are more interested in an inexpensive three monitor solution, the Radeon HD 5770 could be better for you. If you are looking for eye-popping physical reality, the GTS 450 might be better for you. Overall, both cards offer great game compatibility and very similar performance for the price range that they occupy.

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