Premium/High-End Category

Single graphics cards from this category cope with the game just fine. The Radeon HD 4870 X2 enjoys an advantage at low resolutions but gives way to the GeForce GTX 280 at 1920x1200. The Radeon delivers a playable frame rate even at 2560x1600, though. We want to remind you that this dual-chip monster of a graphics card costs more than Nvidia’s product and has a considerably higher power draw. Thus, the GeForce GTX 280 looks preferable from a buyer’s point of view.

Moreover, we should note a problem with CrossFire technology here. The ATI Radeon HD 4870 is somewhat faster than the Radeon HD 4870 X2. It means that the second GPU does not increase performance in this game, but lowers it instead. This is especially conspicuous with the 3-way Radeon HD 4870 subsystem that is built out of a Radeon HD 4870 X2 and a Radeon HD 4870 1GB. This subsystem just fails this test considering its price, overall clumsiness and fantastic power draw. Well, we can say almost the same about Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 280 SLI configuration: the second card provides such a small performance benefit that there is no sense in installing it, at least for playing Dead Space.

Thus, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 is the best card from this category to play Dead Space. It is followed by the ATI Radeon HD 4870 which is less expensive.

Performance-Mainstream Category

As we have already found out, the ATI Radeon HD 4870 is the leader in this category. It delivers excellent average and bottom speeds at resolutions up to 1920x1200. Second place is shared by the Radeon HD 4850 and GeForce GTX 260 but Nvidia’s product is inferior in terms of pricing and other consumer qualities such as power consumption. However, the GeForce 9800 GTX+ enters the play here. Although based on a previous-generation GPU, it is quite competitive to the GeForce GTX 260!

So, the choice is not so obvious. The Radeon HD 4870 is superior in the top segment of this price category but the bottom segment has two roughly equal solutions, Radeon HD 4850 and GeForce GTX 9800+. We would prefer the HD 4850, though, as it features a more progressive architecture.

Mainstream Category

The game’s system requirements are not too harsh, so the mainstream graphics cards do quite well, delivering good speeds at resolutions up to 1680x1050. You can get a good speed even from the outdated Radeon HD 3870 as well as from the GeForce 9600 GT which is definitely weak in terms of computing resources. And of course, the game is perfectly playable on the new Radeon HD 4830 and GeForce 9800 GT.

There is no definite leader again, but we would prefer the Radeon HD 4830 considering its modern architecture, compact size and low power consumption. Although it is somewhat slower than the GeForce 9800 GT, the difference is small and does not affect your gaming experience. You just can’t spot the lag with a naked eye until you use an fps-counting tool like Fraps.