Power Consumption of Newer Cards

[Arainach]

I did a quick Bing/Google and Forum search and didn't notice anything obvious, so I figured I'd ask.

I've been out of the Video Card loop since roughly the NVIDIA 8800 series. I currently have a 512MB XFX 8800GT in my system which provides more than enough graphical power for the games I play. While I don't need more GPU power, I'm always willing to consider a reduction in my electrical bill. So, my question is:

Given that current-gen CPUs can provide more power than previous generations while using noticably less power in many instances (i7 aside), does the same hold true for video cards?

That is, if I were to upgrade to a GTS 2*0 chip, could I get a comparable/better amount of graphical performance with a noticable drop in power consumption, or have things stayed the same/gotten worse as far as power/performance goes?

I'm also willing to consider Ati cards, although I haven't paid attention to THEM in an even longer time thanks to the driver issues they were consistently having when I was paying attention.

 

[Aaron11]

Given that current-gen CPUs can provide more power than previous generations while using noticably less power in many instances (i7 aside), does the same hold true for video cards?

That is, if I were to upgrade to a GTS 2*0 chip, could I get a comparable/better amount of graphical performance with a noticable drop in power consumption, or have things stayed the same/gotten worse as far as power/performance goes?

Yes, the newer GTS250 consumes less power than the 8800GT and is a little bit more powerful. However, ATI is currently ahead in the power to performance ratio. The 5770 is very efficient (18 watts idle, 108 under load) plus it is definitely more powerful. The 5670 is the most powerful GPU currently on the market that doesn't require any external power (runs completely off of the power outputted from the PCI-e slot), but it's not quite as powerful as your 8800gt, at least I don't think so, not 100% sure.

Update: Looked online and found out the 5670 is about equal to the 8800gt however for that price you could get a 4850. The 5670 does have DX11 and eyefinity though.