It was all looking good until Nvidia’s new cards overtook it on the final straight.

Great performance at an appealing price, although the 9600 GT encroaches on its turf

Impressive performance for an affordable card, but the 9600 GT treads on its toes.

Affordable and fast, the 8800 GS was our top budget choice until the 9600 GT arrived to spoil the party.

Video and almost decent gaming at fantastic prices

A useful card for more relaxed gaming, and a quiet cooler to boot.

An exciting glimpse at future performance, but by the time games appear to make them worth buying, the price will have plummeted.

A final price will decide the fate of this chipset. It needs to be well under $200 to compete.

Potentially Much faster than a X1900 XTX in games with large textures yet it costs the same. At over $100 less than Nvidia’s 7950 GX2, it’s a fine card.

Not bad value for an older card, but it’s too noisy.

Playable frame rates at 1600 x 1200 and the latest features for under $460. A great-value choice.

Fair price, but better-equipped cards cost a similar amount.

Video capture and two full games of your choice make this a Decent alternative to the 7600 GT.

A well featured card, but it can’t match the 7600 GS for value.

Good value — until you compare it to the superior 7600 GS.

More bang-per-buck than the 7300s, but the 6600 shows its age.

It’s affordable, quiet, and has plenty of features.

Another card for media centres offering Avivo at a low price.

Poor 3D performance but a good choice for HD video playback.

Poor performer but worth a look if building a media centre.