Graphics Cards

The Bottom Line: We don't think most gamers shopping for a midrange 3D card are looking for power efficiency, but for those conscientious few, the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked is the card for you. Otherwise, you can get noticeably more performance and capability from an only slightly more expensive ATI card.

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, 2560 x 1600, 896 MB, PC

The Bottom Line: Even if it's a relative power hog, the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 brings so much speed and utility to the table it's hard for us to recommend another midrange 3D card. Only the particularly power conscious or those who play games with known multichip scaling issues should look elsewhere.

Specs: 2 GPUs - ATI Radeon HD 4850, 2560 x 1600, 2 GB, PC

The Bottom Line: EVGA's GeForce GTX 9800+ Superclocked edition has basically the same price-performance benefit as its Radeon HD 4850-based graphics card competition. With identical bang-for-the-buck, you'll like this card if you demand power efficiency, but you should turn to ATI's card if your PC has limited upgrade room.

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC

Specs: 2 GPUs - ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2, 2560 x 1600, 2 GB, PC

The Bottom Line: Nvidia's GeForce GTX 295 is the single fastest 3D card on the market, and for a relatively aggressive price. Added bonuses like power efficiency and PhysX support sweeten the deal, but even without those extra benefits, we'd still recommend this card for its processing power and comparative value.

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295, 2560 x 1600, 1792 MB, PC

The Bottom Line: AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4850 is a solid midrange 3D card that will run pretty much anything, and it boasts some forward-looking features to boot. It might be worth waiting for the price to drop just a bit, at which point this card will become much more attractive.

Specs: ATI Radeon HD 4850, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC, 2

The Bottom Line: Nvidia's new GTX280 graphics chip brings fast 3D performance and exciting new possibilities for speeding up certain kinds of multimedia applications. We'd be more enthusiastic about this card if the software was available to take advantage of the new features.

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280, 2560 x 1600, 1 GB, PC

The Bottom Line: Nvidia's new GeForce 9800 GTX chip is fast enough, but if your PC is SLI-capable you can spend just a little more and get a significantly better high-resolution gaming experience. Consider your options carefully before upgrading to this card.

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC

The Bottom Line: Nvidia's new flagship 3D card delivers almost all the performance we expect for its price. If you can live with "almost," at this price range, then this is a solid PC gaming option. We also wouldn't blame you Crysis fans for waiting to see what's in store later this year.

Specs: 2 GPUs - NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2, 2560 x 1600, 1 GB, PC, 2

The Bottom Line: Nvidia's new GeForce 9600 GT graphics chip gives the Asus EN9600 GT some of the best bang-for-the-buck we've seen in a midrange 3D card. If your goal is reliable frame rates in the latest PC games, you should pick this card up as soon as you can.

Specs: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT, 2560 x 1600, 512 MB, PC, 2