With the holiday season in full swing it's coming down to crunch time for those looking to round out or fulfill their wish lists. In the event that you're done looking for gifts this Christmas season it's still a great time to purchase, cause nearly anything technology related is going to be on sale trying to draw customers in. With the media daily reporting doom and gloom for retailers this seems to be a great time to buy as they are desperate for sales. With that in mind, we decided to take a couple of the very best bang for the buck cards on the market and pit them against each other. Today we are taking look at one of the best cards for gaming performance, the Diamond Radeon HD 4870 1GB edition. - Legit Reviews

Diamond Radeon HD 4870 CrossFireX Edition Review

The soon to launch 55nm based GeForce GTX 260 with 216 shaders will stick with the GeForce GTX 260 brand. The reason is quite simple. NVIDIA sits on a huge 65nm inventory and as soon as they would introduce a card with a new brand, they would kill the sales of old GeForce GTX 260 cards, and therefore manufacturers will be asked not to specially promote the new 55nm parts. You can bet that the 55nm version of the GeForce GTX 260 will overclock better and the great news is that it will sell at the same price as the 65nm card. The 55nm version comes with 216 Shaders and the same official 575MHz clock speed but it definitely overclocks better than the old cards based on 65nm. - FudZilla

GeForce GTX 260 55nm Core 216 No Naming Rebrand

With the massive list of current video cards available to the consumer, it is hard to make a clear decision on which card to pick. No matter your price range there are many to choose from. Arguably the most popular price range would be in the range of $100 to $200. At this price point you have cards like the ATI Radeon HD 4850 and the NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX, and coming close is the GeForce GTX 260. Each of these cards is great, and will provide you with many hours of high frame rate gaming. But what if your wallet will only allow you to buy at the lower spectrum of this range? Well, the next card on the bench may be just what you are looking for, with a great price to performance aspect. - Pro-Clockers

Sapphire Radeon HD 4830 Redefined Cooling Review

While NVIDIA has released a number of new graphics cards for the gaming market over the last year and a half, we have seen relatively few updates to their workstation lineup in that same timeframe. It's been since mid-2007 that we saw the last major performance update to the Quadro lineup with the launch of their flagship Quadro FX 5600. While the monstrous G80 based Quadro FX 5600 has no doubt had competition since its release, it's been able to effectively hold off competing ATI products to reign as the performance champ throughout this last year and a half or so. Although on the workstation segment it doesn't come into the picture until just recently with their FirePro rebranding. - HotHardware

NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 1.5GB Style Graphics Review

We can confirm that the dual GT200 55nm, a chip that many call the GT200b, will be branded as GeForce GTX 295. The new card will definitely outrun AMD's Radeon HD 4870 X2 and it will finally return the performance crown back to NVIDIA. The board is a sandwich design, with two PCB's with two chips. We heard that the card comes with one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector but still have to confirm this. On the high-end, Intel based machine you can score over 20k points in 3DMark Wantage, which is a new record and is dramatically faster than any other card before. In this particular test it is at least 1.7 times faster than a single card but it won't be the case in most of the games. - FudZilla

Dual Powered GT200 55nm Is GeForce GTX 295 Style

It is fair to say that 2008 hasn't been the best of years for NVIDIA, between their faulty GPU dramas and, perhaps more importantly AMD snatching the initiative from them in the graphics market, catching them cold with a change of strategy that has paid dividends for much of the year since the launch of the Radeon HD 4800 series. However, NVIDIA really have never been a company to take such setbacks lying down, and these recent months in particular have seen the GPU manufacturer fighting back on several fronts. Perhaps one of the more notable changes to bring them back into the competition was the introduction of a new revision to their GeForce GTX 260 part, dubbed the Core 216. - Elite Bastards

XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Graphics Edition Review

We have to disappoint a few ATI fanboys. Though at this point, ATI doesn't have a card codenamed RV775, something that got out via the rumor mill. There never was and there never will be such a board. There is no financial sense to release a slightly updated 55nm chip with a bit better specification to counter NVIDIA, and as we said before, the next chip from ATI is 40nm and this should happen in the second quarter of next year. The GT200 55nm chip, the new GeForce GTX 260 with 216 stream processors and teh newest drivers are enough to put a lot of pressure on Radeon HD 4800 series sales, but ATI can now initiate price wars that should help the company get by until the new chip arrives. - FudZilla

ATI's RV775 Chipset Mystery There Is No Such Thing!

We spoke with people who are selling NVIDIA cards and they said that they have yet to see a GeForce GTX 280 55nm card. Some of our sources have suggested that this card might be even renamed to GeForce GTX 285. The cards are still not available to etail and retail customers and most of the cards that you buy in the store today will still have the 65nm GT200 chip inside. NVIDIA has been slow to introduce its 55nm GT200 but this chip will also power the soon to come dual GT200 card, again a 55nm solution and NVIDIA also has promised many new GeForce GTX 280 and GeForce GTX 260 graphics cards with the same 55nm chip, which means the 65nm days are about to end very soon. - FudZilla

GeForce GTX 280 55nm Single And Still Not Available

When we are talking about graphics cards, some of the well known brands like ASUS, EVGA, XFX and MSI comes to the picture. ECS too are trying to break into the foray of the enthusiasts market by coming out with this water cooled card. And it certainly has made an visual impact on us with that huge box and defining Hydra logo. This a very different package than what we have seen from other brands as it is a complete SLI config in a box, based upon their GeForce 9800 GTX+ graphics cards. Let us see if ECS will be as good as it looks with the GeForce 9800 GTX+ cards for some SLI gaming action and their water cooling system provided in terms of pure dual GPU performance. - VR-Zone

ECS GeForce 9800 GTX+ SLI Hydra Dual-GPU Review

With NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 295 announcement waiting just around the corner, the satanic rumor mill is in overdrive once again, fuelled by leaked specs and a vivid imagination, it seems. So what are we talking about? Well, several Chinese forums were a-buzz today with talk of a new RV775 chipset, alleged derivatives of the current RV770 marchitecture with some odd bits and pieces of additional technology such as smaller dies on the same process without a re-design, for example. This included a return to GDDR4 memory, with die sizes mysteriously shrinking on their 55nm process, and some extra stream processors and texture units. It just sounds a bit too much of scale really.- The Inquirer

ATI's Radeon HD 4900 Series Comes Maybe Soon-ish

For every single gamer out there, getting the most performance out of their video card is vital for a pleasant gaming experience. That is probably why the most expensive hardware component hiding inside the case is, more often than not, the graphics card. Obviously, not everyone can afford to put the same kind of money into it, so that's why both ATI and NVIDIA offer various models from low prices to ridiculously expensive cards. For those gamers that always want more out of their setup, pairing two cards is the only choice for absolute top of the line performance. This is exactly why both companies offer the possibility to combine the power of multiple cards, reaching higher performance. - Overclockers Club

XFX GeForce GTX 260 XXX Board SLI Gaming Review

We've learned that dual GT200 cards have been sampled and you can even catch some pictures on some Chinese websites. It is a dual, sandwich board design, an approach that NVIDIA fancies for a while and naturally the card should end up significantly faster than both the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and GeForce GTX 280. The board will draw a lot of power and it will be hot, but at the same time, it might win the performance crown back for NVIDIA, and NVIDIA is desperate to get it back. NVIDIA simply doesn't know how to work as an underdog, this card and a new driver for the GeForce GTX 260 card is actually dramatically changes the odds. Yes, changing the odds more in favor of NVIDIA this time around. - FudZilla

NVIDIA's Duo GT200 55nm Sandwich Design Sampled

What a year 2008 has been for video cards. Some real monsters came out, like the GeForce 9800 GX2, and some real fast, inexpensive cards came out as well such as today's ATI Radeon HD 4830. This Radeon HD 4830 has been put together by MSI, overclocked and improved from the reference design, for just over a $100, the MSI Radeon HD 4830 has a great deal of bang for buck potential. The Radeon HD 4830 was the late comer to the party that was the launch of ATI's Radeon HD 4800 series. The Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870 were the first to come out, virtually at the same time and have proven to be wildly successful, easily getting into any list of ATI's all-time greatest hits. - NeoSeeker

MSI Radeon HD 4830 Gaming Series Graphics Review

Back in August when ATI originally introduced the Radeon HD 4870 X2, we were told that a less expensive Radeon HD 4850 X2 model would arrive in the coming weeks. We weren't given a specific embargo date, we were just told that ATI wanted to focus on the Radeon HD 4870 X2 for right now and they would get back with us with more specific information later. If you dug a little deeper for info though, the general consensus was that the Radeon HD 4850 X2 launch would follow the Radeon HD 4870 X2 release by roughly a month, with cards arriving in the September timeframe. There was a lot going on behind the scenes though and we were getting conflicting information from various partners. - FiringSquad

Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB Card Style Preview

As the holidays loom near, we are sure many of you are itching to add some hot new hardware to your wish lists. Whether you are just looking to upgrade or are seeking that perfect piece of hardware for a friend or loved one, finding the right match can be daunting. Well further complicating matters is the recent severe economic downturn which is affecting us all. While the weak economy has an effect on consumer purchasing power, it also opens the doors for drastic price cuts as competition increases and inventories sit, collecting dust. No doubt, as the end of the month approaches, there will certainly be some attractive deals to be had which is always the case during the holiday season. - HotHardware

ASUS Extreme N9800 GT Matrix Custom Card Review

These days when you think video board you think high end gaming right? Well first, not everyone is a gamer and not every card is built for that purpose. Should someone who only uses their computer for media or casual internet usage spend hundreds of dollars on a blazing fast graphics card? On the other hand you want cutting edge technology available to you without the huge expense right. Well ATI has recently released their Radeon HD 4600 line of cards aimed at just that group of people. It is targeted at the mainstream user who might game casually on not so extreme settings, or at a big lower resolutions but likes to kick back and watch a high definition movie on their down time. - Overclockers Club

Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 OC 512MB Version Review

We can remember quite vividly when NVIDIA first showed off some of the fruits of the relationship between itself and Adobe, at a press event that focused on the GT200 graphics architecture, and Adobe showed off a program then known as Stonehenge that later became part of Adobe's CS4 suite of products. At this early demo NVIDIA and Adobe showed off improvements to Photoshop including zooming and rotating around an image that was nearly a 1GB in file size as quickly as we are used to doing with 1KB files today. Though only a small portion of day during the GT200's unveiling, it really was one of the few parts that got me excited as a computer and technology advocate. - PC Perspective

NVIDIA Quadro CX Adobe's GPU Acceleration Review

With the current state of the US economy in the toilet, watching every penny is on a lot of people's mind. If you are a gamer, most times that is not possible as you want the best available performance, and that usually comes with a hefty price tag. When you find the delicate balance between price and performance, it can certainly bring a smile to your face. AMD has been behind the ball a bit on the last series of graphics cards in the green versus red race. With the Radeon HD 4800 series ATI is looking to regain some lost ground across all platforms, and the Radeon HD 4600 series is the mid-range category. The Palit Radeon HD 4670 Super is aimed squarely at the budget minded gamer. - HiTechLegion

Palit Radeon HD 4670 512MB Super Graphics Preview

AMD's only big argument against CUDA and NVIDIA's way to compute was that NVIDIA's hardware doesn't support OpenCL 1.0, an open specification from the Khronos Group. So as of today, NVIDIA officially supports it, and we've reported on many occasions that NVIDIA does and wants to support any way of parallel computing. And OpenCL, Open Computing Language, is a new computer API that allows developers to program their software for massive parallel computing and use the enormous power of a GPU to help speed up the task. And NVIDIA started this parallel computing with CUDA, although technically AMD was the first to use its GPU to encode video with Avivo and this late in 2005. - FudZilla

NVIDIA Can Handle OpenCL 1.0 Parallel Programming

When a new generation of video cards are introduced the biggest, baddest cards are the first to be released. What follows later are the lower end, less expensive cards. For example, ATI's RV770 based cards were released in June while the RV730 based cards, like their Radeon HD 4670's were released in the fall. These lower end cards create massive revenue for companies like ATI and NVIDIA especially when they are chosen to be used in systems by major manufacturers. Moving on, the Radeon HD 4670 finds its place right underneath the Radeon HD 4830 in an already competitive video card market. At first glance its specs may seem very similar to the more expensive series. - Overclockers Club

MSI Radeon HD 4670 512MB Graphics Design Review

Before we start, if you look at our graphics card section, you'll notice that most of the articles are based on ATI cards. It's not that we're biased and prefer ATI cards over NVIDIA, but for some reason most of the manufacturers that we deal with, are close partners with ATI. Although NVIDIA cards have in the past been the prefered choice for gamers, but ATI are seriously making big gains in the graphics card market. This is all thanks to their Radeon HD 4800 series and at that time, they were cheaper than NVIDIA's equivalent, with performance that were just as good. Palit is quite unique in the sense that, they are one of only a few manufacturers who are partners of both NVIDIA and AMD. - CPU3D

Palit GeForce 9800 GTX+ Customized Cooling Review

AMD's Radeon HD 4000 series has been enticing users from top to bottom to part with their cash as the year has progressed, and so far we've checked plenty of Radeon HD 4800 series boards as well as taking a look at Sapphire's Radeon HD 4670 offering. Today, we drop to an even lower price point, with courtesy of Sapphire's Radeon HD 4650 video card. The board that complements its use of GDDR3 memory to tempt the casual gamers amongst you with an HDMI output physically available on the board to entice the home theater PC crowd. Now this would surely be a great multimedia solution for everyone with high definition functions. Does it succeed in either of these disciplines? - Elite Bastards

Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 HDMI Version Card Review

Today we examine XFX's take on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260. In particular the XFX GeForce GTX 260, which is strictly following the reference guidelines set by NVIDIA for both card design and GPU clock speed. The GeForce GTX 260 has been on the market for just over five months and has gone through a radical metamorphosis. Priced at $599 when launched, it was a powerful card that came with an accompanying price tag. Now only five months later, due to some very healthy competition from AMD, it can be purchased for about $200, under half the actual price at launch. That alone does offer some great opportunity who is looking for an upgrade, even for those thinking about SLI operation. - nV News

XFX GeForce GTX 260 896MB Classic Version Review

So with the holidays upon us, many gamers choose this time of the year for their annual or semi annual PC upgrade. This time last year the upgrade everyone wanted was NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GT board. Packing 112 shaders clocked at 1500MHz, a 600MHz core clock and a 256-bit memory interface with 1800MHz memory, it delivered an extraordinary amount of performance for its $300 price tag. As a result of the overwhelming demand for the GeForce 8800 GT, NVIDIA ramped up production quite significantly. Their company assumed demand would remain strong throughout the entire summer. However NVIDIA underestimated the strength of ATI's then upcoming Radeon HD 4800 product line. - FiringSquad

MSI Radeon HD 4830 512MB OverClock Board Review

Having already taken a crowbar to prices like a spree killing yellow man, these Radeon HD 4870's refresh seems overdue. The board, stonkin' as it is, has an annoying stock heatsink and a lot of untapped overclocking potential. There's a short list of non stock, factory overclocked Radeon HD 4870 cards that need reviewing. First on our list is Palit's Radeon HD 4870 Sonic Dual edition. With its long heatsink and large fans, not to mention namesake, the thing promises quiet and at the flick of a switch for overclocking. Which is as such a nice feature, though only if it would do the actual overclocking on the fly. Not everything stood up to scrutiny. At least it's still inexpensive, which is great. - TechLounge

Palit Radeon HD 4870 512MB Sonic Dual Card Review