MSI has kindly lent us a couple of new AMD/ATI graphics cards, featuring two of the lower end chips from the new range. The first card features the lowly Radeon HD 2400 PRO, and the second comes with a Radeon HD 2600 PRO mid entry chipset. These cards are deliberately priced quite low for big OEM wins, and consumers can currently pick up relatively high powered cards for a small price. The MSI Radeon HD 2400 PRO can currently be picked up at around $65, and when the Radeon HD 2600 PRO is in supply, it should be available at just over $110. The OEM's should get a huge discount compared to these prices, so expect to see plenty of design wins. - The Inquirer

MSI Radeon HD 2400 PRO and HD 2600 PRO Review

The Radeon HD 2400 PRO isn't a performance card, but you're still getting new games in playable form for $65, which isn't a bad deal, if you're not looking to future proof for DirectX 10 games. The problem is, paying just $35 more will get you much better performance from other cards, including the Radeon HD 2600 PRO. Thus the Radeon HD 2600 PRO must be the primary choice when weighing up the two cards. It gets more interesting when the performance of the Radeon HD 2600 PRO versus its competitors is analysed, especially since these low-end ATI cards are priced lower than the competition.

We've compared the card to a GeForce 8600 GTS which thoroughly trounces both cards in all tests. It's the GeForce 8500 GT which comes in at the same price, and unfortunately we didn't have the card to hand at the time of the tests, but its performance is a known quantity. A comparable GeForce 8500 GT scores around 2500 in 3DMark, so you can see the Radeon HD 2600 PRO easily outstrips this score. The Radeon HD 2600 PRO's performance coupled with the advantage of its well known higher video decoding throughput, ensure it's the clear winner at the same price bracket as the GeForce 8500 GT.