No matter your need for graphics power, the choice of GPU's right now is fantastic. Where high-end gamers are concerned, two popular options are the Radeon HD 4870 1GB and the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 version. We're taking a look at XFX's latest release of the latter, which features such an impressive factory overclock, it manages to keep up to the GeForce GTX 280. There's little question that over the course of the past few months, there has been a massive shift towards ATI, and NVIDIA is undoubtedly feeling the effects. Coupled with company layoffs, ongoing lawsuits and defective product, it couldn't be much fun being an NVIDIA employee right now, though it will get better. - Techgage

XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Graphics Review

Given the choice, we tend to be drawn more towards NVIDIA's offerings, but it's for a few different, but very specific reasons. The first is the drivers, which we find to be much more reliable in terms of installation when compared to ATI's bloated .net based offering. We've installed ATI drivers many times in the past that didn't take effect until we installed them a second time. Something like that just shouldn't happen. Second, NVIDIA's drivers are far more Linux friendly, but that's going to appeal to a much more specific crowd. But we digress, all said and done, both companies offer superb GPU's for prices that are unbeatable.

As we mentioned above, the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 is quite comparable to ATI's Radeon HD 4870 1GB offering. Where things begin to change is with the overclocking, because while NVIDIA's GPU's are quite open ended, while ATI's Catalyst control center, for some reason gives poor top limits on both the core and memory clocks. Part of that reason might be due to heat, but that still gives the advantage to NVIDIA for overclocking fanatics. And in the case of XFX's Black edition, the company wanted to make sure that the Radeon HD 4870 1GB took a seat on the runners-up bench, delivering close to GeForce GTX 280 performance.

As a quick recap, there are two different versions of GeForce GTX 260's. The first saw a release in late June, while the follow-up came months later. The reason was of course to help combat ATI's fresh releases, and while such a move is understandable, it certainly adds to the confusion factor. The differences between the two are minimal, but the most recent version has had its stream processors count bumped to 216. That can cause a slight issue when looking to purchase one. For some reason, many of the older 192 cards are still selling for close to the same price as the 216, and sometimes even more.

Overclocking can be a huge part of a graphics card article, but mostly if the card doesn't happen to be pre-overclocked. In the case that it is, we always start out rather skeptical, especially with this particular card since XFX did a masterful job of applying a factory overclock that's actually substantial and not a measly 15MHz boost like some other companies try to pull. But, were we able to push it even further? The stock clock for XFX's card is 666/2300MHz core, and after a few hours of tweaking with RivaTuner, our max stable overclock proved to be 700MHz core, 1475MHz shader and 2400MHz memory, a healthy boost.

As we touched on in the intro to this article, it's been quite easy lately to be caught in a trance with regards to ATI's product line-up. They released a few killer GPU's recently and effectively took everyone's eyes off of NVIDIA for the time being. But, it's cards like the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 that prove that NVIDIA loves a good fight. XFX did a great job of taking things to the next level though. Although we haven't taken a look at the stock clocked GeForce GTX 260 in the past, we were well aware of what to expect performance wise, so when the delivery guy first chucked the Black edition at our doorstep.

To gage the worth of XFX's offering, a few factors have to be looked at. Where GeForce GTX 260's are concerned, the original models can be found online for as low as $235 after a slew of rebates, which puts it on the same level as ATI's Radeon HD 4870, which retails for around the same price. So is another $65 worth it for the new Core 216 model? We checked out similar cards from other manufacturers, and none were directly comparable with this one. Some had high overclocks, but didn't include a game. The ones that did include a game, had stock or very minor factory overclocks.

So when taking everything into consideration, around $300 for the Black edition turns out to be a very reasonable price. If you want to save some money but still want a fantastic gaming experience, pick up an original GeForce GTX 260. If you want an enhanced experience that almost matches the performance of the GeForce GTX 280 and also have the benefit of a free game, the Black edition is a no-brainer. This card impressed me for multiple reasons, and we have a hard time finding a single real downside.