Since the release of the Radeon HD 4800 series of graphics cards based on ATI's Radeon processor, competition between the GPU developers has become tougher in every market sector. It would be even more correct to say that NVIDIA, after having ruled unchallenged in nearly every price category for a while, has now got problems fighting for customers. What will have greater effect on graphics cards' performance, twice the amount of video memory or a more powerful GPU? Find out from our new article featuring the Palit Radeon HD 4870 1GB Sonic Dual edition and the Leadtek WinFast GeForce GTX 260+ Extreme, where both cards have been improved over the previous versions released initially. - X-Bit Labs

Leadtek WinFast GeForce GTX 260+ Extreme Review

Spurred by the financial crisis and lowering demand, NVIDIA has prepared itself to a radical cut in the pricing of its GeForce 9 series as well as of the GeForce GTX 200. The former cards do not provide a comfortable frame rate at high quality settings and high resolutions in modern games but can suit a low-end computer. As opposed to them, the GeForce GTX 200 series are the actual best option for overclockers among NVIDIA's cards. Though this option will become even more appealing after the expected price cut. The GeForce GTX 280 may get as cheap as $375 and the GeForce GTX 260 may drop to $235 in price in a short while.

NVIDIA doesn't limit itself to price cuts only though. The GeForce GTX 260 has a dangerous opponent, the Radeon HD 4870, which is generally somewhat faster at high quality display modes and is cheaper in retail. Therefore, besides the prospective price reduction, NVIDIA has released a reinforced version of GeForce GTX 260 that features not 192 but 216 unified shader processors. This is only 24 processors less than in the top-end GeForce GTX 280. There are also rumors on the web about new drivers from NVIDIA that are going to be released soon to push the performance of these cards up to a new level.

The newest card from Leadtek is shipped in a small cardboard box covered with a layer of original lacquer that shimmers in many colors at different angles of view. Besides the name of the card, Leadtek WinFast GeForce GTX 260+ Extreme, the front of the box reports key features of the product such as bus type, amount and type of graphics memory, support for DirectX 10 and HDCP. The new card looks exactly like earlier GeForce GTX 260 because nearly all the changes are limited to the GPU. To remind you, the PCB of GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 series cards is encased within a dual slot cooler.

Summing up, it must be noted that the Radeon HD 4870 and GeForce GTX 260 have both become stronger indeed. As such the increased amount of memory of the former card has a positive effect on its performance in resource consuming games, at high resolutions and in high display quality modes. Though when the conditions are the opposite, the extra 512MB of memory do not really provide substantial benefits. As for the latter card, its GPU has got more advanced in comparison with the first version of GeForce GTX 260 and brings about higher performance, lower power consumption, lower heat dissipation and level of noise.

Choosing between these two cards, you should keep it in mind that GeForce GTX 260 series cards now cost $30 more than Radeon HD 4870 series products even though the GeForce's have declined in price at a more rapid rate than the Radeons. The arrival of the improved version of the GeForce GTX 260 will be impeded by the older version as NVIDIA did not differentiate the new and old versions in terms of model name and recommended price, and as such confusing the customer. At the same time, Radeon HD 4870 with different amounts of memory live quite well on the market together and differ in price by $15-50.

As for the particular graphics cards seen today, the Palit Radeon HD 4870 1GB Sonic is good in every respect. The double amount of memory, competitive price, efficient and quiet cooler, dual BIOS and two operation modes of the card can't leave you indifferent. Its GPU didn't do well in the overclockability test but that's just a problem of the particular sample. Our recent experience shows that the quality and service life of this brand's products have most likely improved. The Leadtek WinFast GeForce GTX 260+ Extreme is more appealing with its pre-overclocked frequencies and reinforced core, but a bit pricier.