The performance of the 2600 XT is very close to that of the GeForce 8600 GT, but the 2600 XT has a performance edge when antialiasing is disabled. Although the GeForce seems to have the edge when antialiasing is turned on, it's not much of a real-world advantage since neither card can effectively use 4x AA beyond 1024x768.

The 8600 GT was a terrible buy at $150, but now, as it approaches the $100 price point, it's much more attractive. The 8600 GT will slightly beat the old 7600 GT and X1650 XT in raw performance in the $100 price category. In addition to speed, the 8600 GT has the added bonus of being DirectX 10 compatible, as well as being a good overclocker.

NOTE: Beware of slower DDR2 versions of the 8600 GT! The GDDR3 versions are the recommended cards, DDR2 equipped 8600 GTs will be notably slower. The cheapest GDDR3 versions of the card we could find started at $105 online.

Best PCI-E Card For ~$120: Tie

With no high-performance DirectX 10 cards under $200 to compete against it, the relatively powerful X1950 PRO is having a field day. Yes, the 8600 GTS is a DirectX 10 card, but it's more expensive than the X1950 PRO and isn't in the same performance league when higher resolutions are used.

The card's other competition is the 7900 GS. The X1950 PRO will usually beat the 7900 GS in most benchmarks at stock speeds, but the 7900 GS has a reputation for overclocking.

This card is essentially an overclocked 7800 GT, sporting a 256-bit memory bus and decent clock speeds; it's a very good performer and a solid card for the money.

While the X1950 PRO is a slightly stronger performer at stock speeds, the 7900 GS has a good overclocking reputation, while the X1950 PRO does not.