Best PCIe Card For ~$200

Radeon X1900 GT

Codename: R580, 90 nm technology
36 Pixel shaders, Eight Vertex shaders, 12 Texture units, 12 Raster operations processors
256 bit external memory bus (512 bit internal ring bus)
Version 1: 575 MHz core, 600 MHz DDR (1200 MHz effective) Memory
Version 2: 512 MHz core, 660 MHz DDR (1320 MHz effective) Memory

The X1900 GT is based on the X1900 XT core, except it is crippled with some pixel shaders disabled and has a lower clockspeed. There are now two versions: the original 575 MHz core/600 MHz memory version, and the new 512 MHz core/6600 MHz memory version. Both perform similarly.

The card's main competition is the 7900 GS, which it soundly beats in almost every benchmark. The worst thing I can say about the X1900 GT is that its X1900 XT 256 MB cousin performs much better for not much more money.

Best PCIe Card For ~$250

Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB

Codename: R580, 90 nm technology
48 Pixel shaders, Eight Vertex shaders, 16 Texture units, 16 Raster operations processors
256 bit external memory bus (512 bit internal ring bus)
625 MHz core, 725 MHz DDR (1450 MHz effective) Memory

The 256 MB X1900 XT is a re-released X1900 XT with less memory and a new price that really entrenches it as the best sub-$300 card you can buy today. It is in the same league as much more expensive cards like the X1950 XTX or 7900 GTX.

Priced as low as $240 at the time this article was written, there is nothing that can really touch it, including the new Geforce 7950 GT.