It’s That Time Again
The new GeForce GTX 460 made us sit up and take notice, particularly when we paired them up in a dual-card SLI configuration. As our own Thomas Soderstrom showed, two GeForce GTX 460s in SLI can even outperform Nvidia's GeForce GTX 480 flagship.
Nvidia recently began a bit of a price war with AMD. Retail prices for graphics cards like the GeForce GTX 470 and 480 are plummeting, bringing the fight to AMD’s doorstep. GeForce GTX 470s are selling for as little as $279; GeForce GTX 480s are going for $450 on Newegg.
With a one-year head start and plenty of margin in its pocket, AMD isn't too proud to engage in a bit of a brawl. Radeon HD 5850s are $260 all day long on Newegg, and rebates are taking these cards as low as $210.
This news forces us to challenge preconceived notions of relative value. It lets us know that it’s time for a thorough Radeon HD 5000- vs. GeForce GTX 400-series performance analysis. Today we're testing the Radeon HD 5830, 5850, and 5870, along with the GeForce GTX 460, 470, and 480 to provide a thorough understanding of how these cards perform relative to one another in both single- and dual-card configurations.
There’s not much else to say. Let’s get ready to rumble!
