New Mid-Range Graphics Cards For Fall : 7900 GS and X1650 Pro
 

First up, we've got the new GeForce 7900 GS, which is based on a derivative of nVidia's high-end G71 graphics processor. The 7900 GS has been "neutered" slightly in that these graphics processors only have 20 pipelines active instead of the G71's standard 24 pipelines. This fact means that on a clock for clock basis, the GeForce 7900 GS will be roughly 16% less powerful compared to other GeForce 7900 GT/GTX variants. However, the GeForce 7900 GS still gets all the high-end features of this architecture, including SLI support, dual-link DVI support, and nVidia's PureVideo technologies.

We've also got ATI's new mid-range offering, the Radeon X1650 Pro in the labs as well. The X1650 Pro is based on ATI's first 80nm graphics processor, the RV535, which means the GPU should run at fairly high clock speeds while remaining somewhat cool. The new GPU supports ATI's linkless Crossfire support, HDCP, dual-link DVI, and sports surprisingly high clock speeds for a GPU at this price point. Couple this with a sleek new cooling system and an attractive price point, and ATI looks to have a solid mid-range gaming card. Let's see how these two stand up in real-world testing.