Basic System Buyer's Guide - May 2005
 

Thanks to dropping prices, this month we were able to give our video card yet another boost. Sapphire seems to be the low-end choice in both price and performance. We're pleased to make the switch to a 9600XT. Architecturally it's almost identical to the 9600PRO with the notable exceptions of a built-in hardware monitor and higher clock speeds. Specifically, the 9600XT uses a 500MHz/650MHz core/memory configuration. Compare this to the 9600PRO's 400/446 setup and the difference becomes clear. This card is more than capable of playing every new release on medium settings at the very least. Unfortunately a 256-bit 9800PRO or a vanilla GeForce 6600 (non-GT) is still out of reach, but this is still a nice upgrade.

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