2007 was NVIDIA’s year with its GeForce 8. In 2008, ATI came back with its Radeon HD 4800 series with a better value for money ratio. It’s difficult to say who will be the winner in 2009, even if one thing is sure: the combat between ATI and NVIDIA will never been as good for the consumer, who can now find “gamer” cards at under 200 euros.

As a result, the difference in price between one model and another is lower. Moving up in the range will cost you between 20 and 50 euros. It is therefore paramount to be able to judge card performance in games so as to make the right choice. But performance is not the only factor here and you’ll need to take into account some other points.

Energy consumption is one of these. Being green is fashionable right now and so much the better. But not all models are economical and some top end cards (like the Radeon HD 4870 X2) have become veritable guzzlers in terms of watts. We hope this year that we’ll be presented with models that are top end in terms of game performance as well as with contained energy consumption.

Results in detail and performance indexes

You’ll find fewer figures in the product surveys. To compare cards one with another and to observe performance across 9 test games, you’ll be able to consult our graphics card face-off. So as to give you an overall vision of performance of different cards tested we are also using a series of table summaries with a performance index for each model contingent on the resolution tested.