Graphics card round-up: 9 cards, new test, games and HD 5800s

The test procedure for graphics cards has moved forward again. For this, the 2009/2010 edition, some games have been left to one side, others, like BattleForge with DirectX11, have arrived. Of course, we still have our energy consumption, noise and heat tests.

Ushering in the new test procedure, nine cards have been put through the mill. First, three new models in the ATI Radeon HD 5000 series, the HD 5770, HD 5850 and HD 5870. ATI’s new cards promise greatly reduced power consumption and great 3D performance. We may as well come out with it right away: promises made, promises kept!

We have also included three older Radeon cards, the Radeon HD 4870, the HD 4890 and the HD 4870 X2. Of course, NVIDIA isn’t to be forgotten and although there’s been nothing new from them in terms of the high end, we have retested the GeForce GTX 275, GTX 285 and GTX 295. Old generation vs. new generation, check out the pros and cons of each.

Don’t forget you can check out all test results individually in the graphics card face-off. You can also have a look at our performance recap tables.

> Product survey: graphics cards 2009

> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products