A Tale of Two GTs: Radeon X1900GT by Sapphire and Powercolor

Final Thoughts

The Radeon X1900 GT offers solid performance and comes in it at a price point that matches the Nvidia GeForce 7900 GT. It bests the Nvidia card at popular resolutions of 1024x768 and 1280x1024 and performs on par with the GeForce 7900 GT at 1600x1200. Based on pure cost, the Radeon X1900 GT is a better buy.

If you are located in North America, the PowerColor gives you a much more attractive warranty for the additional $20. If you are outside the United States or are looking for more in the box, Sapphire gives you more software, but only a three-year warranty. So are you the cautious give-me-a-guarantee type of person, or a give-me-stuff-in-a-box kind of person? Either way you should have a good card for your money.

The Radeon X1900 GT is a new sweet spot for ATI fans as it delivers a great overall gaming experience with a middle of the road cost. We cannot stress that this is the time to buy a card if you are looking to game now. Core 2 Duo has shown us what the platform market will look like for some time unless AMD has something special, and Vista with Direct3D 10 will not be here for half a year or more. Beyond that we will have to wait for game content and cards that could extend that timeframe. The buyer has so many choices and now is the time. All you need do is pick up a GT and take it for a long drive.

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