This is a sponsored article in association with Dabs.com
Everyone sensible in the computing world always picks up second generation kit. Nnot only have all the bugs been worked out, but it's available at a lower price and with more speed. Oh, and in the case of DirectX 11 graphics cards, there's also some games that actually make use of the new DX11 effects.
That's why there's so much interest in the new ATI Radeon HD 6850 and ATI Radeon HD 6870 cards. We've already covered the details, but let's talk money. The cards come in at around the £150 and £200 mark respectively - both of these cards are targeting their own segment of the market.
The Radeon HD 6850 has lodged itself firmly amongst the 768MB GeForce GTX 460 cards and is providing a 1GB of memory while delivering a very similar performance for your money.
But for real gaming performance perhaps you should consider splashing out another £50 for the HD 6870?
When it comes to the Radeon HD 6870, AMD has obviously found itself stuck between a GeForce GTX 470 and a Radeon HD 5870. But costing under £200 the Radeon HD 6870 is significantly cheaper than all the older Radeon HD 5870 cards, yet delivers the majority of its performance.
This last part is especially true when running 4x AA at the same resolutions, which is what most gamers aim for.
The Radeon HD 6870 also price-wise stacks up well against the majority of the GeForce GTX 470 cards, which were originally priced against the Radeon HD 5870. However a small number of manufacturers have been quick to spot this and are now pricing their GeForce GTX 470 cards at a more competitive level, the Asus GeForce GTX 470 being especially bargain grabbing.
While we can happily say the newer Radeon HD 6870 is far quieter and consumes much less power than the GeForce GTX 470, it doesn't compete on speed with what was a far more expensive card.
Don't forget the games
Throwing hundreds of pounds at cutting-edge cards wouldn't be much use if you had nothing to play on them. So snap- up a gaming bargain this week with the Dabs and EA Store 25 percent off offer. Buy any game from the swanky EA Store – when we say any, that includes PC digital download, PS3, Wii and Xbox – and use the discount code below to receive a price slashing 25 percent off.
You'll find everything from the latest big-name shooters such as Medal of Honor and Battlefield, family favourite The Sims to the long-running wheel-spinning Need for Speed.
hose are alongside classics which if you missed them the first time around are so worth picking up such as the original Mass Effect, Dead Space, Sim City 4 and the more recent Dragon Age Origins. It also has some exclusive edition that die-hard fans shouldn't miss, such as the Nano Editon of Crysis 2 and FIFA Manager 11 SE.
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