Labs

ATI's newly released 3850 graphics card, along with its competitor the nVidia 8800GT, has signalled a return of powerful but reasonably priced graphics cards. We're particularly appreciative of the single-slot design, which means the 3850 should fit into most small PC cases as well as full-size models.

This card blazed through our first two graphics tests, achieving 51.3 frames per second in Call of Duty 2 and 54fps in Prey. Owners of big screens won't have any problems running these games at higher resolutions. A respectable 18.1fps in our demanding Call of Juarez DirectX 10 test indicates that you'll be able to play DX10 games successfully too, though not necessarily at their very highest detail settings.

The HD3850 is also a powerful video accelerator, handling HD video and post-processing effects with ease. It also has the audio controller and HDMI adaptors supplied with most ATI cards. At this price it's a real bargain, and you shouldn't spend any less - though serious gamers may wish to consider the Asus 8800GT instead.