XFX 8600 GT

The PNY GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB DDR3 gets on the right side of £120 thanks to no pre-overclocking. You do get a copy of the enjoyable Splinter Cell: Double Agent and scores are high; 36fps in CoD2, 53fps in Far Cry and 24fps in Oblivion (which rockets to 53fps when AA and AF are lost) but, despite the £113 (£133 inc VAT) price, there are yet more enticing cards to buy.

These include the Asus EN8600GTS/G/HTDP/256M, which (as the heatsink implies) comes with a copy of the recently released Stalker, helping to justify the still competitive price of £117 (£137 inc VAT). The "/G" is important, as the other (Stalker-less) version of the card isn't as attractive. Asus doesn't tinker with the clock speeds, so scores are identical to the PNY above. If you were going to get Stalker anyway, stop reading now and order this card.

We just fancy the MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-HD-OC over the Asus, though. It too comes with a recently released game in the form of Company of Heroes, and is also pre-overclocked to the same levels as the ECS card. So, you get a good game, a smidgeon of extra performance and all for a very aggressive £114 (£134 inc VAT).

Author: Clive Webster