ATi Radeon HD 3870 X2

It's slightly embarrassing that the X2 currently costs more than two 3870s, which are selling for around £115 each. But this should correct itself in time, and for now the single card does offer a few advantages to offset the extra cost.

Most obviously, it only occupies one PCI-E slot, and it will run on any motherboard without the need for CrossFire support. As a further sweetener, AMD has clocked the stock X2 core at 825MHz, a 50MHz speed boost over the standalone 3870. Of course, both cards are likely to be offered at even higher speeds by third-party board manufacturers.

All told, the HD 3870 X2 is AMD's most exciting graphics product in years. Arguably, it's only a simple, incremental improvement over what's gone before, but it's a big increment, big enough to present a convincing challenge to Nvidia's hitherto comfortable hold on the high end. And there's plenty of scope for prices to fall and clock speeds to rise.

Nvidia won't take this lying down, of course. We're sure its retaliation plans are already well advanced. But today belongs to AMD, which has at last delivered a winner.

Author: Darien Graham-Smith