We certainly recommend that people interested in playing modern games on their PC prioritize putting in a good graphics card. Not everyone needs or wants a big power-hungry $400 pixel-pushing monster, but the $200–$250 price point seems to be the sweet spot in terms of the price/performance ratio and overall game-playing satisfaction.

Still, not everyone can go that route—or wants to. Many people have older systems, and don't want to spend a lot of money when most of their games will be limited by a slow CPU or limited RAM. Some are on a limited budget. Others have a system that the OEM provided with a modest power supply that can't run what we would call "mid-range" graphics cards.

And of course, there's the OEM market: pre-built PCs. Even in some of the pricier configurations, most system builders will boost CPU speed, RAM, or hard drive capacity while still including a fairly entry-level graphics card.

Whatever the reason, the least "interesting" but highest volume of sales for PC graphics happens in the <$100 price range. Thanks to a new 40nm manufacturing process and the use of GDDR5, ATI's new Radeon HD 4770 manages to bring impressive performance to the $99 price point. Continued...