NVIDIA's new 9600GT card is targeted at the $199 and below price point and EVGA says this card should come in at $200-220. At this level of
performance and pricing, the 9600GT competes against ATI's HD3850 card and almost competes against the 8800GT as that card is available online for $240 from Newegg. The 9600GT outperforms the HD3850 card from Diamond and the HD3870 card from ATI, making it an interesting choice but does not outperform the 8800GT in most cases. It has been over a year and a half since NVIDIA has launched a high-end video card in the form of the 8800GTX, with rumors of a 9800GX2 card coming hopefully it will bring high performance back into the mainstream for a good price. For now, the 9600GT is a great replacement for the 8600GT offering higher performance and a similar price point but not a great replacement for the 8800GT which is within striking range at this price point.