Gamers looking to purchase a new generation graphics card today have quite a few options available ranging in price from $180 to $450. Indeed, it's a great time to upgrade:

Clearly the GeForce GTX 260 is a superior performer when compared to the Radeon HD 4850, though when you take value into account the performance vs. price ratio is very close. The Radeon HD 4850 did cop a hiding in Company of Heroes and Unreal Tournament, where it was on average 53% and 48% slower, respectively. However games like Crysis, saw the GeForce GTX 260 produce smaller leads.

Heavily reducing prices of the GeForce GTX 200 series was a smart and necessary move by Nvidia, who reacted very quickly to the storm brought by the AMD/ATI team. Now at $399 the GeForce GTX 280 does very well compared to the $299 Radeon HD 4870. Certainly we are waiting to see how the dual GPU Radeon HD 4870 X2 can perform and how it will compete in pricing against the GTX 280 or anything else Nvidia decides to throw at it.  Those on more of a strict budget will love what the Radeon HD 4850 has to offer at $199, and when it comes to ultimate gaming value this one is hard to beat.

The real clash today between the GeForce GTX 260 and the Radeon HD 4870 ended up with no definite winner. Nvidia and ATI fans can argue all day, but there is no real way to settle it, unless of course you hand pick the benchmarks to your preference. Where the Radeon HD 4870 falls down a bit is on its idle power consumption and operating temperature levels, though the most hardcore enthusiasts will find this a non-issue when installing a relatively cheap aftermarket cooler.