James Bond drives a $229,000 Aston Martin Vanquish in the upcoming movie Die Another Day. Many of us salivate at the idea of driving a vehicle of that caliber, but most of us get around in Fords, Hondas, or Toyotas.
Graphics cards have a similar effect on gaming enthusiasts. We salivate at high-end models like the new ATI Radeon 9700 Pro. At $350, though, justifying the splurge is tough when you can buy a high-performance PC for just $1,000. Perhaps that's why mainstream and value cards (those under $150) make up 83 percent of the retail graphics card market, according to Jared Smith, an analyst at research firm NPD.
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