Speed. It's the one thing that gets all the attention when most folks consider performance computer hardware. Whether we're referring to the CPU, Memory, Hard Drive or Graphics card, one of the most important characteristics we consider is its raw performance, wanting to know just how fast a component is compared to others in its category. Perhaps a better question to ask is how fast does it need to be? Case in point is the constants battle between NVIDIA and AMD/ATI for who has the fastest graphics card on the market.
This time last year the Geforce 8800 GTX was the new top graphics card on the scene, trouncing on every competitor it was pitted against. This was viewed by some as a back breaker for AMD/ATI, who was struggling to match the raw performance of NVIDIA's power hungry behemoth, let alone producing a viable DX10-ready graphics solution at that time. Now, roughly a year later, AMD/ATI still doesn't have a high-end card to match the GeForce 8800GTX in raw power, but when you consider the market share of graphics cards that cost over $500, AMD/ATI seems perfectly content in delivering quality options that appeal to the masses, rather than the high-end market niche'.
Today, while ATI/AMD still doesn't have a "GeForce killer", it does have a number of competent and competitive low, mid and high-end cards that often score high marks for those evaluating performance from a dollar-for-dollar perspective. One such model is the Radeon HD 2600 XT. In this article, we will assess another 2600 XT class card in the form of the MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus, an aggressively clocked Radeon HD 2600 XT backed with 512MB of high-speed GDDR4. We'll take a look at the card's gaming performance with a number of quality titles known to stress even the strongest of graphics cards. Then we'll assess overall features as well as pricepoint, to come up with a balanced view of how the MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus fits in the current graphics card market.
Read More 
