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Mid Range Mayhem £75 - £150 or $150 - $300
We all know how important the mid range is for graphics card companies. Knowing this, how good is ATI’s line up in this section? Well, it’s respectable without being daring. After reading the Nvidia article I’m sure you’re aware of how impressed I am of the 7600 cards. Their direct competitor is the X1600 Pro card and this is a considerably cheaper mid range card, but sadly the performance isn’t quite there.
It’s around a third slower than the 7600GS, but it also costs a third less, so maybe if you’re on a budget then get this card. If you play games at a higher resolution and with higher image quality, then check out the X1600XT. This card costs the same as the 7600GS and gets virtually the same score in 3D Mark 06. So it’s down to whether you’re an ATI or Nvidia fan boy with it neck and neck in price and performance. 
One thing I’m sure you won’t have overlooked is the fact that ATI does not have a card to challenge the dominance of the 7600GT. For price and performance this is the ultimate mid range card. However, ATI are working hard to get a new card (probably a re-badged, cut-down version of the X1900) out onto the market soon.
Mid Range 3D Mark 06 Scores:
Nvidia 6600GT scores 744
ATI X1600 Pro scores 802
ATI X1600XT scores 1109
Nvidia 7600GS scores 1118
Nvidia 7600GT scores 1583 – clear winner
Here’s some interesting information for you, two X1600 Pro’s in CrossFire mode still can’t beat the 7600GT! This is how good the card is. It really is the only card to go for in this section.
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