If all you want is a card that'll make a nice job of displaying video, the 2400 XT is a pretty solid bet. It's quite pretty and, best of all, extremely quiet. However, it isn't even able to match the slightly lacklustre performance of the 8500 GT.

Our gaming tests didn't return very promising results, but we expect this silent, budget card will appeal to anyone building a media centre, or a smaller form factor PC, that can still run Windows Vista comfortably.

The Sapphire HD 4670 is an entry-level graphics card that casual users will be sure to love. Like its midrange and high-end siblings, it offers an exceptional performance for the asking price. Another Radeon winner.

The MSI NX8500GT can be summed up as an inexpensive card that's perfect for an entry-level Windows Vista PC, or a media centre PC, but it shouldn't be considered if you want to play current and future games.

The jumper adds novelty, but ultimately this card is outperformed by the competition. Worth considering for a budget system but not much else.

The Sapphire Radeon X1650 Pro isn't the hottest card on the market, but it's a good budget card if you won't be playing the latest games. The X1650 Pro has been Windows Vista certified and will let you run the Aero interface in Windows Vista.

EVGA's e-GeForce 9600 GSO is a tasty little offering with one of the best cost-to-performance ratios we've seen. Hardcore gamers may want to cough up for something a little more gutsy, but for the asking price you can’t go wrong.

This Gigabyte card runs quietly, and has adequate power for the current crop of games. It does struggle at higher resolutions with high detail settings enabled.