The PC graphics technology boom of several years ago may not have gone bust, but it certainly has slowed down. The reason is simple: ATI wasn't able to introduce any noteworthy product advancement for over a year. During most of that period, ATI's chief competitor rubbed its hands in glee at the thought of selling last year's parts without any noticeable price reduction.

The first step towards progress came from the NVIDIA camp, but not at the high end. Instead, the new 65nm GeForce 8800GT was introduced in an effort to reduce production costs while maintaining high prices on the company's ancient line of premium parts. Lower production cost would allow NVIDIA to drop prices as needed to head off any new developments from ATI. Clocked by the factory to the ragged edge of stability, the first batch of GeForce 8800GT cards frequently failed and remaining parts became scarce. How much more abuse could the market take?

ATI's attempt to rescue the mainstream market and win back some needed sales comes in the form of two graphics products: the Radeon HD 3850 and 3870. The Radeon HD 3850 is designed to go against the GeForce 8600GTS, while the faster HD 3870 competes with the almost-nonexistent GeForce 8800GT. The two ATI cards are both priced between competing NVIDIA parts in order to provide ATI with a market niche.

Today's Radeon HD 3850 sample comes from Asus, and its EAH3850 provides a few added features that could increase its value. But is the Radeon HD 3850 upon which this sample is based powerful enough to earn its position? And more importantly, can this combination of ATI technology and Asus add-in features produce an award-winning value?