Conclusions
Putting together these value comparisons is harder than it looks. Oh, sure, looking at our overall value graphs and making broad generalizations is a lot of fun, but it can be quite misleading. You've gotta keep the hidden variables in mind.

If this endeavor has taught us anything, it's probably that both AMD and Nvidia have some decent cards out on the market today. Generally speaking, paying more for a higher-end DX11 video card will net you higher performance, and in that sense, the two firms' product lineups seem to be fairly sensible. It's hard to go wrong with a DirectX 11 GeForce or Radeon right now. Well, unless you buy a GeForce GTX 465—that card generally fails to pull ahead of the GTX 460 1GB despite markedly higher power consumption and noise levels, so we wouldn't really recommend it.

Venturing onto shakier ground and more minute distinctions, our overall value comparisons suggest AMD's Radeon HD 5800-series graphics cards cost a little too much for the performance they deliver versus the competition. Also, we're a tad disappointed to see so little progression in raw performance from the Radeon HD 4870 and GeForce GTX 260 to their current successors. Sure, graphical requirements in games are stagnating, but we still miss last year's price war.

Finally, if you're a gamer, don't be afraid to splurge on a graphics card for your next PC. An extra hundred bucks is a drop in the bucket for a mid-range gaming build, but spending $300 instead of $200 can mean a decent amount of extra eye candy, as well as smoother frame rates. And aren't those the reasons you're gaming on a PC to begin with?