THE RADEON X1900 GT FINDS itself in a precarious situation right about now. Formerly ATI's key offering at $299, the X1900 GT's replacement has recently been announced in the form of the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB. This new hotness is scheduled to hit the virtual shelves of online stores later this week. Meanwhile, ATI is rumored to be preparing a new Radeon model to take on the brand-new GeForce 7900 GS at $199. That leaves the X1900 GT cowering in the shadows of the oncoming wheels of progress.

Fortunately, the turnover in the graphics card market has helped push prices on the Radeon X1900 GT well below three hundred bucks in some places, potentially making it a good value for the sharp-eyed enthusiast who can snag one for the right price. But where, exactly, does the Radeon X1900 GT fit into the performance landscape? We've tested a lot of graphics cards, but somehow, we've never managed to get our hands on a Radeon X1900 GT—until now. The folks at Connect3D were nice enough to let us coax a Radeon X1900 GT out of them on the eve of its replacement, and we've run it through an enlightening gauntlet of synthetic and real-world tests to see how it compares to, oh, fifteen or so competing graphics solutions.

So what really happens when the Radeon X1900 GT shakes its 36 pixel shaders at a very healthy 575MHz? Can it keep up with potent newcomers like the GeForce 7900 GS? We're about to find out.