You've probably already heard about Nvidia's recent price cuts affecting its latest GT200 series cards. If you're not in the market for a high end graphics board, you probably weren't very impressed, as €400 is still a lot to pay for a graphics card, no matter how powerful it may be.

However, in the past week there were some pleasant changes in the sub-€100 price range as well, and this is what will interest most consumers. A couple of weeks ago we wrote about expected price drops for the HD3850 series, hoping it will end up around the €65 mark. We weren't far off, as reference cards are now available for €69 all over the place. In case a reference card just won't cut it for you, you can get PowerColor's overclocked 3850 with PCS cooling and 512MB of memory for just €10 more.

This time Nvidia isn't giving ATI a free ride and its 9600GT is breathing down ATI's neck. Elitegroup's reference 9600GT is currently available for just €77, making it a very appealing alternative to the HD 3850, which has long been touted as the best buy card in its class. Most Nvidia vendors sell their 9600GT cards for €90 - €100, but it's obvious they'll drop their prices very soon. Nvidia AIBs also have some 9600GSO cards on the market, but at the moment they sell for about the same as a 9600GT, making them nothing more than sucker bait on the shelves.

Going one step up the ladder, you can get a reference HD 3870 for €94, or an 8800GT for €108, so no big changes there, at least not yet.

Basically if you've got a low-res screen (i.e. 19-inch, or even a 32-inch 1366x786 TV), all of these cards should be more than enough for your casual gaming needs and at these prices they're practically begging to be bought.