AMD's recently introduced Radeon HD 5870 is readily available in most European markets. After a somewhat bumpy launch, distributors are starting to get new shipments and they are finally coping with demand. Speaking of demand, there seems to be plenty of early DirectX11 adopters to go around. Prices range for the HD 5870 range  from just under €300 in Blighty to €315 or €330 on the mainland, depending on the region.

However, if this is a bit steep for you, an HD 5850 costs a bit over €200, although most retailers are listing it at about €215. We say listing, not selling, because most retailers still don't have it in stock, and some that did have it have sold out. We're hoping availability will improve over the next couple of weeks.

Frankly, the HD 5850 sounds like a much better deal than the HD 5870. It costs 40 percent less, but the performance penalty for one disabled cluster and somewhat lower clocks is nowhere near 40 percent. It's much closer to 10 percent actually.