Of the troika of new chips, Intel’s Core i5-750 is likely to be the big hit. With wholesale prices of $200, the average joe or jane can now build a Nehalem-based system for almost as much as a Core 2 or Phenom II box. In the final analysis, the Core i5 falls right where Intel’s bewildering branding scheme puts it: faster than Core 2 and Phenom II but slower than i7 and really damned cheap to boot too.

We like the Maximus III Forumula for it's top-notch audio subsystem and memory-tweaking MemPerfect Utility. We also dig the MIIIF's remote overclocking and monitoring functionality, which lets you use a USB-connected machine to control the board.

For the low price, you have to give up some graphical amenities, like antialiasing. It’s worth noting, however, that the HD 5770 still delivers 38fps in the Far Cry 2 action scene and 51fps in Ubisoft’s HAWX flight sim with AA and AF enabled. And like all the HD 5000 series, you can connect up to three displays to a single card.

OK, so the card is physically large and burns nearly 300W at full throttle. But does it perform? Yes, Virginia, this card does indeed deliver the goods. It’s the fastest single graphics card we’ve ever tested. At $600, this card had better be fast.So if what you want is the fastest graphics card you can buy, then the XFX Radeon HD 5970 is the card for you.