Bargain-priced graphics card released for holiday season

Windows users in search of a gaming speed upgrade for a reasonable price can look no farther than Nvidia's new GeForce GT 240 graphics card, which packs a number of high-end features into a package with an unusually low sticker price. The GT 240 is available with a number of options, and buyers will have to choose between 512 and 1024 MB of RAM, as well as the data rate at which that RAM works (either 2000 MHz DDR3 or 3400 MHz DDR5). The central processor of the GT 240 is a 550 MHz, 40 nm-scale graphics processing unit (GPU). The GT 240 could inject new life into older PCs with dated graphics hardware. The device promises significant video performance boosts as well, due to much-improved Blu-Ray performance and support for Flash 10.1, which will soon be the dominant format for streaming video services like Hulu. Competition between the big two graphics card makers - Nvidia and ATI - has helped keep prices reasonable in recent years, according to analysts. Nvidia's products tend to be seen as more widely compatible with other hardware, while ATI holds a perceived advantage in value for performance.