WHAT'S HOT: Though only $199, this board gives you 64MB of DDR memory--at high resolutions, you won't do better at this price than the Radeon 64MB. Running Unreal Tournament at 1600-by-1200-pixel resolution using 32-bit color, this Radeon nearly matched the speeds of GeForce2 Ultra-based boards, turning in a rate of 59 frames per second, right about the sweet spot for good, smooth performance. In Test Drive 6, the MSI StarForce 831, ATI Radeon 64MB, and ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon were the only cards costing less than $300 to complete our 1600-by-1200-pixel resolution, 32-bit color tests.

WHAT'S NOT: At lower resolutions and color depths, the Radeon doesn't shine as brightly. The Radeon turned in a score of 66 fps in Unreal Tournament at 640 by 480 and 16-bit color--the second-lowest score posted. Even though this board scored well in overall image quality, both Quake III and Unreal Tournament appeared faded. We also saw some jerkiness in Unreal Tournament and Test Drive 6.

WHAT ELSE: This board doesn't have as many ports as the All-in-Wonder Radeon, but it still offers more than most, with S-Video-out, composite-in, and composite-out ports. ATI provides an excellent five-year warranty on parts and labor for the Radeon--one of the best offered by any vendor. But you'll have to pick up long-distance charges for calls to ATI's tech support, available 10 hours each weekday.

BEST USE: You'll be hard-pressed to find a better board at this price. If you're looking to really test that new 21-inch monitor, this Radeon offers better support for higher resolution than a GeForce2 GTS or GeForce2 MX card can.

SUMMARY

ATI Radeon 64MB DDR 4X AGP, ATI Radeon chip, 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 350-MHz RAMDAC; hardware DVD support, S-Video-out, composite-in and composite-out; graphics-editing software. $199 905/882-2600 www.ati.com