ATI has been releasing new video cards on a fast pace recently with the release of the HD 4870, 4850, 4870 X2, 4670, 4650, and now the 4550 each targeting different video card segments from the high-end to the mainstream value segments. The 4870 and 4850 are the king of the hill of their respective price segments with the 4870 x2 being the top of the hill in terms of pure performance. But not every end-user wants to spend $500+ on a video card. 2/3s of the retail video card purchases are made in the under $100 level. The HD 4670 and 4650 cards target the upper level of that but what about the $50 level? That’s where today’s launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4550 comes in. EVGA, an NVIDIA partner has dropped their 9500GT card to match the price of the ATI HD 4550 and it should be an interesting performance comparison between the two cards at this price point in terms of target markets, gaming and features.
