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It's that time of year again: the line ups for both NVIDIA and ATI video cards are well established. There won't be any more big surprises coming up in this current generation of cards, the GTX 2xx series from NVIDIA, and the HD 4xxx series from ATI.

The GTX 260 has been a significant player in the mid-budget video cards for this generation, since the very introduction of the GTX 280. Originally pitted against the HD 4870, the GTX 260 did not have the significant horsepower to break any sort of big battles in this match-up. Releasing it wasn't, NVIDIA strengthened the GTX 260 by unlocking more of the card's shader processors. While the first GTX 260's had 192 shader proc's, the revised GTX 260 had 216, and this kept in the fight against ATI's generally less expensive HD 4870. 

However, now, nearing the end of the GTX 2xx lifespan, the GTX 260 (216) shader core has arguably not been in a better position. The prices have fallen on the GTX 260 (216) substantially, ever since the NVIDIA's release of the GTX 285. Often, overclocked GTX 260 (216) cards can even beat out GTX 280 cards, yet sell for very reasonable prices. 

Today we are looking at one such GTX 260, to see what it can do. This is the Winfast Leadtek GTX 260 Extreme+. It's Extreme because it is overclocked -- let's subject this card to an inspection.