Earlier this week, the sub-$100 mid-range HD 4670 video card was unleashed by AMD/ATI. To better compete against this product, NVIDIA is dropping prices a bit, on their mid-range parts. 

In the majority of reviews on the various hardware sites, the HD 4670 was most often compared to the 9500 GT, because the sold for the same price. On the day the NDA was set to expire for the HD 4670, NVIDIA sent an email out to many reviewers, saying that this comparison wasn't as fair -- they contested that the HD 4670 should instead be compared to the 9600 GSO: AMD is currently positioning the HD 4670 against the GeForce 9500 GT. This does not reflect current pricing which puts the GeForce 9500 GT at $59.Given recent price moves, we believe the best price-performance comparison of the Radeon HD 4670 is the GeForce 9600 GSO.

The HD 4670 simply beat the 9500 GT solidly, so seemed obvious that NVIDIA would change prices to compensate. Now a slide has turned up on the Internet, outlining those prices:

We won't mention where the slide came from -- this is a well-kept secret and is incredibly hard to guess. Prices are in USD.

So now the HD 4670 and 9600 GSO are neck-and-neck (which is a pretty tight competition), and the 9600 GT, a capable card, is only $99.

Update: We've requested confirmation from NVIDIA on this pricing.

Judging from some large online retailers, the HD 4670 is almost universally selling for its MSRP of $79 dollars, while their is large span of different prices for the 9600 GSO, from as low as $69, to $120 and up.

Really: it has been sometime now since the sub-$100 were nearly as good relative to the performance of the higher-end cards. Both the HD 4670 and 9600 GSO are capable gaming cards and for them to be about only $80, brand new, is remarkable -- prices low as these are sure to help PC gaming out a little bit. 

You can read my review of the HD 4670 here.