ATI has made a notable comeback over the past year, with enticing GPU releases that have been able to match and sometimes surpass Nvidia's offerings in terms of performance, power consumption, and value.

However, that's not to say Nvidia has been a sitting duck all this time, as they have promptly answered anything ATI has thrown at them. For example, earlier this year when ATI was claiming back the performance crown with the dual GPU Radeon 3870 X2, Nvidia was quick to react with an even more impressive and better performing card. The GeForce 9800 GX2 followed the same dual GPU path, using Nvidia's SLI technology and a pair of GeForce 8800 GTS 512 GPUs.

Then Nvidia launched their latest generation graphics cards consisting of the GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260. Yet the Radeon HD 4870 and 4850 proved to be excellent counterparts, offering similar levels of performance for a fraction of the price. As things stand today, the GeForce GTX 280 is the fastest single GPU graphics card available, while the standard Radeon HD 4870 (1GB) is a fair match for the latest revision of the GeForce GTX 260.

However it was AMD that delivered the first current generation dual-GPU graphics card with the Radeon HD 4870 X2, which is effectively two Radeon HD 4870 (1GB) graphics cards operating in Crossfire mode, allowing for an impressive level of performance. For 5 months the Radeon HD 4870 X2 ran unopposed, as the fastest single gaming graphics card in existence.

That said, what arrived 5 months later, on the 8th of January, was nothing short of monstrous. Nvidia created a hybrid GPU that by itself would deliver performance comparable to a GeForce GTX 280. However the new GT200B GPU is not designed to work alone, rather these new GPUs can be found working in pairs on a single PCB board called the GeForce GTX 295.

The result is nothing short of amazing, and those that can afford it will certainly agree. Priced at a cool $500 US, the GeForce GTX 295 is not for the faint hearted. This new dual-GPU Nvidia graphics card has forced down the price of the Radeon HD 4870 X2, which can now be had for $430 US, while the standard Radeon HD 4870 (1GB) graphics has been reduced to just $230 US.

So how does the Radeon HD 4870 X2 stand up to the GeForce GTX 295, keeping in mind that it costs roughly 15% less? Today we are going to find out, as we take a look at the ASUS Radeon HD 4870 X2 TOP which is designed to offer a little more performance than your average Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics card. Like all ASUS TOP products, this one has been fine tuned for maximum performance, but do we like it and should you bother with this product?