Budget gamers rejoice! NVIDIA has released the first video card of its new 9000-series, the 9600 GT. Priced at only $199, the card is targeted towards those looking for an SLI setup without breaking the bank. NVIDIA’s goal in releasing the card is to give PC gamers something that can play the latest games very well, but at the same time be very affordable.

The 9600 GT is a midrange card. It’s typical for video card companies to release their highest-end video cards first in a new series, but NVIDIA is making a good choice in my opinion. Latest-generation video cards will no longer be for those with deep pockets only, and legacy users will be encouraged to upgrade their hardware.

The 9600 GT features the following specifications:

• 64 stream processors @ 1625 MHz each
• 256-bit memory @ 900 MHz
• 64 nm
• DirectX 10
• PCI Express 2.0 (backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.0)

The cards are available right now, and some sites have already started posting reviews.