This new, low-end AMD graphics card's meant for budget-conscious PC gamers, and maybe Steam Machines, too

Not every gamer has the desire means to get the latest and greatest graphics hardware. Fret not budget-minded PC aficionados, for AMD's rolling out a new, more powerful low-end GPU that should suit your financial constraints. Called the Radeon R7 265, it brings twice the memory bandwidth of its predecessor, the R7 260x, which AMD claims translates into a 25 percent performance boost. It'll cost $149 when it goes on sale in late February, and with its debut, AMD's also dropping the cost of the aforementioned 260x to a scant $119.

Naturally, those meager price points will appeal to cost conscious consumers, but AMD's announcement could have an effect on Steam Machine OEMs, too. We saw AMD's higher-end R9 graphics in several of the Steam Machines at CES, and we've been playing with a working iBuyPower prototype packing an R7 260x for awhile now. So, it stands to reason that the 260x and 265 will prove awfully attractive options to manufacturers trying to hit the all-important sub-$500 price point needed to compete with other gaming consoles. And, who knows, maybe these new (relatively) inexpensive options will help drive down the prices of both more powerful cards and the GPUs being offered by AMD's competition.