Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: AGP Interface
Best AGP Card for Under $100:
| Codename: | RV635 |
| Process: | 55nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 128 |
| Texture Units: | 8 |
| ROPs: | 4 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 725 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 500 (1000 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10 / SM 4.0 |
With the 2600 Pro AGP getting harder to find at a good price, the near-identical 3650 has come along to take it’s place. At $80 it’s not a bad upgrade to any number of older AGP cards.
Best AGP Card for $100:
| Codename: | RV630 |
| Process: | 65nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 128 |
| Texture Units: | 8 |
| ROPs: | 4 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 800 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 700 (1400 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10 / SM 4.0 |
The 2600 XT holds position at $100. This is a decently fast DirectX 10 card available for AGP, and it surprisingly offers a great deal of performance at the $100 price point. Previously reported driver issues seem to have been worked out, and the only thing detracting from the 2600 XT is the lowering price of the 3850 AGP.
Best AGP Card For $135:
| Codename: | RV670 |
| Process: | 55nm |
| Universal Shaders: | 320 |
| Texture Units: | 16 |
| ROPs: | 16 |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 670 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 833 (1666 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 10.1 / SM 4.0 |
Forever rumored and now finally available to purchase, the Radeon 3850 is, frankly, a curiously powerful card for the aging AGP bus—a bit too powerful, in fact, to be properly utilized on the single-core CPUs that are typically paired with this platform.
Regardless, this is the most powerful AGP card you can get. Perhaps you have an AGP gaming system you just can’t bear to part with, or perhaps you have an older system with both a dual-core CPU and AGP slot: whatever the reason, you can’t get better than an AGP 3850, and if anyone ever releases a more powerful card in the future for the dying bus, we’ll be incredibly surprised.
"Remember, the GeForce GTX 280 costs about $80 more than two Radeon HD 4850 cards!"
And? When the GTX 280 gets its price slashed with the next generation product just grab one, SLI the motherbitch and piss all over the two 4850s
Yes, it may be cheaper to get the two 4850s for similar performance, but isn't it rather shortsighted to recommend that approach for long-term investment?
Also...
"Best PCIe Card For Over $350: None"
Since when was this monthly segment about comparative value for money? I always thought the point was the best cards within each price bracket.
So, if I'm going to purchase a top-end graphics card, what's the best one in the $350+ bracket, especially if I DO want to play above 1920x1200 (this 30" screen ain't gonna fill itself y'know).
Christ can anybody be bothered any more?
These reviews are getting rediculous..
First, the title is best "video cards" for the money, not "best video card configurations", so Single Card configs really should definitly take priority over CF configs. The GTX 280, while on average slower then the CF 4850's, offers a much simpler solution with comparable performance, and definitly should get a mention (THIS is coming from an AMD/ATI supporter).
And WHY NOT put configs above $400 there, if people want a higher performing setup then 2 4850's can offer then why not put out the 4870x2, 4870 CF and GTX 260/280 SLI. There are perfectly noticable differences in capabilities with these setups then you would see with 2 4850's, if people wat to spend $500-600 on a graphics card/s then THIS is the review people want to read to determine the best option. Especially when there are many people who have spent in the $7-1000 regeon on the rest of the setup, or more!!
Come on guys, do some work, even I could have done something much more conclusive then this//
another fault, the nvidia cards doesn't support DX 10.1 as far as I know, because nvidia deems it worthless.
very very little text to each card, not very conclusive
I agree, nvidia does not support DX 10.1 on any of their cards. Something to consider when planning your purchase...
"Yes, it may be cheaper to get the two 4850s for similar performance, but isn't it rather shortsighted to recommend that approach for long-term investment?" there aint much more shortsighted than to recomend the gtx 280. Its a dead man walking waiting for its replaceent to show up. Plus it is dx10.1 which will be important some day.
anyone wanting to spend over $350 should be taking the time to read the detailed reviews themselves. there's only a few cards/configurations in that bracket and you shouldn't trust a small roundup alone when considering spending that much money anyway.
4870x2 would beat out the gtx 280 anyway in a higher segment.
Only 3-way SLI GTX 280's can churn out more performance than a 4870x2 CF rig. And the cost is SO high you may consider building 2 whole other gaming rigs for the same money.
ONLY MORONS HAVE BOUGHT INTO THE GTX 280 YUPPINESS.
A sign of either more money than brains, or ... no, just a sign of more money than brains
And again....
an article focusing on price, posted on the UK site, is priced up in Dollars rather than pounds. I can understand that it takes time and effort to do a conversion and actually look up local prices etc... but why bother having a .co.uk site if all you're ever going to do is just post exactly the same articles as the .com site???
I see 4870 with 512Mb slighty lower priced then the GF260 with 896Mb, while the 4870 with 1Gb is equally priced as the GF260.
Any recommendations for these cards?
There getting lazy, i rember this used to be the definite answer to which one to buy with your budget, ive come here to decide between 260 and 4870 and nune the wiser. i know its only there opinion but i would like to know which one they would recommend i know its down to the games atm but which one has the most potential for the future, rather than sittin on the fence and saying a draw. I ALSO STRONGLY AGREE WITH GARYRW_42, i go to uk sites to get uk prices not to know whats good to buy in amercia
COME ON CATER FOR THE UK FANBASE!!!
I remember the good old days , when ATI was king and the X1900XTX was the card to buy for my $ 600 dollars . Now I need crossfire but my mobo is sli . The 280 hampered by my system , the 260 slower than 4870 . Prices so cheap they make my head spin . I'll go with the 260 as I am sli ready . If that $ 10. scratch ticket is a winner make it two . Till its time to play Crysis 3 .