Best Gaming Graphics Cards for the Money: AGP Interface
Best AGP Card for Under $100:
Good 1024x768 performance in most games, 1280x1024 with lowered detail
| Codename: | RV635 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| 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 its place. At $80, it’s not a bad upgrade to any number of older AGP cards.
Best AGP Card for $100:
Good 1280x1024 performance in most games
| Codename: | RV630 |
| Process: | 65 nm |
| 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 its 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:
Good 1600x1200 performance in most games
| Codename: | RV670 |
| Process: | 55 nm |
| 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.
Why are the prices on Tom's UK in dollars? Again...
why are you still here?
If you shop around you can get some good cards from reliable sources. Having said that, the prices are more expensive in the UK, than in the USA. Thanks for the article
That card is currently around $81 from some UK online sources - the retail prices can be astronomic (assuming you can even get these cards, as they often sell out-dated harware at grossly inflated prices).
If you don't know what you are buying in the UK for Christmas..get someone who does or you could end up being seriously ripped-off. CPU prices are more harmonised, but historically graphics cards have always been more expensive here.
"Just pay attention to price, warranty, and the manufacturer’s reputation for honoring the warranty if something goes wrong."
Yeah, I learned the hard way by buying a POS INNO3D Nvidia 8800GTX card for a lot of money that broke after 15 months and that unknown to me when I bought it only had 1 years warranty. The cheapskates wont even repair it for me!
I hope the credit crunch wipes INNO3D out!
They finally included an above $500 section....
AT LEAST DO AN ARCTICLE FOR TOMSHARDWARE UK IN POUNDS, what's the point in having a separate site if you use exactly the same arcticles!!!!
They finally included an above $500 section....AT LEAST DO AN ARCTICLE FOR TOMSHARDWARE UK IN POUNDS, what's the point in having a separate site if you use exactly the same arcticles!!!!
Well at least you got the picks of the best hardware..sourcing it should be easy as long as you know the trusted sources
what would use recommend hd4870 1gig or nu 260 + oc ? or just stick with hd4870 512?