As high-end graphics cards are usually pretty expensive, it's probably best not to go out and buy such polygon monsters as soon as they appear on the market, simply due to the huge and frequent price drops that come with the introduction of each new generation of chips.

Instead, you're better off purchasing a graphics card that won't leave you on the rocks, financially. There are several graphics chips that are actually both affordable and well-perform. The cheapest solution is certainly ATI's Radeon VE , which is available for less than $85 today. Unfortunately, you will have to live without Transform & Lighting. Graphics cards with this chip are slower than GeForce2 MX products, but clearly cheaper.

Another alternative is the Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 with ST Microelectronics' Kyro II chip. Equipped with 64 MB memory and Tile Based Rendering , the chip is a veritable challenger to the entire GeForce2 family from nVIDIA, with the exception of the GeForce2 Ultra. Although the Kyro II, as well as the Radeon VE, does not support T&L, I'd rate this chip as the smartest mainstream graphics product today in terms of technology.

However, the reality is that nVIDIA still continues to dominate the international market with its well-known and popular GeForce2 brand - a visit to any computer shop will prove this. Most stores offer at least three products that are based on a GeForce2 chip. While many people wouldn't even consider purchasing a Radeon VE board for performance reasons (see benchmarks ), the Kyro II could easily become a top seller, if it were more readily available.