Best AGP Card for £95 (inc VAT):

Radeon X1950 PRO

Codename: RV570 Process: 90nm Pixel Shaders: 36 Vertex Shaders: 8 Texture Units: 12 ROPs: 12 Memory Bus: 256-bit Core Speed MHz: 575 Memory Speed MHz: 690 (1380 effective) DirectX / Shader Model DX 9.0c / SM 3.0

The X1950 PRO is similar to the X1900 GT, the main difference being that it’s not based on the X1900 XT, but a whole new and less power-hungry core. The card’s main competition is the 7900 GS, which it beats in almost every benchmark.

The X1950 PRO is a powerful card that will make AGP gaming viable for at least a year or two more, and these cards are becoming easier to find online. This is a great last stand for the hardcore AGP’er.

Best AGP Card For £125 (inc VAT):

Radeon X1950 XT (by Gecube)

Codename: R580 Process: 90nm Pixel Shaders: 48 Vertex Shaders: 8 Texture Units: 16 ROPs: 16 Memory Bus: 256-bit Core Speed MHz: 628 Memory Speed MHz: 700 (1400 effective) DirectX / Shader Model DX 9.0c / SM 3.0

The X1950 XT – manufactured exclusively by Gecube – is, put simply, the most powerful card ever to grace the AGP bus. This card’s closest competition is the XFX 7950 GT, which costs slightly more but is noticeably less powerful.

At £125 the price is a bit of a tough pill to swallow for a dying interface. I would only recommend the X1950 XT AGP to someone with a very fast AGP system who already has a power supply with enough juice to handle the X1950 XT.

It must be noted however that if you have £125 to spend on an AGP card – you should look into how much it would cost to upgrade your whole system into a PCI express motherboard.

PCI express graphics cards are cheaper than their AGP cousins. If you upgrade your system to PCI-E and sell your old components, you may actually spend around the same amount of money compared to buying an expensive AGP card alone.