AGP Interface
Best AGP Card for Under £50 (inc VAT):
GeForce 7600 GS
| Codename: | G73 |
| Process: | 90nm |
| Pixel Shaders: | 12 |
| Vertex Shaders: | 5 |
| Texture Units: | 12 |
| ROPs: | 8 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 400 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 400 (800 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 9.0c / SM 3.0 |
With identical features compared to its faster 7600 GT brethren, the 7600 GS falls short on the core and memory clock speeds only -However, the GT’s clock speeds are so high that the GS pales in comparison. Nevertheless, the 7600 GS is a good performer in this AGP price bracket.
Best AGP Card For £70 (inc VAT):
GeForce 7600 GT
| Codename: | G73 |
| Process: | 90nm |
| Pixel Shaders: | 12 |
| Vertex Shaders: | 5 |
| Texture Units: | 12 |
| ROPs: | 8 |
| Memory Bus: | 128-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 560 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 700 (1400 effective) |
| DirectX / Shader Model | DX 9.0c / SM 3.0 |
The 7600 GT is an amazing card in this price range, sporting new SM 3.0 technology and very high clock speeds able to deliver excellent performance. Its weakest feature is its 128-bit memory bus, but its high memory speeds offset that disadvantage and make it competitive with 256-bit cards like the X850 XT.
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 model, but now has 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 AGP’er.
Best AGP Card For £140 (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 notably less powerful.
At £140, it 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 £140 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 video cards are cheaper than their AGP cousins. If you decide to upgrade your system to PCI-E and sell your old components, you may actually spend a similar amount of money compared to buying an expensive AGP card alone
Great post, but it would be cool to say whether or not its worth spending £180 compared to £120. I think a lot of people spend £120, then are very dissapointed with the lack of speed compared.