High-End Graphics
Besides the fact that most of these cards are really overpriced, there really isn't much else to say about this bracket. For the best price/performance, we recommend you take a look at the mid-range or ultra high-end cards. For the amount you would be paying here, you will usually be better off going with an ultra high-end card. Still, let's take a look at what we have available, as there's at least one high-end GPU worth recommending.
Here we have the GeForce 7800GS cards that come only in AGP form. There is a large selection of these cards available, but the best price we can bring you as of today is the EVGA GeForce 7800GS EGS 256MB [RTPE: 256-A8-N505-AX] for $277 shipped. As you skim through the rest of the chart, you will notice that there are many cards available for under the $300 price tag. Competing with the X850 XTPE, the 7800GS does a decent job at filling out the top of the NVIDIA AGP performance spectrum, but we'd really like to see something like the 7900 GTX in AGP form. The 7800 GS is slightly underpowered compared to the X850 XTPE AGP, but the 7800GS is priced about $170 less. Honestly, we have to say that you're better off upgrading to a PCI-E motherboard and graphics card for an extra $100, but then again, it's far easier to change graphics cards than to swap out an entire motherboard.
We mentioned that there was at least one high-end GPU model worth considering, and these are the cards. The X1900 GT comes with 12 pipelines and core/memory clock speeds of 575/1200, so the card certainly packs a punch. Meanwhile the AIW version comes with 16 pipelines and 500/960 core/memory clocks, making is roughly equal to the X1900 GT (slower memory, slightly faster core). Also interesting to note is that two X1900 GT cards can be run in CrossFire mode using the PCI Express bus to transmit data between the cards. This does result in a performance penalty relative to the dongle cable of the higher end CrossFire configurations, but the lower prices are certainly a plus. Barring mail-in rebates, the lowest priced X1900 GT card comes from Sapphire [RTPE: 100189] at $278. Connect3D [RTPE: 3058] on the other hand can be had for $260 after rebate.
There's only one X1900 AIW currently showing up, from ATI [RTPE: 100-714800] ($285). As mentioned, overall performance is going to be roughly similar to the X1900 GT, but you get the added benefit of TV recording support. That's at least $50 worth of added value, though the one problem with all in one GPU/TV tuner solutions is that you lose the TV tuner if you ever upgrade your graphics card. On the other hand, you also get support for all of those features in a single PCI-E slot, which can be extremely useful if you're using a SFF system.
Of course, we listed the 7900 GT on the previous page, simply because it was easier to group the GTX and GT cards together. Since 7900 GT cards are priced about the same as these ATI offerings, we could easily classify it as a high-end card as well. With additional pixel pipelines (24) and faster memory, you'll usually get better performance overall from the 7900 GT cards.
ATI's X850 line is somewhat interesting, as it performs better than the X800 line and is currently priced lower. The AGP cards are still pretty expensive, but the Sapphire Radeon X850XT 256MB [RTPE: 100106] is priced at $140 after a $20 mail-in rebate. This card actually has more of a mid-range price, but with high-end gaming performance. This is the only other "high-end" card that we would seriously recommend right now, as everything else is priced too high for the performance offered. Also note that CrossFire X850 cards are relatively expensive, and R400 CrossFire really wasn't a very elegant solution. We recommend you stick with single X850 cards if you plan on purchasing one.
Like the majority of cards on this page, these X800XT cards are also overpriced. For the price of these X800XT cards, you can easily purchase a 7900 GT or even something faster. These cards are on their way out, and we're just seeing the last few leftovers being sold.
There really isn't something we can add to what we've already said before. Head on to the ultra high-end cards if you're looking to spend anywhere near the amount these 6800 GTs and Ultras are going for. Alternatively, check out the next page for our mid-range batch of cards. Several of them will at least match performance of the 6800 GT and do it at a much lower price.
Besides the fact that most of these cards are really overpriced, there really isn't much else to say about this bracket. For the best price/performance, we recommend you take a look at the mid-range or ultra high-end cards. For the amount you would be paying here, you will usually be better off going with an ultra high-end card. Still, let's take a look at what we have available, as there's at least one high-end GPU worth recommending.
Here we have the GeForce 7800GS cards that come only in AGP form. There is a large selection of these cards available, but the best price we can bring you as of today is the EVGA GeForce 7800GS EGS 256MB [RTPE: 256-A8-N505-AX] for $277 shipped. As you skim through the rest of the chart, you will notice that there are many cards available for under the $300 price tag. Competing with the X850 XTPE, the 7800GS does a decent job at filling out the top of the NVIDIA AGP performance spectrum, but we'd really like to see something like the 7900 GTX in AGP form. The 7800 GS is slightly underpowered compared to the X850 XTPE AGP, but the 7800GS is priced about $170 less. Honestly, we have to say that you're better off upgrading to a PCI-E motherboard and graphics card for an extra $100, but then again, it's far easier to change graphics cards than to swap out an entire motherboard.
We mentioned that there was at least one high-end GPU model worth considering, and these are the cards. The X1900 GT comes with 12 pipelines and core/memory clock speeds of 575/1200, so the card certainly packs a punch. Meanwhile the AIW version comes with 16 pipelines and 500/960 core/memory clocks, making is roughly equal to the X1900 GT (slower memory, slightly faster core). Also interesting to note is that two X1900 GT cards can be run in CrossFire mode using the PCI Express bus to transmit data between the cards. This does result in a performance penalty relative to the dongle cable of the higher end CrossFire configurations, but the lower prices are certainly a plus. Barring mail-in rebates, the lowest priced X1900 GT card comes from Sapphire [RTPE: 100189] at $278. Connect3D [RTPE: 3058] on the other hand can be had for $260 after rebate.
There's only one X1900 AIW currently showing up, from ATI [RTPE: 100-714800] ($285). As mentioned, overall performance is going to be roughly similar to the X1900 GT, but you get the added benefit of TV recording support. That's at least $50 worth of added value, though the one problem with all in one GPU/TV tuner solutions is that you lose the TV tuner if you ever upgrade your graphics card. On the other hand, you also get support for all of those features in a single PCI-E slot, which can be extremely useful if you're using a SFF system.
Of course, we listed the 7900 GT on the previous page, simply because it was easier to group the GTX and GT cards together. Since 7900 GT cards are priced about the same as these ATI offerings, we could easily classify it as a high-end card as well. With additional pixel pipelines (24) and faster memory, you'll usually get better performance overall from the 7900 GT cards.
ATI's X850 line is somewhat interesting, as it performs better than the X800 line and is currently priced lower. The AGP cards are still pretty expensive, but the Sapphire Radeon X850XT 256MB [RTPE: 100106] is priced at $140 after a $20 mail-in rebate. This card actually has more of a mid-range price, but with high-end gaming performance. This is the only other "high-end" card that we would seriously recommend right now, as everything else is priced too high for the performance offered. Also note that CrossFire X850 cards are relatively expensive, and R400 CrossFire really wasn't a very elegant solution. We recommend you stick with single X850 cards if you plan on purchasing one.
Like the majority of cards on this page, these X800XT cards are also overpriced. For the price of these X800XT cards, you can easily purchase a 7900 GT or even something faster. These cards are on their way out, and we're just seeing the last few leftovers being sold.
There really isn't something we can add to what we've already said before. Head on to the ultra high-end cards if you're looking to spend anywhere near the amount these 6800 GTs and Ultras are going for. Alternatively, check out the next page for our mid-range batch of cards. Several of them will at least match performance of the 6800 GT and do it at a much lower price.
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
7600GT is over twice as fast as X1600 XT, and even more than that compared to X1600 Pro. X700 Pro would be about the level of X1300 Pro, minus features. Performance of X1600 XT compared to 6600GT showed the 6600 GT to be faster http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2552&p...">in almost all games, so yes, the X1600 really aren't that attractive. You may not "see a bit of difference", but are you just going by impressions or are you actually running benchmarks? Honestly, most games you won't see a difference unless you drop below 60 FPS, which might require higher resolutions or other games for testing.slashbinslashbash - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
Right now the X1900 AIW is at $275 at most places (NewEgg, ZZF, etc.). Over the past weekend NewEgg even had it at $225. It's the cheapest way to get into the X1900 with a full 16/48 pipeline config. About as cheap as the X1900GT with only 12 pipelines. Plus of course the AIW also has the VIVO and TV tuner capabilities and comes with a software bundle of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements (worth $100). For me, it's a no-brainer.JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
Sorry for the omission. I've gone back and added the AIW card to page 3. It's definitely a reasonable choice, as it has performance roughly equaling the X1900 GT plus you get VIVO support. If you're after faster graphics performance, however, there are better solutions.Spacecomber - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
I was wondering if more might have been said about this card, the X1600 Pro for the AGP slot. It strikes me that this card is at the top of its particular class, budget AGP game cards.These cards often sell for just a little over $100, and this seems to give them a good bang for your buck value compared to their competition, which I take to be the AGP versions of the 6600 GT and X800GTO.
I've not seen a good head to head comparison of these cards, but looking at their specifications, I would think that they should perform fairly similarly.
Anyone else have any thoughts on what is a good buy in the $100-$150 range for the AGP slot? I know that there are some good prices on things like refurbished models that are no longer available new, as well as your close out bargains; however, I'm focusing on those cards that are readily available.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
The 6600 GT easily outperforms X1600 Pro AGP. The only reason to get X1600 over 6600 is if you want support for AVIVO.Spacecomber - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
That's interesting to know. You wouldn't necessarily have guessed that looking at their specifications.X1600Pro:
500 core, 800 memory, 128-bit, 256MB GDDR2, 12 pipelines
6600GT:
500 core, 1000 memory, 128-bit 128MB GDDR3, 8 pipelines
Any guesses as to what is holding the X1600Pro back? Is it the slightly slower clocked GDDR2 memory, compared to the faster clocked GDDR3 memory that you find on the 6600GT?
JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
Possibly. I figured it would win, because on the high end X1800/X1900 the ATI cards seem less dependent on memory bandwidth. However, http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2552&p...">in testing, the X1600 just doesn't perform as expected - even the X1600 XT can't outperform the 6600GT in most cases! Possibly some features were cut that ATI isn't telling.Exodus220 - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
I absolutely love reading your overview of the video cards and other computer hardware. However, I always run into the same frustration of trying to locate the cheapest product in your list. Sure you guys will give your recommendation but it would be so much easier if you could just sort them by lowest price to the highest price. I don't know if it has been a consideration but it sure would help my reading experience and process in searching for what you have listed as the best option.Spacecomber - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
I had the same thought when reading this guide. It is especially confusing since you often have different models mixed in with each other, such as 7600GS and 7600GT lumped together. Sorting by price should indirectly sort the models, as well, and those models by a particular manufacturer that seem to not be with their group (after sorting by price) will stand out as either being a good deal or being over priced.rrcn - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
I have gone ahead and sorted all the cards I can. Unfortunately, I cannot sort the 7900GT and GTX cards due to the way we must enter the search code that displays the charts. Entering in the code to display the GTX cards is fine and dandy, but when I search for the GT cards, it also displays the GTX cards.