Review: Top 10 graphics boards

From...

By PCWorld Staff

(IDG) -- PCWorld.com tested three new cards this month -- Matrox's Marvel G450 ETV, ATI's Radeon VE, and MSI's MS-StarForce 818 GeForce2 MX -- but only the $99 StarForce landed on the chart. Hercules's quick but pricey 3D Prophet II Ultra may climb out of its tenth-place cellar spot in coming months: Prices should drop on NVidia GeForce2 Ultra cards, as the next generation of models with the GeForce3 chip starts to appear.

1. ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon: Respectable gaming performance and a bevy of video features make the All-in-Wonder Radeon a great one-card solution for those interested in video editing.

2. CardExpert GeForce2 MX: Gamers building a system on a budget, or those upgrading an older AGP-capable system, will find a solid value here.

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3. Hercules 3D Prophet II MX: If you want to replace the graphics board on an older AGP-capable PC, the bargain-priced 3D Prophet II MX should be an ideal fit, as it gives you a worthwhile performance boost without making you spend more money than is warranted by your older equipment.

4. Asus V7100 Deluxe Combo: This board rivals our top card's features and costs less. Dim lighting in two test games.

5. ATI Radeon 64MB DDR: You'll be hard-pressed to find a better board at this price. If you're looking to really test that new 21-inch monitor, this Radeon offers better support for higher resolution than a GeForce2 GTS or GeForce2 MX card can.

6. ELSA Gladiac MX: If you're looking for a no-frills package, this board is a solid choice. But the $99 Hercules 3D Prophet II MX offers faster performance and bundled software for $40 less.

7. MSI MS-StarForce 818 GeForce2 MX: This inexpensive newcomer's speed and image-quality scores nearly matched those of the other MX-based boards cards on the list.

8. Matrox Millennium G450: While the Matrox didn't exactly excel in 3D performance, it had terrific image quality in our tests. And it is the only card on our Top 10 list to offer dual-display support.

9. ELSA Gladiac GeForce2 GTS: Gamers who can't afford a GeForce2 Ultra board will find that the ELSA Gladiac GeForce2 GTS has the speed they need to hit respectable frame rates anywhere below 1600-by-1200-pixel resolution in 32-bit color.

10. Hercules 3D Prophet II Ultra: Hercules's Ultra offering isn't the fastest we've seen, but it still beats all the older-generation boards that we've evaluated. It also offers support for most digital monitors.

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ATI Technologies, Inc.
Hercules
ELSA AG

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