Gigabyte Radeon GV R92128VI

This is a mainstream graphics card from Gigabyte with an ATI Radeon 9200 graphics processing unit. The card comes with 128 MB DDR graphics memory and has an AGP 8X interface. It has DVI-I and S-Video output, apart from the regular monitor output. The card that came to us was the VIVO version of the series of cards from gigabyte with this graphics processor and supports video capture from a video source connected to its S-Video port.

We tested the card on an Intel 865GBF motherboard with P4 3.0 GHz and 512 MB DDR SDRAM. In our tests it defeated the earlier tested Asus V9180 Magic GeForce4-MX (with 64 MB DDR), which was also priced in the same range, very easily. When we looked at its results individually (see table in the GeForce FX 5900 review, page 107), we found that the frame rates were good at 1024*768 resolutions for playing games. But at 1600*1200 resolutions, the frame rates dropped significantly. So don’t expect high-end gaming at this resolution. Plus, you’ll also need a 19” monitor to really use such high resolutions. 

S N   A   P   S   H O   T Price : Rs 7,000 (three-year warranty) Key specs : Impressive performance at this price, good software bundle Contact : Digi Giga Systems, Mumbai Tel : 26526696.  E-mail : sales@dlink.co.in

The card comes with games like Serious Sam and NFS, software for video capture and editing, Power DVD for playing DVDs. Overall it’s a good buy for entry-level gamers as it is good value for money when compared with the Asus card, which was slightly higher priced at Rs 7,850. Although the card’s performance is very impressive, it is still not as earth shaking as many high-end cards. But then high-end cards are also more expensive, and we’ve reviewed some of those in this issue as well.

Anoop Mangla