Price, performance, and
features are the three broad parameters that you consider while buying a product. Taking
this into account, we decided not to declare a single winner this time. Instead,
we’ve come out with three best choices. The first is a card for the no-nonsense
gamer, willing to pay a premium for performance. The second is for a budget-conscious
buyer, willing to compromise performance for price. And a runner-up, giving all three
parameters equal importance.
For the first case, we found the Asus
AGP-V3800TVR Deluxe to be the perfect choice. An avid gamer couldn’t ask for anything
more. Great performance, a rich feature set, and a decent price is the best way to sum it.
The card comes with two games: Extreme-G2 and Turok, a pair of virtual reality glasses,
and a video-capture port with the necessary cables. The card supports all the Direct3D
features, and rocked the OpenGL Quake II tests.
Price: Rs 16,250 Chipset: nVidia RIVA TNT2 Video memory: 32 MB Max refresh rate: 250 Hz at 640x480 Max resolution: 2,048x1,536 RAMDAC: 300-MHz Palette DAC Source: Integra Micro Systems, 111 Humanyunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029. Tel/Fax: 11-6182259, 6177146, 6187246 |
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If you’re more sensitive to price and are looking for a card that suits your daily needs, with some light gaming as part of the deal, then the XO AGP is the best bet. COLOR="#ffffff"> AGP Card Price: Rs 1,650 Chipset: SiS 6326 Video memory: 8 MB Source: Integra Micro Systems, 111 Humanyunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029. Tel/Fax: 11-6182259, 6177146, 6187246 Rs 1,650 Chipset: SiS 6326 Video memory: 8 MB Source: Integra Micro Systems, 111 Humanyunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029. Tel/Fax: 11-6182259, 6177146, 6187246 |
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The runner-up in the shootout, with an equal combination of price, performance, and features is the ATI Rage Fury 128 with 32 MB VRAM. The winner in this category is again the Asus V3800. The ATI nevertheless proved to be a tough competitor and would’ve been a great buy if priced lower. At Rs 20,000, it was the most expensive card in the shootout. The card comes with a lot of bundled software, and has a video-capture port. ATI Rage Fury 128 (32 MB) Price: Rs 20,000 Chipset: Rage 128 Video memory: 32 MB Max refresh rate: 200 Hz at 640x480 Max resolution: 1,920x1,200 Source: Integra Micro Systems, 111 Humanyunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029. Tel/Fax: 11-6182259, 6177146, 6187246 |
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Other Participants | |
align="right">Asus AGP-V-3000ZXTV size="2" face="Arial"> Price: size="2" face="Arial">Rs 3,624
Features: Onboard video-decoder for live video from TV, VCR, etc; TV output portfor simultaneous TV and monitor display; free game Incoming
Chipset: ST/nVidia RIVA 128ZX
Video memory: 4 MB
Max refresh rate: 200 Hz at 640x480
Max resolution: 1,900x1,200
RAMDAC: 250 MHz
Source: Aditya Promoters, Khemka Centre, DDA Building, 2-5 Nehru Place, NewDelhi 110019. Tel: 11-6223810/11, 6452211/12 Fax: 6227979, 2931082 |
Asus AGP-V3400TNT Price: Rs 8,297
Features: Supports all Direct3D features; comes with a free game–Tulok
RIVA TNT
Video memory: 16 MB SGRAM
Max refresh rate: 250 Hz at 640x480
Max resolution: 1,920x1,200
RAMDAC: 250 MHz
Source: Aditya Promoters, Khemka Centre, DDA Building, 2-5 Nehru Place, NewDelhi 110019. Tel: 11-6223810/11, 6452211/12 Fax: 6227979, 2931082 |
align="right" hspace="5" vspace="5">ATI Rage Fury 128 (16 MB) Price: Rs 16,500
Features: Onboard video-decoder for live-video from TV, VCR, etc; TV output portfor simultaneous TV and monitor display.
Chipset: Rage 128
Video Memory: 16 MB
Max refresh rate: 200 Hz at 640x480
Max resolution: 19,200x1,200
RAMDAC: Information not available.
Source: Integra Micro Systems 111 Humanyunpur, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi110029. Tel/Fax: 6182259, 6177146, 6187246 |
face="Arial" size="2" color="#FF0000">Creative Graphics Blaster RivaTNT
Price: Rs 12,000
Features: Comes with two games: Incoming andForsaken, software like Colorific for color matching and 3Deep for setting gamma values; supports all Direct3D features.
Video memory: 16 MB SDRAM
Max refresh rate: 240 at 640x480
Max resolution: 1,920x1,200
RAMDAC: 250 MHz
Source: Urja Communications 109 ‘C’, Esplanade Mansion, 144 MG Road,Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400001. Tel: 22-2048179, 2826997 Fax: 2826390 |
Volcano Voodoo Banshee Graphic align="left" hspace="5" vspace="5"> Price: Rs 4,609
Chipset: 3dfx Interactive
Video memory: 16 MB
Max refresh rate: 250 Hz at 640x480
Max resolution: 1,600x1,200
RAMDAC: 300 MHz
Source: Aditya Promoters, Khemka Centre, DDA Building, 2-5 Nehru Place, NewDelhi 110019. Tel: 11- 6223810/11, 6452211/12 Fax: 6227979, 2931082
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