Radeon X1650 PRO
Codename: R530, 80 and 90-nm technology
12 pixel shaders, five vertex shaders, four texture units, four raster operations
128-bit memory bus (256-bit ring bus)
600 MHz core, 700 MHz DDR (1400 MHz effective) memory

The new X1650 PRO is a re-dressed X1600 XT with slightly higher clock speeds. The very high memory speed for this class, and efficient shaders help the X1650 PRO compare well to the 12-pipeline 7600 GS, beating it by a small margin in most benchmarks.

GeForce 7600 GT
Codename: G73, 90-nm technology
12 pixel shaders, five vertex shaders, 12 texture units, eight raster operator units
128-bit memory bus
560 MHz core, 700 MHz DDR (1400 MHz effective) memory

The 7600 GT is an amazing card in this price range, sporting new SM 3.0 technology and very high clock speeds 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 X800 XT/X850 XT and even the 7800 GS.

The worst thing we can say about the 7600 GT AGP is that the X1950 PRO shouldn't cost much more, but it will outperform its predecessor easily.

Best AGP Card For ~$230

Radeon X1950 PRO
Codename: R580, 90-nm technology
36 Pixel shaders, eight vertex shaders, 12 texture units, 12 raster operations,
256-bit external memory bus (512-bit internal ring bus)
575 MHz core, 690 MHz DDR (1380 MHz effective) memory

The X1950 PRO is similar to the X1900 GT, the main difference being that it is not based on the X1900 XT, but a whole new and less power-hungry core. The card's main competition is the 7900 GS, which it beats in almost every benchmark. But the 7900 GS isn't available in AGP flavor, which makes the X1950 PRO the fastest AGP card available*

*The Gainward BLISS+ 7800 GS cards, which actually have 7900 GT and 7900GS GPUs, are also fast AGP cards on par with the X1950 PRO. These are far more expensive and can only be purchased in Europe, however.

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.

It must be noted however, that if you have the money to spend on an AGP card, you may be much better off purchasing a PCI-express motherboard, CPU and PCI-express graphics card.

PCI express graphics cards are cheaper than their AGP cousins. If you 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.