Introduction
The future belongs to PCI Express - that's the clear message coming from nearly every graphics card and motherboard maker around. And while no one is quibbling with the statement's truth, it is still not clear when the prediction will actually come to pass. PCI Express cards are catching on like wildfire in today's new PCs, but users itching to upgrade their high-performance AGP platforms have thus far been left high and dry.
Until now, the choice has been between shelling out a small fortune for a top-of-the-line GeForce 6800 or X800 AGP (provided you can even find a card in the stores) or searching for a discontinued model from the preceding product generation. In the midrange price category of $200 - $250, for example, you'll find ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro, which provides solid performance even with newer games. For games with less sophisticated graphics, NVIDIA's GeForce 5900 cards still have what it takes, but they lack the power for today's DirectX 9 games like Farcry and others.
Not anymore, says NVIDIA. With the AGP version of its GeForce 6600 GT card, the manufacturer is looking to attract owners of AGP based motherboards with a lower-price alternative.
