It's always good and fun to have the latest hardware, especially when it comes to graphics. But what if you're on an aging AGP system?
All the latest graphics card solutions are on the PCI-Express interconnect. Superior bandwidth equates to superior performance and features. But not everyone can upgrade their computer all the time. Given that, the AGP port is growing long in the tooth, but there's no denying that many AGP systems still exist.
To cater to these users, who may have built their dream system or invested a lot of money when AGP was the best available graphics connect, Gigabyte unveiled an AGP version of its Radeon HD 4650 solution, called the GV-R465D2-1GI.
With this particular card, AGP users can get a big boost out of their graphics subsystem, thanks not only to the recent generation GPU, but also to the board boasting 1 GB of memory and support for DX10.1. The board is compatible with AGP 8X and Gigabyte claims CorssFireX support, but we're not quite convinced this is a feature that will work, considering there aren't any dual-AGP systems. However, the most obvious indicator that this may be an error by Gigabyte is the lack of a CrossFire bridge connector on the card.
Despite the odd CrossFireX spec, the Gigabyte GV-R465D2-1GI does deliver a good upgrade for those still on AGP systems.
[Edited: Originally reported that there aren't any hybrid AGP/PCI-Express motherboards. There are some, but few.]