Hercules 3D Prophet 4000XT

By and large, the only reason to change a PC's graphics card is to improve its performance for games. A better quality 3D card will make for smoother, sharper and more detailed graphics and, ultimately, more fun for the gamer.

With the best cards topping the £300-barrier though, many PC owners are loath to splash out that sort of dough on a leisure upgrade. Hercules hopes that many more people will consider one at £65.

The pricing of the 3D Prophet 4000XT suggests it may struggle to impress, but that isn't the case. It doesn't offer the flaming gaming that a super-tasty, super-expensive GeForce3 card might, but that's not the idea. At under £70 it's ultra-cheap, but the performance is a match for the GeForce 2 MX, which costs £30 more.

Fitting the 4000XT is no more difficult than fitting any other graphics card, so the set-up is a bit of a chore and requires some delving about inside the PC's case. In order to fit the card, you'll need to ensure that your computer has an AGP slot.

The reason it can compete with the GeForce2MX for less money is due to the clever Kyro chipset the card uses. Developed by Imagination Technologies for use in Sega's defunct Dreamcast game console, the Kyro uses special tile-based rendering techniques to generate similar performance to posher cards, despite using a less powerful graphics processor.

It does this by only drawing the things you see on the screen. Any objects that are obscured or otherwise out of view are not drawn. Rival products from nVidia and ATi draw everything that is on screen, visible or not, meaning a more powerful graphics processor is needed to achieve the same result.

In our tests, the card performed more than adequately and wasn't out of its depth, even with the latest games. In terms of frame rates and general 3D performance, it proved itself to be a solid performer. Like its stablemate the 4500XT, it has formidable performance for the price and warrants serious consideration.

If you are a hard-nosed gaming veteran, you'll sneer at the 4000XT's capabilities. But for the occasional gamer, it's an excellent package.

Contact
Guillemot: 020 8686 5600 www.hercules.com

ALSO CONSIDER

HERCULES PROPHET 4500XT
Great graphics at pocket money price.
£130 ****
Reviewed in Computeractive, Issue 88