Looking for AGP upgrade

[MrPibb]

I'm looking for an AGP video card to throw in my current rig to breath a little bit of new life back into a dying system.

Specs:
Pentium 4 @ 2.6 GHz
1.5 GB PC 3200 RAM
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB AGP
Windows XP

I'm not quite ready to do a whole mobo/cpu/ram and video card upgrade because I've already bought a core2duo laptop with an 8600 in it and I'm also holding out for the Nehalem or possibly Sandy Bridge processors. I have no interest in playing Crysis or anything else demanding. My current rig plays TF2 and CS:Source great at 1024xWhatever resolution but once the resolution starts going up, I presume the performance will go down. It also plays FEAR and DOOM 3 like crud.

First off, what bottlenecks are with the processor when it comes to gaming?

Some options I've considered are the AGP NVidia 7600s and the AGP ATi Radeon X1600s.

On a side note, the time and date on my desktop keep falling behind which I believe is an indication of a dying battery. Is this easily replaceable or will it require a new mobo as well?

Anyways, thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[Arkaign]

6600GT would be as much as I'd invest in that, and will be notably faster than the 9800P without (a)-draining your wallet, or (b)-making your 2.6 P4 a bottleneck, as something like an X1800 or higher would easily do.

 

[MrPibb]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
6600GT would be as much as I'd invest in that, and will be notably faster than the 9800P without (a)-draining your wallet, or (b)-making your 2.6 P4 a bottleneck, as something like an X1800 or higher would easily do.

I was also thinking about something from that generation of cards, but what about the 6800 or the X800 as opposed to a 6600?

 

[Arkaign]

Well, 6600GT performs the same as an 6800NU + or - ~5%. There are tons of X800s as well, I think X800 Vanilla is basically equal to a 6600GT. Bear in mind that a 6600GT is MUCH faster than a 6600 Vanilla. Anywho, pretty much any 6800/X800/X850 would be a nice upgrade for you. Or if you find an X1800 or better cheap enough. $50 would be my recommended spending limit.

 

[MrPibb]

Found this one for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102073

Any thoughts?

 

[happy medium]

Find yourself a used 6800gt/7600gs, for 70 bucks. Overclock your cpu if you can.

 

[Doclife]

Originally posted by: MrPibb
Found this one for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102073

Any thoughts?

Same card (X1650 Pro, 512MB) for $36 (after $20 rebate, Free shipping) here

http://www.buy.com/prod/diamon...loc/101/204105916.html

Nevermind. It's a PCIe and you're looking for AGP.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: MrPibb
Found this one for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102073

Any thoughts?

This guy

Has a 2600 Pro AGP 512MB card that he's 'asking' $80 for.

Could probably talk him to $70/shipped or so I'd think.

It will walk all over the 1650Pro.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: MrPibb
Found this one for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102073

Any thoughts?

That card is not much faster then the 6600gt.

 

[gorobei]

7600gt and 7900gs were good agp cards from the last gen. should be easier to find and probably in the same price range as the 6600gt(from a retailer at least). I wouldn't pay more than $40 for a 6600gt.

tomsHdw suggests the x1650 series if you want to go ati.

The dying battery is an drop-in procedure. $3 at most stores, easier to change than a watch battery thats for sure.

 

[JACKDRUID]

go ebay and search "agp 6600 gt"

and grab the lowest priced one... sold my 6600gt agp for $30 a few month ago, so you shouldn't spent more than $30 now..

 

[Soulkeeper]

i got a 6800xt that is great
a few bucks more than the 6600 but the performance of the 6800

just another option to consider

 

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: gorobei
7600gt and 7900gs were good agp cards from the last gen. should be easier to find and probably in the same price range as the 6600gt(from a retailer at least). I wouldn't pay more than $40 for a 6600gt.

tomsHdw suggests the x1650 series if you want to go ati.

The dying battery is an drop-in procedure. $3 at most stores, easier to change than a watch battery thats for sure.

I'll agree,

I picked up a 7600GT when my previous AGP card died.

 

[MrPibb]

They sell the AGP 7600 gs' at best buy but for over $150 or so. I might go the used 6600 route or pick up that x1650 from newegg.

 

[happy medium]

Heres a link for a 6800gt for 72.00$ shipped. You can't beat that!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/eVGA-w-GeF...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And a used 6600gt for $12.00 shipped 11 hours left in auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/EVGA-GeFor...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
i got a 6800xt that is great
a few bucks more than the 6600 but the performance of the 6800

just another option to consider

6800XT ~= 6600GT (8 Pipe, 128-Bit Cards)

 

[Soulkeeper]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
i got a 6800xt that is great
a few bucks more than the 6600 but the performance of the 6800

just another option to consider

6800XT ~= 6600GT (8 Pipe, 128-Bit Cards)

i got the one with 256-bit memory, i should have clarified
makes a big difference imo
if i can make any suggestion just go for the card with the most memory bandwidth so you can avoid the agp bus as much as possible



i gotta move my main rig to pcie here soon, the card had a short lifespan, although it's still plenty fast for the games i play (games based off UT and doom engines)

 

[rh71]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I basically just need a decent card to replace my supposedly dying 9800pro (have been using DVI). It's AGP so I'm thinking I need another AGP but what's this PCI express technology? Do they go in the conventional PCI slots? I have an Abit NF7S mobo. I also looked up these AGP cards but the connectors are not cut out like what my AGP port shows.

9800 pro connectors: http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/Images/335_the_card.jpg = separated into 3 parts
the linked AGP cards only have 2 parts (1 separation) and won't seem to fit in my AGP port. What am I not understanding here and where are the cards that will work for me on newegg?

<-- obviously haven't kept up with the latest...

 

[krnmastersgt]

PCI-E is pretty different from PCI, unfortunately you'll need a new mobo if you want to use a PCI-E card, which by the way tends to be cheaper in terms of similiar performance than their AGP counterparts.

Edit: Also, they don't need to be cut out the way your AGP slot may look like, as long as the end connectors fit along with any ridges that might be in the middle it'll work.

 

[rh71]

Would this be a good replacement for my 9800pro ? How many generations up is this? All I can really tell is that I'm going from 256mb to 512mb.

 

[happy medium]

Do you have agp 8x or 4x rh71 ?.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: happy medium
Do you have agp 8x or 4x rh71 ?.

Abit NF7-S Rev. 2.0 states it supports 8x. I *believe* I'm running the 9800pro at that.

EDIT>> Confirmed running at 8x. I can't find anywhere in ATI control center (advanced view) to set it to 4x to see if that helps. I don't see a smartgart section like I'm supposed to.

 

[rh71]

I installed the latest control center and brought it down to 4x speed but that didn't solve my problem. I'll definitely need to try a new card... open for recommendations.

 

[happy medium]

Buy this card before someone else does!

http://cgi.ebay.com/XFX-Geforc...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Great price. greta performance over your 9800pro.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: happy medium
Buy this card before someone else does!

http://cgi.ebay.com/XFX-Geforc...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Great price. greta performance over your 9800pro.

Better than this? 256mb vs. 512mb and the price after rebate will be cheaper (ebayer charging $20 ship) for a new card instead.