Good news for the AGP users powecolor HD3850pro

[Makaveli]

The only people this card would be worthwhile for would be the Core2duo Asrock mobo combo listed above or S939 a64 single and dualcore owners and maybe a P4 3.2 and above. Anything below that you will be seriously CPU bottlenecked and won't be getting the huge boost your hoping for.

I just made the switch from AGP to PCI E while still staying Socket 939 so I was able to reuse all my component didn't even have to reinstall windows when swapping boards.

I had a friend who didn't listen to me and stuck a X1950pro in a Athlon XP system and holy CPU bottleneck batman, that was probably the worse case i've seen so far.

But hey AGP was good to me for many years, so i'm not part of the I hope AGP dies. Just want to point out the bottleneck you will be getting slapping one of these cards into a older system.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Makaveli
The only people this card would be worthwhile for would be the Core2duo Asrock mobo combo listed above or S939 a64 single and dualcore owners and maybe a P4 3.2 and above. Anything below that you will be seriously CPU bottlenecked and won't be getting the huge boost your hoping for.

I just made the switch from AGP to PCI E while still staying Socket 939 so I was able to reuse all my component didn't even have to reinstall windows when swapping boards.

I had a friend who didn't listen to me and stuck a X1950pro in a Athlon XP system and holy CPU bottleneck batman, that was probably the worse case i've seen so far.

But hey AGP was good to me for many years, so i'm not part of the I hope AGP dies. Just want to point out the bottleneck you will be getting slapping one of these cards into a older system.

Thats alot of people!

 

[kmmatney]

There is still a market for PCI (non express) cards still, so AGP has a while yet. I still have 2 AGP systems at the house (one has both AGP and PCIE oslots, though).

 

[tofumonster]

Gosh the next thing you know there'll be an 8800 Ultra....in AGP.

but in all reality.

I guess AGP is convenient for everyone that hasn't jumped on the PCI-e bandwagon. But I think taking a 3850 and making it an AGP version is just odd. Getting a half decent PCI-e system (just mobo and graphics), for the same price, would be a better investment.

From here on out its just time to put the sucker together.

 

[Thump553]

I'm writing this on an AGP system, motherboard is probably three-four years old (and FAR to boot, I'm a cheap SOB). Mostly used for non-intensive graphic purposes-no CAD, no shooters, etc. I don't follow graphic cards all that carefully but I've never heard any simple technical explanation why PCI-E is so much better than AGP. And now they have PCI-E 2. Odds are when I finally jump on the bandwagon they will come out with another new system-planned obselence is a much of part of the personal computer industry today as it was to Detroit cars in the fifties and sixties.

Frankly, if I was as serious about games as to "need" a $300-$500 videocard, I'd put the money into a TV game console system instead.

To me the question is not why continue to make AGP cards (the market is there, obviously, and talk of holding back or fracturing the market are pure nonsense) but rather why did PCI-E and PCI-e 2 come about in the first place? Have we really gained from them worth the price it has caused in the massive number of system replacements it has caused, the landfill generated, etc?

 

[nemesismk2]

Wooo hoooo my athlon xp 3200 will make this AGP 3850 Pro fly along

 

[Skunkwourk]

Im still on an AGP rig

Plays Orange Box, Gears of War, C&C 3, and Company of Heroes just fine.

 

[blazer78]

Even better news, Sapphire just launched their 3850 AGP, with clock speeds higher than their PCIe version. Should be quite interesting.

 

[adlep]

There is nothing wrong with Athlon 64 388X2 running in the socket 939 board. This type of a setup would benefit a lot from the ATI's latest offering.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

when is this gonna be available?

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
when is this gonna be available?

On another Forum, someone posted an email from a Powercolor Sales Rep and they said their 3850 should be available at the end of January for about $200.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: blazer78
Even better news, Sapphire just launched their 3850 AGP, with clock speeds higher than their PCIe version. Should be quite interesting.

Hadn't heard about Sapphire making one as well, although I'm not suprised. Below is the doc you get when you go to the more info button on their front page ....

Link To Some Pics: http://www.fudzilla.com/index....=view&id=4979&Itemid=1

SAPPHIRE SUPPORTS AGP with HD 3850

Now latest graphics architecture fits legacy systems

SAPPHIRE Technology, industry leader in graphics solutions, has just announced support for legacy PC systems using the AGP graphics bus with a new product in its HD 3000 series which brings the latest graphics architectures and features to this industry standard platform.

The SAPPHIRE HD 3850 AGP is available with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, running at 846MHz (1.7GHz effective) and has a core clock speed of 700MHz. It is a standard ATX format card, compatible with the industry standard AGP interface and with its slim fan assisted cooler the card occupies only a single expansion slot in the PC.

The SAPPHIRE HD 3850 AGP shares the 320 stream processors and 512-bit internal ring bus memory controller of the latest PCI-Express models together with multiple rendering units and a programmable tessellation unit. This new product?s unified shader architecture with support for Shader Model 4.0 and the forthcoming DirectX 10.1 combine to deliver the most outstanding graphics performance ever available to AGP users.

Now manufactured in a new 55nm process technology, the GPU in the HD 3000 series delivers high performance with lower power consumption than previous generations. A new feature known as ATI PowerPlay actively reduces power consumption depending on loading. On the AGP model, additional power is required via the 8-pin PCI-Express connector fitted, which can be provided from a standard power supply with an adapter cable (supplied).

The SAPPHIRE HD 3850 AGP incorporates the latest ATI Avivo? HD Technology for enhanced Video display and features a built in UVD (Unified Video decoder) for the hardware accelerated decoding of Blu-ray? and HD DVD content for both VC-1 and H.264 codecs, considerably reducing CPU loading. Two independent display output controllers provide support for two dual link DVI displays as well as TV-out and HD TV options. HDCP is supported.

SAPPHIRE HD 3000 series graphics cards are Microsoft Windows Vista? Premium certified and supported by the ATI Catalyst® suite of software, ensuring customers have ongoing access to software updates for performance, stability and added features.

Specifications: SAPPHIRE HD 3850 AGP

Model SAPPHIRE HD3850 AGP
Graphics Processor ATI Radeon HD 3850
Form Factor ATX 231.19 x 111.99 mm
Bus Interface AGP 4X/8X
Memory GDDR3 512MB /256-bit interface
Clock Speed 702MHz core / 846MHz memory
Cooling System Single Slot Active Fan Cooler
Bracket Full Height
Display Support DL DVI-I /TVO / DL DVI-I
HDTV(via cable)
HDCP Yes
External Power PCIe Graphic External Power(2x4Pin)
Regulatory Standards CE; FCC; UL

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: blazer78
Even better news, Sapphire just launched their 3850 AGP, with clock speeds higher than their PCIe version. Should be quite interesting.

Even better than that, Powercolor announced one at 720/900!!

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: blazer78
Even better news, Sapphire just launched their 3850 AGP, with clock speeds higher than their PCIe version. Should be quite interesting.

Even better than that, Powercolor announced one at 720/900!!

Not surprised. The other Powercolor HD 3850 Model previously discussed in this thread has one sweet cooling solution .....

http://img227.imageshack.us/im...owercolorhd3850ys6.jpg

 

[Inspector Jihad]

huzzah

 

[Schadenfroh]

Sweet!

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: ManWithNoName

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: blazer78
Even better news, Sapphire just launched their 3850 AGP, with clock speeds higher than their PCIe version. Should be quite interesting.

Even better than that, Powercolor announced one at 720/900!!

Not surprised. The other Powercolor HD 3850 Model previously discussed in this thread has one sweet cooling solution .....

http://img227.imageshack.us/im...owercolorhd3850ys6.jpg

Very Nice!! They actually considered ramsinks for this design. Normally, with a hsf of this style, the memory is left bare, which annoys me. This is very nice, however.

 

[Paratus]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: Paratus
An AGP HD 3850?

Looks like my P4 3.2 will be sticking around a bit longer.

BOTTLENECK FOUND!!!!!

yes it IS a bottleneck ... but 3850 should be able to perform better in the same system over x1950 series -especially with AA/AF cranked up ... and his 3.2 P4 can also be OC'd

better than not upgrading

I knew someone around here would understand.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
What's wrong with people having a s939 mobo, a opteron 180 or whatever dualcore CPU, oc-ed past 2.5ghz, wanting some decent GPU horsepower to tide them over for a little while longer ? I could easily see ppl use such a rig for rts/rpg like games, and it will even play plenty of shooters too. When they go for penryn or phenom they could pass that rig down, and it could still play plenty of games, and be used by kids, or used for playing against friends.

Absolutely nothing. Let me get a show of digital hands here. How many of you think that in the following system, a 3850AGP would offer, if not optimum, a decent improvement?

P4 2.8
1GB DDR
ASUS P4P800
GeForce 6600 128MB

:thumbsup:



im going to replace my agp x1650pro with a 3850.

 

[dustforged]

Originally posted by: Makaveli
The only people this card would be worthwhile for would be the Core2duo Asrock mobo combo listed above or S939 a64 single and dualcore owners and maybe a P4 3.2 and above. Anything below that you will be seriously CPU bottlenecked and won't be getting the huge boost your hoping for.

I just made the switch from AGP to PCI E while still staying Socket 939 so I was able to reuse all my component didn't even have to reinstall windows when swapping boards.

I had a friend who didn't listen to me and stuck a X1950pro in a Athlon XP system and holy CPU bottleneck batman, that was probably the worse case i've seen so far.

But hey AGP was good to me for many years, so i'm not part of the I hope AGP dies. Just want to point out the bottleneck you will be getting slapping one of these cards into a older system.

So I guess I should just upgrade to pci-e w/ new cpu since I'm currently running Athlon64 3400+ (2.2 GHz, 754 pin).

I guess I'm surprised because most of what I've been hearing recently is that newer games are less cpu intensive and more gpu intensive, but I don't follow the scuddlebud very closely.

I know this is kind of a change in topic and probably a newb question, but is there anyway to tell while your playing a game if the cpu is bottlenecking?

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: Paratus

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: Paratus
An AGP HD 3850?

Looks like my P4 3.2 will be sticking around a bit longer.

BOTTLENECK FOUND!!!!!

yes it IS a bottleneck ... but 3850 should be able to perform better in the same system over x1950 series -especially with AA/AF cranked up ... and his 3.2 P4 can also be OC'd

better than not upgrading

I knew someone around here would understand.

If we want to get technical, then it isn't a bottleneck at all. People are not using the word correctly. If the CPU pushes more than than the GPU can handle, this would be a bottleneck. If the CPU cannot feed enough power to the GPU, then this is NOT a bottleneck, it simply lacks the power.

Think of it as a hose... When you turn the water pressure on high, the hose is impeding the progress... When you turn the water pressure down, the hose is no longer 'bottle' necking the performance. There is just a lack of pressure and no real bottleneck occours in that situation.

Even so, remember this, that a CPU that is unable to feed a graphics card 100% isn't a problem. An upgrade doesn't have to bottleneck the GPU, it simply must offer a performance increase over your current setup.

Anyway, I am in agreement with Paratus's and Apop's train of thought.

 

[Keysplayr]

I wonder if Nvidia will follow suit and get a 8800GS AGP out there.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: dustforged

Originally posted by: Makaveli
The only people this card would be worthwhile for would be the Core2duo Asrock mobo combo listed above or S939 a64 single and dualcore owners and maybe a P4 3.2 and above. Anything below that you will be seriously CPU bottlenecked and won't be getting the huge boost your hoping for.

I just made the switch from AGP to PCI E while still staying Socket 939 so I was able to reuse all my component didn't even have to reinstall windows when swapping boards.

I had a friend who didn't listen to me and stuck a X1950pro in a Athlon XP system and holy CPU bottleneck batman, that was probably the worse case i've seen so far.

But hey AGP was good to me for many years, so i'm not part of the I hope AGP dies. Just want to point out the bottleneck you will be getting slapping one of these cards into a older system.

So I guess I should just upgrade to pci-e w/ new cpu since I'm currently running Athlon64 3400+ (2.2 GHz, 754 pin).

I guess I'm surprised because most of what I've been hearing recently is that newer games are less cpu intensive and more gpu intensive, but I don't follow the scuddlebud very closely.

I know this is kind of a change in topic and probably a newb question, but is there anyway to tell while your playing a game if the cpu is bottlenecking?

Underclock or overclock the CPU, and see how your benchmarks change.

Or, keep reducing your resolution until you stop getting a noticeable gain in performance.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
I wonder if Nvidia will follow suit and get a 8800GS AGP out there.

i'm not so sure since they didn't bring the 8600gt/gts to agp either.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
I wonder if Nvidia will follow suit and get a 8800GS AGP out there.

Yes, but it will probably take them a while to bring their card to the party. The X1950 Pro AGP was out for quite a while it seemed before the 7900GS/7950GT cards appeared.