Help with AGP4x upgrade

[ComputerRavenFreak]

Hi there,

Hoping for some help. My old PC has a AGP4x slot (dont know voltage) and I was told today none of the AGP 8x cards will work with it. System Specs (hmmm are pretty sad but can run Chaos Theory etc!) 512MB SD!! Ram, Athlon Xp2000+ :laugh:

My current card is a 9200SE PCI (brought for someone else but using it cause my old GTS 32MB AGP fried :|), was looking at spending up to A$300 which would get me a 128MB 6600GT, 9800 XT etc. Would I notice a substantial difference?? :roll: I mainly still play Joint Ops/Raven online. Sometimes Joint Ops will crash the graphics card :shocked:

Thanks for your help

 

[Jeff7181]

For $300 you should get a 6800GT like this one. which is MUCH better than a 6600GT or 9800XT.

 

[happy medium]

Go buy a 9800 pro for $115.00 or at best a 6600gt for $150.00. I dont think a 6800 gt can benifit from a Xp 2000+. Don't waste your money.

 

[kmmatney]

You would notice a substantial difference going to a 9800 Pro or 6600GT when you go to resolutions of 1024 x 768, or higher. Even if you have a 4x AGP slots, all modern 8x AGP cards should work fine. At least they have on my systems.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

AGP 4x and 8x are backwards compatable. Meaning 8x cards will work in 4x slots. But they won't work in 2x slots, which won't be a problem for you. Whoever told you they wouldn't work should be shot for being an idiot. You get a 5-10% performance hit at the worst for doing it.

Go out and buy yourself a 6600GT, and then get a better processor and mobo, I'd suggest getting a Socket 754 or 939 system, and that'll stick you right around $300 and be a much better upgrade than a $300 videocard for that dinky processor.

 

[ComputerRavenFreak]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey
Go out and buy yourself a 6600GT, and then get a better processor and mobo, I'd suggest getting a Socket 754 or 939 system, and that'll stick you right around $300 and be a much better upgrade than a $300 videocard for that dinky processor.

Thanx for the info people.

forgot to mention I live in Australia and the prices here a bit steeper! Would be good if there were companies that shipped internationally but then could have warranty probs :| I'm waiting for FX systems to come down over here till I upgrade the box, but I reckon I can get a bit of gaming enjoyment with this old clunker with a video upgrade (considering they do most of the work with gaming). Best Price over here for new 128MB 6600GT (Sparkle) is $259, or around $300 for Gigabyte/Gainward. 9800 Pro can get 1 for about $240. Is the 6600GT card much better than the 9800 Pro?