How well would this video card do?

[easonator]

I am thinking about getting a HD3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP video card. My specs are:

CPU - Athlon XP 3000+
RAM - 1GB DDR SDRAM PC2700 (soon to be 2GB)
mobo - ASUS A7V8X-LA

I want to play games like age of empires 3, empire earth 2, rise of nations: rise of legends, warhammer 40k, guild wars, civilization 4, tribes vengeance, and joint operations: typhoon rising on high to max settings. How will this turn out since I have a fairly weak cpu? In order to upgrade my cpu, I would have to buy a new mobo and new ram. I am on a budget plan right now so I am avoiding that route.

 

[BurnItDwn]

That's pretty much the best AGP card you can get.

Ask yourself one question,
How long until you will be replacing the CPU/Mobo?
You may be better off saving the money until you can afford a new mobo, CPU, ram, and video card and then go with PCI Express.

$60 will get you an AMD X2 4600, You can find cheap AM2+/AM2 motherboards for under $50 at newegg (capable of later upgrading to a Phenom if you want) It would only cost about $30 for 2GB of DDR2, maybe less if you want to deal with rebates.
Then, you can get a 3870 for less than the cost of the AGP 3850, or you can go with an 8800GT for like $120 or $130.


Once you replace the CPU/Mobo, you'll probably no longer have the AGP option, so you won't be able to use your new AGP card on the new board.

If you think you can stretch your current mobo for a few more years, then it might be worth getting the new board, Otherwise it may not be a good decision.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: easonator
I am thinking about getting a HD3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP video card. My specs are:

CPU - Athlon XP 3000+
RAM - 1GB DDR SDRAM PC2700 (soon to be 2GB)
mobo - ASUS A7V8X-LA

I want to play games like age of empires 3, empire earth 2, rise of nations: rise of legends, warhammer 40k, guild wars, civilization 4, tribes vengeance, and joint operations: typhoon rising on high to max settings. How will this turn out since I have a fairly weak cpu? In order to upgrade my cpu, I would have to buy a new mobo and new ram. I am on a budget plan right now so I am avoiding that route.

This review will give you an insight into how the Athlon XP performs with modern software Athlon XP performance with x1950 Pro The review has such software as World in Conflict, Supreme Commander and some older games like Prey, Doom 3 etc. Going by that review the XP 3000 should be able to provide the HD 3850 with enough juice to deliver some good performances especially at higher quality settings.

It's not mentioned what video card you currently own?

 

[lifeblood]

I upgraded to an ATI 3650 and it runs Guild Wars and Civ 4 at max quality. Given your limited CPU you may want to stick with that in order to save money. I would definitely not spend more than $100 for an AGP video card. Of course, with the new 4850 being just released you may soon be able to get a 3850 for under $100.

 

[easonator]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
That's pretty much the best AGP card you can get.

Ask yourself one question,
How long until you will be replacing the CPU/Mobo?
You may be better off saving the money until you can afford a new mobo, CPU, ram, and video card and then go with PCI Express.

$60 will get you an AMD X2 4600, You can find cheap AM2+/AM2 motherboards for under $50 at newegg (capable of later upgrading to a Phenom if you want) It would only cost about $30 for 2GB of DDR2, maybe less if you want to deal with rebates.
Then, you can get a 3870 for less than the cost of the AGP 3850, or you can go with an 8800GT for like $120 or $130.


Once you replace the CPU/Mobo, you'll probably no longer have the AGP option, so you won't be able to use your new AGP card on the new board.

If you think you can stretch your current mobo for a few more years, then it might be worth getting the new board, Otherwise it may not be a good decision.

I'll think about it. I'll do a little more research and I'll get back to ya.

 

[easonator]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2

Originally posted by: easonator
I am thinking about getting a HD3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP video card. My specs are:

CPU - Athlon XP 3000+
RAM - 1GB DDR SDRAM PC2700 (soon to be 2GB)
mobo - ASUS A7V8X-LA

I want to play games like age of empires 3, empire earth 2, rise of nations: rise of legends, warhammer 40k, guild wars, civilization 4, tribes vengeance, and joint operations: typhoon rising on high to max settings. How will this turn out since I have a fairly weak cpu? In order to upgrade my cpu, I would have to buy a new mobo and new ram. I am on a budget plan right now so I am avoiding that route.

This review will give you an insight into how the Athlon XP performs with modern software Athlon XP performance with x1950 Pro The review has such software as World in Conflict, Supreme Commander and some older games like Prey, Doom 3 etc. Going by that review the XP 3000 should be able to provide the HD 3850 with enough juice to deliver some good performances especially at higher quality settings.

It's not mentioned what video card you currently own?

Thanks for the link. It gave me second thoughts now.

I have a rusty 5200 right now. Well it was a top notch card when I got this pc! That was about 5 years ago??

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: easonator
I am thinking about getting a HD3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP video card. My specs are:

CPU - Athlon XP 3000+
RAM - 1GB DDR SDRAM PC2700 (soon to be 2GB)
mobo - ASUS A7V8X-LA

I want to play games like age of empires 3, empire earth 2, rise of nations: rise of legends, warhammer 40k, guild wars, civilization 4, tribes vengeance, and joint operations: typhoon rising on high to max settings. How will this turn out since I have a fairly weak cpu? In order to upgrade my cpu, I would have to buy a new mobo and new ram. I am on a budget plan right now so I am avoiding that route.

Ok, you're looking at two options here.

Option 1:
3850 AGP $140 (after MIR)
1GB DDR $35

Total = $175

With this you have a system that will play 1 year old games acceptably but almost zero potential for further upgrades. Today's games will probably be somewhat sluggish and you can forget about anything new (the 3850 was midrange when released and just doesn't have the processing power of today's other cards). Also, how strong is your powersupply? It may not be enough to run the 3850 which means more expense for you.

Option 2:
X2 4800+ $60
Foxconn 780G motherboard $73 AR
OCZ 2x1GB DDR2-800 $25 AR
EVGA 8800GS + Antec 500W combo for $117 AR

Total = $275

With this option you have a much much faster system that can be upgraded if you like to a Phenom quadcore processor later and can also have a much stronger video card added later. You have a solid powersupply that you won't have to worry about crapping out. The 8800GS is about equal to the Radeon 3870 so it's stronger than the 3850 you're considering. All this for about $100 more than the upgrades you're thinking about, which you could possibly make up by selling your old parts.

It should be obvious at this point which option I would recommend.

 

[easonator]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: easonator
I am thinking about getting a HD3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP video card. My specs are:

CPU - Athlon XP 3000+
RAM - 1GB DDR SDRAM PC2700 (soon to be 2GB)
mobo - ASUS A7V8X-LA

I want to play games like age of empires 3, empire earth 2, rise of nations: rise of legends, warhammer 40k, guild wars, civilization 4, tribes vengeance, and joint operations: typhoon rising on high to max settings. How will this turn out since I have a fairly weak cpu? In order to upgrade my cpu, I would have to buy a new mobo and new ram. I am on a budget plan right now so I am avoiding that route.

Ok, you're looking at two options here.

Option 1:
3850 AGP $140 (after MIR)
1GB DDR $35

Total = $175

With this you have a system that will play 1 year old games acceptably but almost zero potential for further upgrades. Today's games will probably be somewhat sluggish and you can forget about anything new (the 3850 was midrange when released and just doesn't have the processing power of today's other cards). Also, how strong is your powersupply? It may not be enough to run the 3850 which means more expense for you.

Option 2:
X2 4800+ $60
Foxconn 780G motherboard $73 AR
OCZ 2x1GB DDR2-800 $25 AR
EVGA 8800GS + Antec 500W combo for $117 AR

Total = $275

With this option you have a much much faster system that can be upgraded if you like to a Phenom quadcore processor later and can also have a much stronger video card added later. You have a solid powersupply that you won't have to worry about crapping out. The 8800GS is about equal to the Radeon 3870 so it's stronger than the 3850 you're considering. All this for about $100 more than the upgrades you're thinking about, which you could possibly make up by selling your old parts.

It should be obvious at this point which option I would recommend.

Yeah, option 2 is the way to go, but I don't know know if I want to go that route because this is my dad's pc. I'm living with my parents for 1 year until I ship out to the navy. The point I'm trying to get across is that I don't want to build a complete gaming rig with my dad's computer and never touch it again after I build my own in the future. I'm not really planning to buy the newer games out right now. I just wanna play some of my older games like the ones listed above. I mainly just play rts games on the pc. I don't really play the shooters because they are too demanding on your hardware these days and technology is moving way too fast for me to keep up. So that's what my ps3 is for.

For your question about what type of psu I have, I have no idea. I tried checking the main website and the don't tell ya. I haven't tried opening the pc up yet because I have a broken collarbone at the moment.

 

[Denithor]

Ok, with those circumstances in mind, the recommendation changes a bit.

For light gaming you could probably get by with either a 2600XT or a 3650 (although, drivers may be an issue, try the Omega drivers if you get this one). These sell for around $100 so you could save some bucks versus the 3850 (albeit with lower gaming performance).

Buy the card first and check your game performance before buying the RAM, you may not need it for those older games.

 

[rogue1979]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Ok, with those circumstances in mind, the recommendation changes a bit.

For light gaming you could probably get by with either a 2600XT or a 3650 (although, drivers may be an issue, try the Omega drivers if you get this one). These sell for around $100 so you could save some bucks versus the 3850 (albeit with lower gaming performance).

Buy the card first and check your game performance before buying the RAM, you may not need it for those older games.

How are drivers going to be an issue for the 2600XT or 3650 when they use the same as the 3850?

I have a 2600XT running Xtreme-G 8.5. I have fired up ancient games like Janes WW2, Mechwarrior4, UT 2003, Halo and others, it plays them all perfectly. I do not use the bloated CCC, Ray Adams ATI tray tools works great.