Looking for a graphics replacement

[b4u]

Hi,

I currently have the following system:

Intel P4 2.4c
ATI 9600 Pro 128Mb AGP
1Gb RAM

I'm playing Call Of Duty 2 and Oblivion, and although the games are playable, I do believe I would get a serious performance increase changing the graphic card.

So, looking around the hardware, what would you think it would be a good choice for an AGP card? That can be difficult, as today cards are starting to be released on PCIe only ...

Changing the graphic card would allow me to retain all my hardware for a couple of years without upgrading (or at least I hope so).

Thank you

 

[akshayt]

How can you play with that comp and get playable frame rates?
Todays games will need the entire thing to be changed?

But if you think that you are still getting playable FPS, get a 6800GT/GS/ULTRA and stick with it for a yr or so.
In the mean time try to oc the cpu to 3.0+ speeds if it can.

 

[hardwareking]

@akshayt-u can get playable framerate in any game.U will just need to drop the resolution and turn off IQ.
@b4u-Tell us ur budget for a card.then maybe we can suggest something.And please consider upgrading ur cpu and motherboard as well.

 

[b4u]

Well, for playable frames I target 800x600 resolution, and 1024 if I can, without aa (both games I told I play on 800x600).

As for money, I was thinking on a mid-range, like 150-200$. I bought my 9600 pro for that price at the time, so I was thinking about doing the same thing now.

Will I really gain any serious performance that justifies o/c to 3.0? I don't believe it's worth doing o/c if I'm to gain 5fps ...

Thanks

 

[hardwareking]

$200 is enough for a decent card.
As for a replacement i would suggest a radeon x1800 gto.As it performs better in oblivion than similarly priced 7600 gts.
Might i suggest this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161012
At $220 it isn't bad,and he extra amount is for the better cooling.Better cooling=better OCing=better performance.
If u want to play good at stock.Get a sapphire radeon x1800 gto.Around $180.U'll be able to play at 1024x768 with HDR and some IQ with either of those cards.but ur cpu will be a bottleneck at those resolutions even with though the card is only a gto.

 

[LW07]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102017
Get this X850Pro, since this is the best you can get for your budget.

That X1800GTO he recommended was PCI-express, and you have AGP.
The X850Pro is comparable to a 6800GT.

 

[Keysplayr]

This card is WELL within your budget and fits your PC's "horsepower".

LINK

Light years faster than the 9600 you currently have, and wont break the bank.

 

[hardwareking]

sorry,my bad.I didn't see the agp part.
Well here are a list of x1600 pro's for agp.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...9+1067918889&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48
And 6800 xt's.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...9+1067918889&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48
The 7800 gs would be the best card but,i falls towards the $300 mark.
And in my opinion the best card for the price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102570
The one the only x850 xt-$230.the 4 extra pipes over the x850 pro will give a decent performance boost.

 

[b4u]

Thanks for the help.

Between these cards:
SAPPHIRE 100131 Radeon X800GTO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - OEM ($141)
SAPPHIRE 100148 Radeon X1600PRO 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - OEM ($109)

What would give the best performance? I mean, the X1600 should be a more recent gpu, still the 256-bit GDDR3 would give X800GTO some speedy memory processing.

If I could ease myself behind the $200 tag it would be great ... and those ones ($141 and $109) look nice but I haven't limited my view to those 2 ... just analysing them for now.

Am I to expect what? 30% increase in performance over my 9600 Pro 128Mb?

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: b4u
Thanks for the help.

Between these cards:
SAPPHIRE 100131 Radeon X800GTO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - OEM ($141)
SAPPHIRE 100148 Radeon X1600PRO 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - OEM ($109)

What would give the best performance? I mean, the X1600 should be a more recent gpu, still the 256-bit GDDR3 would give X800GTO some speedy memory processing.

If I could ease myself behind the $200 tag it would be great ... and those ones ($141 and $109) look nice but I haven't limited my view to those 2 ... just analysing them for now.

Am I to expect what? 30% increase in performance over my 9600 Pro 128Mb?

Actually I think the X800GTO is a faster card, since the X1600Pro is a little better than a 6600GT. There's also the chance of the X800GTO unlocking to XT [PE] speeds.