Looking for an AGP card

[nisten]

Hey guys, I've been researching different cards for the past week for my older AGP rig, and I need to make a decision quickly for Christmas

My system stats:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Asus K8VSE Deluxe
1 gig PC3200 DDR-SDRAM
Sapphire x800xt p.e. 256mb GDDR3
500 watt psu

I'm a big gamer, and I've had luck with my x800xt p.e. for a good while but the fan died. Instead of replacing it I want to buy a new card... I'm looking to spend preferably below $200. So far I've narrowed it down to a x1950GT, but would a 2xxx series card be better? Am I completely off here? Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[nisten]

Here's the card I've been considering, anyone have any experience with it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102093

 

[lghost]

That should be a good card, keep an eye on temps though, may want an aftermarket cooler. Not going to get any faster on AGP unless the rumored 3850 AGP shows up but there is no solid info on that yet that I have seen.

 

[nisten]

Is a 512mb X1950 Pro a better option? Will 512mb honestly make a difference?

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: nisten
Is a 512mb X1950 Pro a better option? Will 512mb honestly make a difference?

probably not much difference in performance between the 256mb and 512mb models...maybe at higher resolutions there is.

I have the 512MB Sapphire x1950Pro agp in one of my systems and it's a bloody good video card.

 

[taltamir]

i hear there is gonna be an AGP 3850 real soon...

 

[Rottie]

Originally posted by: nisten
Is a 512mb X1950 Pro a better option? Will 512mb honestly make a difference?

I believe Pro is faster than GT on some games I think you should get Pro.

 

[drewfus]

gotta love the stuck with agp slot shuffle. i knew a guy that owns a lan gaming center in georgia. he built his pcs on the cheap a few years ago (good systems, but he bought closeout motherboards and left himself no path for upgrades later), and now he is stuck trying to find souped up agp cards to play new games. i wish he had invested more in the motherboards at first, he wouldnt be so hosed now.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: Rottie

Originally posted by: nisten
Is a 512mb X1950 Pro a better option? Will 512mb honestly make a difference?

I believe Pro is faster than GT on some games I think you should get Pro.

The x1950Pro AGP is the fastest (and LAST fastest) AGP card now. There will be no faster AGP card, ever, period. get it.

 

[Laminator]

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: Rottie

Originally posted by: nisten
Is a 512mb X1950 Pro a better option? Will 512mb honestly make a difference?

I believe Pro is faster than GT on some games I think you should get Pro.

The x1950Pro AGP is the fastest (and LAST fastest) AGP card now. There will be no faster AGP card, ever, period. get it.

Not true; the X1950 XT 512MB AGP is the fastest AGP card ever made but it's a little hard to find (if it's even still available). In any case, the X1950 PRO AGP is not a bad choice.

Are there any benchmarks comparing the HD 2600 XT with the X1950 PRO?

 

[Rottie]

HD2600XT vs X1950 Pro

 

[nisten]

Thanks guys. I went for the X1950 Pro. I'm still riding on older parts so I wouldn't even want the X1950 XT if I could find it -- it would be a waste of money and be bottlenecked by everything else.

I do have a question though: I have a 500 watt psu with 22 amps on the 12v rail, do you think I'll be fine running this card? Visiontek recommends 450 watts and online wattage calculators say I should have a minimum of 345 watts to run the card with my current rig. What do you think?

 

[Stumps]

you should be fine with that psu.