New Videocard... Reasonable?

[technogeeky]

Hey there folks:

I currently have a custom watercooled 2.4GHz P4 running at ~ 2.6GHz. I used to overclock it to 3.4 GHz but my northbridge heatsink got broken off (permenantly) during a move so I'm using a crappy stick-on replacment.

I kind of want a new video card so I can play games at my monitor's native res (1280x1204) with all the settings jacked up... but I am hesitant because of my computers old componentry.

It's AGP only, so should I really spend $200 to buy a new AGP video card only to have to throw it away whenever I get around to having/spending the money to upgrade (to something that presumably uses PCI-x)

Thanks for the advice in advance.

 

[Saint Nick]

you say old... how old? you have agp 8x? if so get an ati 800xl or a 6800gt or better.... enjoy

edit: and even if its 4x, an 8x card will run in the slot, it'll just run half the speed.. which i'm sure you don't if so get a new mobo and video card, call it a day.

 

[technogeeky]

I think it's AGP 4x.

Right now I have a Radeon 9700. So anything on the market would be at least a 2x upgrade.

My *laptop* video card is marginally less powerful than my PC.

 

[Saint Nick]

well if its 4x, i say get a new mobo and a new video card.... spend the extra 80 bucks, big whoop you'll be glad you did. and for 200 bucks you can get a 6600GT i think for 400 you could get a brand new/like new 6800GT and a nice mobo think about it

otherwise if you want to stick with 4x, get a GeForce 4 Ti4800 if you can find one, 4600 will suffice too

 

[aolj]

Wow, you call your pc old?

I'm still running a P3 600 with Geforce 1 at 2xAGP.

 

[Ilmater]

I can't believe I'm the first person to say this...

WRONG FORUM!!!!

 

[technogeeky]

More people read this forum.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: technogeeky
Hey there folks:

I currently have a custom watercooled 2.4GHz P4 running at ~ 2.6GHz. I used to overclock it to 3.4 GHz but my northbridge heatsink got broken off (permenantly) during a move so I'm using a crappy stick-on replacment.

I kind of want a new video card so I can play games at my monitor's native res (1280x1204) with all the settings jacked up... but I am hesitant because of my computers old componentry.

It's AGP only, so should I really spend $200 to buy a new AGP video card only to have to throw it away whenever I get around to having/spending the money to upgrade (to something that presumably uses PCI-x)

Thanks for the advice in advance.

The question is how old are you, and do you still live off your parents money? Because if you are too young to support yourself and pay for the computer parts, then NO (help your parents out instead). Otherwise, don't ask us, it is your money, do what you like.

 

[technogeeky]

Interesting response...

Yes, I life off my own money. But I don't have a lot of it.

 

[LandRover]

You could get a 6600 GT for around $135 shipped. Just be sure you get a GT version. Or a vanilla 6800 would be a good choice as well.

 

[Sphexi]

I upgraded to a new AGP card, I'm running a 2.8ghz P4 on an Abit board, it's about 2 years old (I think) now, got myself a nice new X800XT