old school agp config - video card upgrade

[wayne00]

hi all!
I'm looking for some advice.. currently i run quite old machine, now i started thinking about upgrading my gfx card to some newer and faster one. i have read about hundred tests, comparison etc. but still can't get it clear. please, give me some suggestions, which card will be best bang for bucks? i do not want to spend fortune for newest and fastest agp card available, 'cause i'm not gaming fan, just occasionally now i'm considering ati 9800 (pro or xt), geforce 6600 (or gt or something) or ati x9150. will it give me noticeably performance boost? i'm not sure about my poor cpu setup for gaming - will it be enough for modern cards, or it will choke their performance? as you see, i'm not declared fan of nvidia or ati, and i'm talking about exact price, 'cause they can differ a lot between countries - anyway i plan to buy used card.

thank you in advance!

my specs are:
i845 mobo with p4 2.40ghz (northwood)
geforce 4 ti4400
1gb of memory
good psu unit - antec, i'm sure of it.
and some other stuff that isn't probably important

 

[Xellos2099]

If you get a good power supply, get a x1950xt and you will see performance like at least 5-6 time of that of geforce 4 ti

 

[Dazed and Confused]

With that CPU he'll see CPU limitation setting in arround a 6600GT.

I'd not recommend going past a 7600gs if I was u. Anything past that and you'll be well outside the capabilites of that CPU. I'd avoid the 9800XT's and 6600GT's left laying arround as they are getting pretty old physically and technologically.

The 7600GS is on par with a 6800GT and the AGP varriant's can be found brand new for less than $100.

NIB Silent/fanless Gigabyte 7600GS AGP $95 shipped

 

[wayne00]

big thanks for help!
i've checked cpu support for my board, it seems i can use max. celeron 2.8 or p4 2.8 and 3.06, all with fsb 533mhz. so, does these cpus make any important difference? i don't plan to upgrade now, 'cause i'm quite happy with my current setup, but maybe some day?
i did some small research to look for ati's equivalent of suggested cards, it seems that radeon x800 and x1650 should fit. am i right with them? i'm asking so much, because i will try to sort by silent cooling (or even passive if possible to attach to it).

the last question.. please, don't kick me : are there any specific incompabilities that i should be aware of? i mean something like agp x1/x2 <=> agp x4/x8 or etc. i did not find anything about it, but maybe i'm missing something important?
(my current card is capable of x4 and x8 modes anyway)

thanks again for your help guys!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The X1650 isn't much better than a 6600GT which is only 5% - 30% better than a 9800XT. If you go with an X800XL or so you'll probably barely be CPU limited which if you ever do upgrade your CPU that would work out perfectly. Problem with the X800 series though, they are physically old and I don't think any place carris the brand new ones anymore, that means you'll have to settle with one that has 1 or more years of use on it : / A 7600GT is faster than an X800XL and is almost as fast as an X850XT overall. So if you don't mind being GPU limited now then get a 7600GT and you can unleash it down the road with a better CPU

Oh, as far as the incompatibility risk, most of the time you won't know theres an incompatability untill you find it But please share with the rest of the world when u r unlucky enough to find one

 

[j0j081]

keep in mind Dx10 agp cards will be out soon.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Um 6800GT is 10~20% faster than a 7600GS unless im wrong.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

keep in mind Dx10 agp cards will be out soon.

Drop it with the overpriced, underpowered DX10 cards that perform pathetically in DX10 and DX9 games. For the money there are much much muchmuchmuch faster DX9 cards.

Um 6800GT is 10~20% faster than a 7600GS unless im wrong.

More like 5% and only at the cost of almost twice the power consumption and heat production, how could anyone pass that up ? And for the same price too.

Oh, I noticed you actually own one so I'm assuming you're biased towards them

Maybe you should look at this before you reccomend the older, hotter and more power hungry 6800GT over the newer, cooler running and more power consious 7600GS

7600GS 624.7 FPS overall, 6800GT 662.9 FPS overall a difference of 5.5%

And yes, you would be wrong

 

[Munky]

For under $130, here are some decent AGP cards to consider in order of performance: x1950gt, 7600gt, 7600gs. Anything faster would be a waste of money with an old cpu.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

dont bother with any upgrade to your system. either keep it as is or get a complete new C2D/c2Q system with a DX10 card and at least 2gb of ram

 

[wittangamo]

I just built a new system and have a four-month-old Sapphire X1950GT 256 AGP I no longer need. I was going to eBay it, but if someone wants to make me a semi-reasonable offer ...

wayne00, you have a p.m.

P.S., that 2.4 Northwood should hit 3 ghz or better without breaking a sweat. Why replace the cpu when you can overclock? There are plenty of good how-to guides around to teach you how to coax more performance out of your existing gear.

 

[wayne00]

Originally posted by: wittangamo

I just built a new system and have a four-month-old Sapphire X1950GT 256 AGP I no longer need. I was going to eBay it, but if someone wants to make me a semi-reasonable offer ...
wayne00, you have a p.m.

well, thanks for your offer, but i'm afraid of shipping costs to be greater than value of your card, unless you live in Czech Republic So, i have to resign, wishing you good bids for your card

P.S., that 2.4 Northwood should hit 3 ghz or better without breaking a sweat. Why replace the cpu when you can overclock? There are plenty of good how-to guides around to teach you how to coax more performance out of your existing gear.

well, my lack of knowledge about video cards doesn't need to be equal with lack of that regarding overclocking ;-)
this cpu is originally 1.6 running at 50% higher fsb. i tested it after buying some years ago and it can go to over 2.7 (about 170mhz fsb) but with large heatsink, damn loud fan and much higher voltage. now it runs with passive cooling, no fan at all, so i do not really want more cpu speed now.

 

[wayne00]

Thanks for your help guys! i got some great advices from you, so i can go for shopping now. Thanks again!