Please Recommend AGP Card

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johnsonbrewer

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Dec 1, 2007
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Greetings,

I have almost finished upgrading my P4 system and would like to finally upgrade the video end of things. My mobo lists the AGP 3.0 slot as 4x / 8x capable, specifying 1.5V card slot only. From what I gather it is really a "Universal 1.5V AGP 3.0 Card" per the www.playtool.com website. It doesn't list .8V to the slot in the mobo booklet, however to run 8x the mobo has to run the card at .8V and lists the 1.5V "slot" to avoid someone putting in a 3.3V card. Correct so far?

I would like recommendations for cards with at least DirectX 9 in low, mid, and high-ranges for performance and $$$. I don't game much at the moment, but some 3-D design programs and video editing from time to time.

More about my system : It is an HP a462x , P4 @ 3GHz, 2 Gig ram in dual channel, putting in an OS handling Raptor soon for XP and other programs. One interesting note, I determined the mobo was an ASUS model, closely related to the P4G800-V so I was able to flash the latest BIOS for that board and it now in fact boots as the P4G800-V. This opened up several more BIOS option menus, one of which allows me to open up the AGP aperture to 256mb.

I realize AGP is on the way out but I want to do this upgrade anyway and hand-off the computer to family while I am acquiring parts for a new, up-to-date system. Thanks!!
 
S

Steve

Lifer
May 2, 2004
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Budget range?

AGP 8x boards are required to support AGP 8x cards (0.8v), 4x (1.5v), and the 4x (1.5v) part of Universal (4x/2x, 1.5v/ 3.3v). So as long as you don't plug in a strictly AGP 2x card you won't fry anything.

I should think a Radeon X1650 series or GeForce 6600/6800 series would make you a happy camper.
 
J

johnsonbrewer

Member
Dec 1, 2007
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I just spied the Radeon X 1650 on newegg ( on sale ) and am currently reading reviews. Looks good so far. I will check out the 6600/6800's also. Thanks!
 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
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Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
I just spied the Radeon X 1650 on newegg ( on sale ) and am currently reading reviews. Looks good so far. I will check out the 6600/6800's also. Thanks!
Click to expand...

What's your budget and power supply model and make?

 
J

johnsonbrewer

Member
Dec 1, 2007
126
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Originally posted by: ManWithNoName
Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
I just spied the Radeon X 1650 on newegg ( on sale ) and am currently reading reviews. Looks good so far. I will check out the 6600/6800's also. Thanks!
Click to expand...

What's your budget and power supply model and make?
Click to expand...

Budget is $125 or less. I'd like to see / compare low-mid range to mid range. Nothing top-end. New Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU so I should be good there.

Any definite models I should steer clear of? Looking at GeForce 6800's and Radeon X1650's right now ( reading reviews ).

Thanks
 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
396
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Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
Originally posted by: ManWithNoName
Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
I just spied the Radeon X 1650 on newegg ( on sale ) and am currently reading reviews. Looks good so far. I will check out the 6600/6800's also. Thanks!
Click to expand...

What's your budget and power supply model and make?
Click to expand...

Budget is $125 or less. I'd like to see / compare low-mid range to mid range. Nothing top-end. New Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU so I should be good there.

Any definite models I should steer clear of? Looking at GeForce 6800's and Radeon X1650's right now ( reading reviews ).

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yup power you're good on. I was going to recommend a X1950GT which would give you the best performance in your price range, but supplies have finally dried up. Recently they were about $130 on Ewiz but they're gone and they want way too much now on EBay.

Your best bet is probably a X1650GT for $99 after $30 rebate. It's faster than the Pro and not as fast as the XT, although it uses the same GPU as the XT which is a good thing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161205

Another card worthy of considering would be the much newer 2600XT which is $114. Has a great feature set. Is DX10 capable and performance is on par with the X1600GT. Driver issues have also been resolved according to Steve in the post below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102718

Or if you prefer Nvidia, the 7600GT would make a decent choice as well, but it's an older card and the only ones around use GDDR2 instead of GDDR3 which the best GTs used. This one is in the same ballpark performance wise as the ATI cards above....$114

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130099

Edit:

As you can see, the 2600XT is almost in a dead heat with the slightly faster X1650XT. Tom's VGA charts aren't perfect, but it's good for a quic & dirty comparison.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/...4&model2=734&chart=318
 
S

Steve

Lifer
May 2, 2004
15,945
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The HD2400/2600 series for AGP no longer have driver issues, and bring hardware-based HD/Blu-ray decoding.
 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
396
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Originally posted by: Arkaign
Used X1800/1900/1950 will be a ton more power, for less $$$.
Click to expand...

Maybe the X1800s or X1900's used. I don't recommend the X1950 series used though. Before I made my other post I considered this. I even looked up the X1950 Pro and GT on EBay but I wouldn't recommend buying either of those two used unless it's from a friend. I liked the X1950 series of cards and owned 3 different models, but they did have their issues.

 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
396
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0
Originally posted by: Steve
The HD2400/2600 series for AGP no longer have driver issues, and bring hardware-based HD/Blu-ray decoding.
Click to expand...

Cool. Glad to hear it. Post ammended.

 
Rottie

Rottie

Diamond Member
Feb 10, 2002
4,795
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I am not sure of brand name PSU such as Antec PSU will be able to fit inside HP case? I know one Gateway computer will not work with any kind of brand name psu.
 
J

johnsonbrewer

Member
Dec 1, 2007
126
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It fits, its already installed. Actually pretty roomy for a mid-tower case ( wider than normal, it appears ). This case has front firewire and usb ports behind a sliding cover which I like -- beats going behind the computer to hook-up cables to download pics and movies.

How much is fair $$$ for a used 7900 or X19xx??

Many thanks for all the replies. :)
 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
396
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Originally posted by: wired247
My recommendation...

when my AGP system recently had a video card die...

I went with 7600GT

example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130099
Click to expand...

Yup, it's a good choice. Already linked to this one 6 posts up from yours and unfortunately the only 7600GT's available now are by EVGA using GDDR2 which should put tnem on par with the 2600XT and X1650GT. The faster 7600GT's everyone remembers used GDDR3 like the old XFX card.
 
I

imported_wired247

Golden Member
Jan 18, 2008
1,184
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Originally posted by: ManWithNoName
Originally posted by: wired247
My recommendation...

when my AGP system recently had a video card die...

I went with 7600GT

example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130099
Click to expand...

Yup, it's a good choice. Already linked to this one 6 posts up from yours and unfortunately the only 7600GT's available now are by EVGA using GDDR2 which should put tnem on par with the 2600XT and X1650GT. The faster 7600GT's everyone remembers used GDDR3 like the old XFX card.
Click to expand...



sorry, laziness owns me
 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
396
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0
Originally posted by: happy medium
There is a XFX 256mb 7600gt with ddr3 for 87.00 (buy it now) + shipping on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/XFX-Geforc...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one is faster then all the 2600xt/1650xt series cards and cheaper.
Click to expand...

That's the good one and here are the specs....

http://www.xfxforce.com/web/pr...ConfigurationId=650010

johnsonbrewer,
Thats a great price and it seems like a great deal with a pretty trustworthy seller. Has pretty good feedback with 2 neagtives out of 842. seller also states it has a 7 day return window which is a good thing so you can pound the card for a week to make sure it's OK. You may also want to page through his slaes and see just what the negative feedback says to see if it has any merit or if it was just a deadbeat bidder trying to even the score. You do need a Paypal account though or money order if your feedback is acceptable to Seller.

It's funny, I've been doing business on EBay since 2000 and have sold all my video cards as well as other old equipment on there, but have never bought a video card on Ebay. This one seems like a good deal though even with the $19 shipping.

One thing to note however, this card has 256MB of VRAM and the EVGA card on Newegg has 512MB. I'd still give the nod to the XFX card though.
 
ManWithNoName

ManWithNoName

Senior member
Oct 19, 2007
396
0
0
Originally posted by: wired247
Originally posted by: ManWithNoName
Originally posted by: wired247
My recommendation...

when my AGP system recently had a video card die...

I went with 7600GT

example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130099
Click to expand...

Yup, it's a good choice. Already linked to this one 6 posts up from yours and unfortunately the only 7600GT's available now are by EVGA using GDDR2 which should put tnem on par with the 2600XT and X1650GT. The faster 7600GT's everyone remembers used GDDR3 like the old XFX card.
Click to expand...



sorry, laziness owns me
Click to expand...

No Prob, great minds think a like. :D

 
J

johnsonbrewer

Member
Dec 1, 2007
126
0
0
Everyone has been very helpful!

Still mulling my options, the 7600gt looks good. With 128mb bus width, is there any advantage at looking at a 256 bus width / 256mb ram card? Remember my system is a 3.0 GHz P4-HT, so where would any bottle-necks be for either games or video editing/HD decoding?
 
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