Please Recommend AGP Card

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
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?

You'd be better suited by going with a card that was that gen's high-end, rather than midrange card.

A 7800/7900 or X1800/1900/1950 will be a rather substantial upgrade compared to the 7600GT. All of the high-end cards from that gen are 256-bit instead of 128-bit, as well as featuring more shaders/pipelines.

If you can't find a good used one (they're hard to find because they're faster than the new midrange cards!), then a 2600XT should be faster than a 7600GT in the more recent games + future games, as well as having better hardware video acceleration for stuff like HD/BD.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
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?

You'd be better suited by going with a card that was that gen's high-end, rather than midrange card.

A 7800/7900 or X1800/1900/1950 will be a rather substantial upgrade compared to the 7600GT. All of the high-end cards from that gen are 256-bit instead of 128-bit, as well as featuring more shaders/pipelines.

If you can't find a good used one (they're hard to find because they're faster than the new midrange cards!), then a 2600XT should be faster than a 7600GT in the more recent games + future games, as well as having better hardware video acceleration for stuff like HD/BD.

I have a pent 4 @ 3.35 and my highly overclocked 7800gs agp is bottlenecked in most games.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
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?

You'd be better suited by going with a card that was that gen's high-end, rather than midrange card.

A 7800/7900 or X1800/1900/1950 will be a rather substantial upgrade compared to the 7600GT. All of the high-end cards from that gen are 256-bit instead of 128-bit, as well as featuring more shaders/pipelines.

If you can't find a good used one (they're hard to find because they're faster than the new midrange cards!), then a 2600XT should be faster than a 7600GT in the more recent games + future games, as well as having better hardware video acceleration for stuff like HD/BD.

I have a pent 4 @ 3.35 and my highly overclocked 7800gs agp is bottlenecked in most games.

Ah yes. Then the 2600XT is probably the wisest choice, due to performance that should pretty much max out his 3.0HT, and will help with video decoding to boot.

 

[Knowname]

I'm not sure if any of these ppl are reading your post right... I do admit it's a little confusing, but I'm seeing that you need a 1.5v agp card, not the current 3.3v ones?? I'm in the same boat, and the only cards I've worked with on such a slot is a geforce 6800... I wouldn't try going any further, especially on your proc which has to be a single core ~2ghz I'd assume.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Originally posted by: Knowname
I'm not sure if any of these ppl are reading your post right... I do admit it's a little confusing, but I'm seeing that you need a 1.5v agp card, not the current 3.3v ones?? I'm in the same boat, and the only cards I've worked with on such a slot is a geforce 6800... I wouldn't try going any further, especially on your proc which has to be a single core ~2ghz I'd assume.

Processor is P4 with HT, 3.0 GHz. My mobo supports 4x/8x ( 4x = 1.5V; 8x=0.8V ). So I'm in the market for an 8x which fits into a 1.5V slot ( Asus manual specifies the 1.5V slot because when the mobo first came out they didn't want people cramming a 3.3V AGP in there

I've got good power and 2 Gigs of ram in dual channel, so just looking for the most GPU processing at the least $$$ that match pretty evenly --- that won't bottle-neck either the GPU or the P4.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
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?

You'd be better suited by going with a card that was that gen's high-end, rather than midrange card.

A 7800/7900 or X1800/1900/1950 will be a rather substantial upgrade compared to the 7600GT. All of the high-end cards from that gen are 256-bit instead of 128-bit, as well as featuring more shaders/pipelines.

If you can't find a good used one (they're hard to find because they're faster than the new midrange cards!), then a 2600XT should be faster than a 7600GT in the more recent games + future games, as well as having better hardware video acceleration for stuff like HD/BD.

I have a pent 4 @ 3.35 and my highly overclocked 7800gs agp is bottlenecked in most games.

Bottle-necked by the processor, right??

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
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?

You'd be better suited by going with a card that was that gen's high-end, rather than midrange card.

A 7800/7900 or X1800/1900/1950 will be a rather substantial upgrade compared to the 7600GT. All of the high-end cards from that gen are 256-bit instead of 128-bit, as well as featuring more shaders/pipelines.

If you can't find a good used one (they're hard to find because they're faster than the new midrange cards!), then a 2600XT should be faster than a 7600GT in the more recent games + future games, as well as having better hardware video acceleration for stuff like HD/BD.

I have a pent 4 @ 3.35 and my highly overclocked 7800gs agp is bottlenecked in most games.

Ah yes. Then the 2600XT is probably the wisest choice, due to performance that should pretty much max out his 3.0HT, and will help with video decoding to boot.

Which brands of 2600XT are recommended to either buy or stay away from??

 

[Knowname]

sorry, didn't see the second page /dies I get ya now lol What I meant to say is I'm stuck with 3.3v.... I guess your the more lucky one lol.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
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?

You'd be better suited by going with a card that was that gen's high-end, rather than midrange card.

A 7800/7900 or X1800/1900/1950 will be a rather substantial upgrade compared to the 7600GT. All of the high-end cards from that gen are 256-bit instead of 128-bit, as well as featuring more shaders/pipelines.

If you can't find a good used one (they're hard to find because they're faster than the new midrange cards!), then a 2600XT should be faster than a 7600GT in the more recent games + future games, as well as having better hardware video acceleration for stuff like HD/BD.

I have a pent 4 @ 3.35 and my highly overclocked 7800gs agp is bottlenecked in most games.

Ah yes. Then the 2600XT is probably the wisest choice, due to performance that should pretty much max out his 3.0HT, and will help with video decoding to boot.

Which brands of 2600XT are recommended to either buy or stay away from??

I couldn't name any personally. I've used the cheapest brand for ATI cards (Sapphire), quite a bit for customers and haven't had any issues. The only dead ATI card I've had in recent memory was an HIS 1650Pro.

Anyhow : $99 2600XT AGP 256MB

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Yep, that one is on my short list. Thanks again everyone!

 

[johnsonbrewer]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...12903079#productdetail


Is anybody familiar with this card? At $99, worth a look? There seems to be issues with drivers in the reviews. How dependable are VisionTek products?

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...12903079#productdetail


Is anybody familiar with this card? At $99, worth a look? There seems to be issues with drivers in the reviews. How dependable are VisionTek products?

Link's not working. What card is it? The driver issues were an ATI bug dealing with AGP support and Direct3D acceleration, those have been resolved with the release of Catalyst 8.1.

VisionTek is the only maker I can think of with a lifetime warranty, at least on the ATI side of things, though there may be others.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Sorry, I just tried the link and the site is down for maint. I suppose. The card is VisionTek HD2600 Pro. This is just under the HD2600XT as far as performance I believe, but should be plenty for my needs. I just read about people pulling their hair out with the drivers. Never had anything by VisionTek so just looking for assurance that they are a good company.

The card is $99 on sale at BestBuy.

Does this look like a good card to you?

 

[johnsonbrewer]

FYI -- My current card is an MX 440. So just about anything will be an improvement for me! Probably won't ever do any real gaming on this computer, but I will do video editing and maybe end up turning it into an HTPC later.

 

[Steve]

I have that very card, for that very price from that very store, it was a Black Friday special. Once working drivers were released for it I was quite pleased, though admittedly I don't do any gaming so my outlook is limited in that regard.

If you'd like, go to http://www.visiontek.com/forum/index.php and read posts there by Goku, he knows his stuff.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Originally posted by: Steve
I have that very card, for that very price from that very store, it was a Black Friday special. Once working drivers were released for it I was quite pleased, though admittedly I don't do any gaming so my outlook is limited in that regard.

If you'd like, go to http://www.visiontek.com/forum/index.php and read posts there by Goku, he knows his stuff.

LOL Been there, done that last night! I am stopping by after work to pick one up.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer

Originally posted by: Steve
I have that very card, for that very price from that very store, it was a Black Friday special. Once working drivers were released for it I was quite pleased, though admittedly I don't do any gaming so my outlook is limited in that regard.

If you'd like, go to http://www.visiontek.com/forum/index.php and read posts there by Goku, he knows his stuff.

LOL Been there, done that last night! I am stopping by after work to pick one up.

The 2600 Pro isn't as fast the XT, but it's not a bad card. I would stay away from the 2400 Pro though if you see one.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Yeah, I realize it is a small step down to the Pro from the XT, but it still should be able to do anything I need. I thought I would end up getting something with a 256-bit bus, but by the specs I should be fine with 128-bit and 256mb video ram.

BTW, I will be sticking with XP so I won't use DX10, just DX9. Assuming I won't need DX10 to decode MPEG-4 and VC-1. That would suck.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

I am reading that the 2600 Pro can be BIOS flashed to the 2600XT? Is this a simple straight-forward flash? Anyone who knows or knows how please chime in.

Also read that the power needed for this card is around 30 to 35 W, and the XT around 40W, which is good. Anyone know if this can be OC'ed at all?

 

[Steve]

I decode HD in XP just fine. As for flashing the BIOS, try looking around at techpowerup.com. Not sure about OCing.


The only thing I don't like about my HD 2600 Pro AGP is that the stock fan is loud, I'm looking into a quieter solution.


Also, none of the HD Radeon cards for AGP have the Dolby True HD or Dolby Live HD due to lack of bandwidth on AGP. If you see an HD Audio Device (think that's the right name?) installed in Device Manager after installing this card, and HD decoding spikes the CPU to 100%, uninstall/disable that audio thing and you should be okay. More about this at the VisionTek forum.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Steve,

Very much appreciated. Can you walk me through the steps I need for getting this up and running, since you've just gotten yours squared away?

Very likely I will get the same driver cd as you, but what is the shortest, easiest route to getting mine going with the newer updated driver? Please make the steps idiot-proof for me

And does this have a DVI-I out or just HDMI and S-video? I can't seem to find that info handily, but it could have been on the Vtek site.

 

[Steve]

No problem, basically make sure all your previous video drivers are thoroughly uninstalled. I like to do the Add/Remove uninstall first, then shut down, install the card, boot into Safe Mode, and run Driver Cleaner to remove any lingering files and registry entries.

Then boot normally, and install drivers of your choice. I simply downloaded and installed Catalyst 8.1, followed by the "AGP hotfix" driver that the VTek forum mentions.

I don't have it in front of me, but I think the card has two DVI ports, along with ATI's proprietary S-Video out (which can do S-Vid, composite or component with each respective adapter and cabling).

You can make sure your drivers are installed correctly by Start-> Run-> dxdiag, and under the Display Tab, click on Test Direct3D. If it errors out (failed to create device) you either need the AGP Hotfix driver (this package installs 'over top' of the Catalyst 8.1), or there's something wrong with your driver install and you need to try again.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

I picked up the HD 2600 Pro yesterday at BB for $99 on sale, they had many on the shelf. Its not top-end but will be plenty for this "refurbished" system. Many thanks to all who helped me make a decision.

I need to tidy up a few things before I install the card. Looking for a Raptor to boot XP from and then wipe the current OS HD. OT-- The computer is an HP that came loaded with XP, but without the actual CD's for reinstall. There is an option to create recovery cd's but the prior owner had so much crap, viruses, etc. that the back-up partition became corrupted and it won't let me create the recovery cd's. Two obvious options I suppose, 1) ghost the current OS HD onto the new raptor, remove unwanted programs after the transfer. Any problems I may encounter by doing that? Or 2), buy another XP and install fresh. Would I be able to buy an Upgrade XP disc and just use the key on the sticker on the outside of the case, or would I need to have an actual disc ( of the original -- which I don't have ) at some point during the upgrade install. I can't remember the upgrade procedure so any help is appreciated.

Steve, again thanks. Is the Driver Cleaner found on the ATI website or in the VisionTek site? I saw it the other night but forgot where.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Originally posted by: johnsonbrewer

Steve, again thanks. Is the Driver Cleaner found on the ATI website or in the VisionTek site? I saw it the other night but forgot where.

You can get it here ...

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

Also are you getting a new Raptor and just putting into your Rig and transferring files/OS over or are you taking this drive out of one PC and putting it into another? Little confused by what you're saying. If you're just adding the Raptor to your existing setup, it will likely come with a program (like Ghost) to transfer all your files, programs, and OS to the new hard drive and will assign this as the new boot drive for you.

As far as upgrading XP goes, I believe you need the Original Install Disc or the XP Upgrade CD must find an exisitng installation on your hard drive.

 

[johnsonbrewer]

Sorry for the confusion. I am shopping for a raptor now so it will be an empty drive. I want XP and a few programs to load faster so that's why I'm looking at the raptor.

By ghosting, it will just exactly copy the entire contents of my current C: drive ( PATA HD ) onto the SATA raptor, correct so far? I have never ghosted before but I think I know whats happening. Question -- Will I be able to put just the OS onto a partition by itself, and will this be after I delete any other programs except the OS? In the end, I want XP on the SATA raptor on a partition by itself.