novacthall
Member
A month or so back, I ponied up and created my AT forums account to get some input on upgrading my (regrettably) aging AGP-equipped gaming rig of slightly over two years with the two options I had identified as being immediately feasible: either gut the whole thing entirely and foot the cost of a new computer or find the best AGP graphics card I could, slam that in there, and hope for the best. At the time, I had identified the X1600 (or something to that effect) as the best I could manage and many of the posters of my topic correctly pointed out that the performance increase compared to my X800XT Platinum would be minimal or negative.
But then something wonderful happened. Option 3 materialized. "How about the X1950Pro AGP?" Clichés regarding children in candy stores need not apply, but needless to say I was enthused. Finally, a powerful solution for my AGP mobo that I (maybe) could be proud of as a worthy successor to my X800XT. I did some digging and found that the card was supposedly launching in the second week of December. I resolved to wait for product reviews - preferably from AnandTech - before I made any purchasing decisions.
And so I waited. And waited. And waited...
And now here I sit, still waiting for any sort of reviews on what could be the best thing to hit AGP since, well, AGP. And yet I am empty handed. No benchmarks, no reviews, not even so much as a press release that the card has been launched. The crickets even went home.
I desperately need information on this card and its incarnations. Do reviews exist in the aether of the Internet? My Google searches have been entirely fruitless. Is it possible that AnandTech is working on a benchmark/writeup for this card, or is demand for AGP-equipped enthusiasts still bitter at PCI-Express for catching on so quickly sufficiently minimal to make the article an instant no-read? The specs alone lead me to believe that it would be a nice step up for my aging system, at the very least for the games I already play (or wanted to play with better eye candy and couldn't), but I feel uneasy about jumping into such a purchase with so little information available to me.
Which brings me here, once again, hoping to tap into the collective intelligence. Any and all information is greatly appreciated, though please be aware that the original "Option 1" (gut the thing and go from scratch) is no longer a viable alternative. I'm buying my fiancé a gaming-quality computer for her birthday in two days and I don't much like the inevitable devastation that two full rigs would cause to my bank account. Other than that, I'd say anything goes!
But then something wonderful happened. Option 3 materialized. "How about the X1950Pro AGP?" Clichés regarding children in candy stores need not apply, but needless to say I was enthused. Finally, a powerful solution for my AGP mobo that I (maybe) could be proud of as a worthy successor to my X800XT. I did some digging and found that the card was supposedly launching in the second week of December. I resolved to wait for product reviews - preferably from AnandTech - before I made any purchasing decisions.
And so I waited. And waited. And waited...
And now here I sit, still waiting for any sort of reviews on what could be the best thing to hit AGP since, well, AGP. And yet I am empty handed. No benchmarks, no reviews, not even so much as a press release that the card has been launched. The crickets even went home.
I desperately need information on this card and its incarnations. Do reviews exist in the aether of the Internet? My Google searches have been entirely fruitless. Is it possible that AnandTech is working on a benchmark/writeup for this card, or is demand for AGP-equipped enthusiasts still bitter at PCI-Express for catching on so quickly sufficiently minimal to make the article an instant no-read? The specs alone lead me to believe that it would be a nice step up for my aging system, at the very least for the games I already play (or wanted to play with better eye candy and couldn't), but I feel uneasy about jumping into such a purchase with so little information available to me.
Which brings me here, once again, hoping to tap into the collective intelligence. Any and all information is greatly appreciated, though please be aware that the original "Option 1" (gut the thing and go from scratch) is no longer a viable alternative. I'm buying my fiancé a gaming-quality computer for her birthday in two days and I don't much like the inevitable devastation that two full rigs would cause to my bank account. Other than that, I'd say anything goes!
