Should I bother to upgrade?

[deadken]

I'd like some imput before I go ahead and waste some money. Please let me explain the situation a bit first.

I have 4 PCs running in my house. They run 24/7/365 and run F@H on XP Pro. My family PC hardly gets used since both kids have thier own PCs now. It's a S754 Sempron 3100+ Running at 2250Mhz with 1 GB Ram (good quality Patriot). The motherboard is an MSI board that has a AGR slot and a PCIe slot with a Nforce4 Chipset.

I had bought a Radeon 256Bit 128Mb 9800SE from Newegg years ago and it runs (stock) at 9800 Pro speeds. Attempts to unlock it with the Omega drivers yield artifacts, so it stays stock (though, I recall it overclocks Core and Memory rather well when I tested it, but I run it at stock speeds since it doesn't get used much).

So... I have found a 'decent' deal on a brand new Radeon X1650 Pro PCIe card and it has 256MB of GDDR2 and is only about $35-$40. I got to thinking that the AGR slot is probably crimping performance (not that the family PC gets used for 3D very much at all) and having the 256MBs of memory might come in handy as the kids get older.

My Daughters PC is a: ECS NFORCE3-A, Athlon 3200+, 9700Pro (with a Zalman Heatpipe) and 1GB of Corsair 3200 XLPT.
My Sons PC is a: Gigabyte NF3 S754, Athlon 3000+, 6600GT AGP card in it, and 1GB of Corsair 3200 XLPT.
So having a spare AGP card around wouldn't hurt. Also having a newer motherboard w/PCIe slot wouldn't hurt either.

Can someone tell me whether this would be a waste (other then really not being used much)?
Would the 1650 Pro PCIe be a step down from a what is basically a 9800Pro with 4 pipes?
Should I just leave it alone and when need be buy a used 7600 or 8600 PCIe for the same price by the time I need one?

Thanks for any help you can give, Ken.

 

[tcsenter]

Can someone tell me whether this would be a waste (other then really not being used much)? Would the 1650 Pro PCIe be a step down from a what is basically a 9800Pro with 4 pipes?

X1650 Pro PCI-E is a step-up from a real 9800 Pro with all eight pixel shaders. It would be a step-up from 9800XT, except for the DDR2 instead of DDR3 memory.

It's a S754 Sempron 3100+ Running at 2250Mhz with 1 GB Ram (good quality Patriot). The motherboard is an MSI board that has a AGR slot and a PCIe slot with a Nforce4 Chipset.

That AGR slot is nothing more than an AGP connector wired to the PCI bus. i.e. a glorified PCI slot

If you were running the 9800SE in that, X1650 Pro PCI-E will be five steps up.

 

[IlllI]

you might be interested in this if you can deal with a rebate
Text

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: clandren
you might be interested in this if you can deal with a rebate
Text

Yep, that's the one I was looking to buy. My only concern at this point is the product description states: PCI Express compatible system with a specialized 12v graphics card power connector. I am %95 sure that the power supply in that computer DOES NOT have a PCIe power connector (the six pin one). From what I can see of the card, it doesn't need one (check out these pictures from Newegg.com).

So... My next question would be: How much better would this be then a AGP 6600GT?

My Son is 12 and he used to play some BF2 with us now and then. I just got COD4 and I figure he might want to play that too. From what I remember the 6600GT was pretty similar in performance to a 9800 Pro. And as a matter-of-fact, the minimum requirements for COD4 say it needs a 6600 or 9800 Pro or better. Since we already established that the 1650Pro is better then a 9800 Pro, I guess I have nothing to be concerned with.

Thanks for your help. If anyone has one of these cards and knows that it does in fact need a PCIe connector, please post and let me know. I assume that someone makes a Molex -> PCIe power connector....

-Thanks again, Ken

 

[deadken]

Well, the price went up a few dollars (from $50 to $56) when I bought it. It was in my cart and I got a notice while checking out that the price had increased. I signed up for Google checkout and saved $10.

Now when I look at it, the price is up to $76 less the $20 rebate. I don't think I can even complain to Buy.com that the price went up while I was checking out since the order I placed is from Google checkout rather then from Buy.com. I just checked my CC account online and I don't see a charge yet. It better not be for $76!

-Ken

 

[IlllI]

i think the 1650Pro is more or less equal to the 6600

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: deadken

Originally posted by: clandren
you might be interested in this if you can deal with a rebate
Text

Yep, that's the one I was looking to buy. My only concern at this point is the product description states: PCI Express compatible system with a specialized 12v graphics card power connector. I am %95 sure that the power supply in that computer DOES NOT have a PCIe power connector (the six pin one). From what I can see of the card, it doesn't need one (check out these pictures from Newegg.com).

The card will likely come with an adapter. I had to use one for my X800 XL a few years ago. If not, I have one and while I would like to keep it just incase, I will take a look online and see if I can find one cheap.

 

[deadken]

Well, on my family PC I got a 6063 on 3D03 and a 3598 on 3D05 with a 64-bit Sempron 3100+ @ 2200 and 1GB of memory.

For comparason, my Sons A64 3000+ @ 2400 w/1GB and a 6600GT AGP gets 4246 on 3D03 and a 2524 score of 3D05.

So, I'd say I am rather happy with it. For less then $40 (if I get the rebate back), I can't complain. That's for the help from everyone who replied with help.

 

[deadken]

Ugh.. Ohhh well, it seems that the 512MB version of this card is now on sale a bit cheaper then the 256MB card. I had searched for the 512MB version before pulling the trigger on the 256mb card that I bought. But, I couldn't find it. I honestly don't think it was listed that day, because I really did search the site pretty well. I just found it while I am finishing up my rebate form. I still have the UPC, but I am not gonna bother returning this 256mb to get the 512mb. Too much hassle.

Anyway, I am still very happy with the 256MB X1650Pro and might end up swapping the Mobo and that card out of the 'family' PC and into my sons PC (NF3 and AGP 6600GT) since he does game with me (including some BF2).

Here is a link for anyone who might be interested: X1650Pro 512 $40 A.M.I.R..

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You don't need it, save it to fill up the gas tank, ....*thinks* average gas prices are @ 3.09 in midwest... fill up the tank, take the kids to the park for a picnic, bring the Frisbee, Football, Baseball and mits, and you're a bigger hit!

First of all you are talking about it being a waste already, what are you trying to satisfy here? Second of all, the pc its going to is barley used.

I'd guess you'd be better off not buying it, but if you think it'll bring new spark to the machine and or seeing if buying it will, I can only tell you that it will. Just know thats what you are getting yourself into. I recently bought UT2K4 and UTIII and even though my gaming machine is minus 2 years a beast, it has got me thinking a new vid card already. It naturally goes hand in hand... but the difference is I'm not going to buy a new vid card

Hope this helps,

529th