Slow Comp with new HD 3650 AGP

[yarm]

So I just installed an HIS HD 3650 AGP 512mb on my old Shuttle SN85G4v2. I replaced an x1950 PRO AGP that I bought about two years ago because I'm pretty sure I damaged it accidentally while installing a new DVDROM drive (artifacts galore after booting back up). This new card seems to make my computer run much slower. It lags a little in windows and makes higher quality video somewhat choppy, but it's especially noticeable in games. Even after reformatting several times and trying drivers from both the HIS website and the AGP hotfix drivers from ATI, I still can't seem to get it to run any faster. My 3dmark2006 score dropped from about a 4000 with the x1950 PRO to about 1700 with this card.

My theory is that the 240w power supply may not be enough to support this card. The x1950 had two power connectors and ran almost flawlessly. However, this card uses only 1 of the smaller power connectors (not sure if the smaller one provides less power). Does the 3650 drain more power than the x1950 PRO? I'm thinking of just returning this one and getting buying one of the older generation cards off ebay. Or is there something else going on here?

Here are my specs if you need them.

Processor AMD64 3200+
Chipset nVidia nForce3 150 Single Chip
Memory 1GB at PC3200 (DDR400)
Audio Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
LAN Realtek 8201BL 10/100 Fast Ethernet
PSU Shuttle SilentX 240W 110/230V AC
Serial ATA Silicon Image 3512a RAID 0/1 Controller With Two Ports
PCI 1 x 33MHz
AGP 1 x AGP 4X/8X


Thank you in advance for your assistance.

FYI: For those that don't have experience with Shuttles, their PSU's are incredibly efficient. I know 240w must look horrible to some of you, but please keep in mind that it ran my x1950 PRO without any issues.

 

[toyota]

a single core cpu, 1gb of ram and a 3650 is pretty horrific for gaming. a 3650 is weaker than a x1950 pro but does use less power.

 

[yarm]

The 3650 uses less power? I'm not very knowledgeable about PSU's, but do you think my PSU has an issue with supplying that much power through only one connector?

I could run BF2142 and TF2 on med-high settings without any hiccups on the x1950 pro. It's amazing how long a computer can last you if you just keep upgrading the video and don't mind not playing the latest games on MAX settings. I don't have much time for games anymore, but i'd like something that will last me until I can drop a grand on a new comp.

 

[heyheybooboo]

The Radeon HD 3650 pulls half the watts of the x1950 pro and provides roughly half the performance - it's 128-bit memory bus versus 256-bit for the x1950 pro.

And I believe some models of the x1950 pro came with 256Mb GDDR4 memory versus GDDR2 or GDDR3 for the HD 3650. GDDR2 is much slower than GDDR3 but AFAIK the difference between 3 & 4 isn't that great.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
The Radeon HD 3650 pulls half the watts of the x1950 pro and provides roughly half the performance - it's 128-bit memory bus versus 256-bit for the x1950 pro.

And I believe some models of the x1950 pro came with 256Mb GDDR4 memory versus GDDR2 or GDDR3 for the HD 3650. GDDR2 is much slower than GDDR3 but AFAIK the difference between 3 & 4 isn't that great.

well the 3650 isnt quite that bad in most benchmarks. the 3650 is basically a 2600xt which about 20-25% slower on average than ax1950pro. yeah either way it was a performance downgrade for the OP.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Wasn't there an issue a while back with ATI's drivers performing poorly with newer AGP parts?