Upgrade conundrum, would you stick with AGP?

[Abunai]

My P4 3.06 ghz PC had an unfortunate turn of events recently and it looks like Ill be upgrading a lot sooner than I expected. A couple weeks prior I bought a brand new PNY Verto 6800 GT 256mb AGP. When I start building the new PC I plan to go with an Athlon 64 3500+ on the 939 Socket in the hopes it'll also support a future CPU upgrade. The problem as you can probably guess is the $350 AGP video card I happen to be sitting on. Is AGP going to be completely obsolete in two years time, making my decision to go with a 939 socket MB with an AGP slot redundant? Or will it still be supported without a significant performance impact? Id really like to keep this card for awhile, its quite nice and Id rather not brave ebay to try and get my money back. But if the situation for AGP is as bleak as Ive seen inferred at times, I guess I wont have much of a choice. Any feedback on this would be most appreciated, thank you.

 

[jose]

I also have a 6800GT agp card. I'd stick w/ the best option that supported the agp card , unless you were able to sell it to a friend.

When I purchased mine I paid close to $400, and I'm not willing to give it away. So if my P4 goes out then I'd get either a Tyan Tiger or Thunder K8W.

This would provide the best long term path for my $400 video card. Because dual-core chips will first be on the 940 socket.

So check out your options:

1 - Sell your card & get another one but pci-e based. note they cost more than the agp versions.

2 - Buy a sck 754 system. ie. DFI Lanparty UT w/ a 3400+ , this system will be fast for quite some time.

3 - Buy a dual opteron system.. This will put a smile on your face, but it will put a dent in your wallet..


For you probably option #2 is best..

Regards,
Jose

 

[keeleysam]

Get an A64 3500+ 939 90nm with an MSI K8N Neo2.

 

[Googer]

IF you want any kind of future out of you pc, then avoid AGP.

 

[Bonesdad]

I'd stick with the AGP system...there are no real advantages to the PCIe video cards right now.By the time the S754 board is slowing you down, you will be ready for a massive upgrade anyway.

 

[customcoms]

Whats the advantage to pci-x? SLI, more future proof, and, with the exception of CURRENT high end cards, better availablity and cheaper. Heres the deal. Buying a s754, basically and already outdated platform, is pointless. If I was heading that way, it would be an nForce3 s939 for me. The best option is to try and sell your current card, and buy a new s939 nForce4 system. That should keep you going for a while, at least if dual core support on current boards pans out.

 

[Nocturnal]

I just had to go through this this past Thursday. My video card died and I figured well my system is rather old and I'm going to purchase another 3-400.00 video card, I'm going to go with something future proof, PCI-Express. Thus I went ahead and purchased a new system based on the Athlon 64 socket 939 chip and nForce 4 SLI mobo.

 

[AristoV300]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
I'd stick with the AGP system...there are no real advantages to the PCIe video cards right now.By the time the S754 board is slowing you down, you will be ready for a massive upgrade anyway.

:thumbsup:

 

[Abunai]

Wow, pretty split consensus here.

So the gist that Im getting is if I decide to go 939 I might as well say F it, get PCI-E and sell the damn card. (Think I can get at least $300 for the GT on ebay? Its practically brand new.)

Or if I decide to keep the card I should go to the older 754 and just do a big ol' upgrade when the time comes.

In other words my 939 AGP idea ain't a very bright one?

 

[ribbon13]

Exactly
939+PCIe
or 754+AGP

 

[MDE]

I went with a Socket 939 AGP board because I have an AGP 6800GT. My Epox 9NDA3+ (nForce3 Ultra) is plugging along just fine with my Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2.5GHz.

 

[akugami]

Get a Socket 754 AGP board and like they said, by the time most games are either programmed with dual cores in mind or 64 bit computing (2+ years down the line) you'll be ready for an upgrade anyways.

 

[piroroadkill]

Originally posted by: customcoms
Whats the advantage to pci-x? SLI, more future proof, and, with the exception of CURRENT high end cards, better availablity and cheaper. Heres the deal. Buying a s754, basically and already outdated platform, is pointless. If I was heading that way, it would be an nForce3 s939 for me. The best option is to try and sell your current card, and buy a new s939 nForce4 system. That should keep you going for a while, at least if dual core support on current boards pans out.

PCI Express =! PCI-X

PCI Express = PCIe

 

[crazyeddie]

Speaking as someone who just upgraded to socket 939 and a PCI-E board and video card, I'd stick with AGP if I were you.

You can buy two or three motherboards for what it would cost you to replace your 6800. There is no performance advantage for PCI-E vs. AGP, and the upcoming crop of Sempron skt 754 CPUs will assure a steady supply of AGP motherboards for the forseeable future. ATI is trying to pump out AGP versions of X800-series boards as quickly as they can.

All indications are that AGP demand is still plenty high. You can continue using your 6800 AGP card until a complete overhaul of your system is once again desirable.

 

[Fern]

Here's another vote for the AGP skt939.

The gfx card costs much more than a mobo. When you wanna upgrade gfx card in future, then go for another mobo and a PCIe gfx card.

 

[grooge]

The 3400+ 754 is faster than the 3500+. I would go with that setup and your video card, then later, in 2-3 years, when your current system simply dont cut it anymore, do a massive upgrade with the latest and newest available at this time. Even with 939, there might be better component in 2-3 years that you'll want to upgrade anyway.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: Googer
IF you want any kind of future out of you pc, then avoid AGP.

Really? Consider this. The 9700 Pro is still a very viable solution. Its like 4 years old. A P4 478 with a top notch video will provide at least 2 years of very good performance. And considering a 6800gt is pretty top notch a nice 3.2 with 1gig of ram and top vc will last quite awhile. A video card today is the most IMPORTANT PART OF A SYSTEM, IMHO.

 

[jose]

Abunia,

There is nothing wrong w/ the more mature NF3 AGP platform, just look around you at all the problems w/ this new platform.

A 3400+ , w/ 1 gig of ram & a 6800GT will last you quite awhile.. By the time a system like this would need to upgrade 2+yrs, so would
a current 939 3500+ system also. You'll save money going the sck 754 route.

Good Luck

Regards,
Jose

 

[The Boston Dangler]

There's nothing wrong with buying a new AGP card. Do you plan on replacing your vid card every year? Even an AGP 6600GT will be more than adequate for a few years. My AIW 9800 Pro plays new games just fine. There's nothing wrong with PCI Express for that matter, but other than vid cards there are very few cards of any type available. PCI and AGP products will be produced for a few more years. I would stick to 939 for a couple reasons: dual channel memory, and 754 is already past its prime. The 939 + AGP combo still has a lot of miles left in it.

 

[Abunai]

Thanks a ton for all the feedback folks, my head is spinning but at least Im more informed. I guess there's still some debate about the life span of AGP. My main concern (or hope) is after the GT starts to show its age that the AGP solution will at least be able to squeeze out one more quality $250-350 range card in 1.5-2 years. 939+AGP sounds like it got caught in a horrible tweener period, but if AGP still has some pop maybe its not that bad? Of course if it is that bad I could certainly see 754 being the better way to go. Or I could try and sell my beloved GT on ebay, hop on the PCI-e saddle and get an XL instead. Can you tell Ive been having trouble making a decision?

I guess the bottom line is will the next gen really make the 8x bus obsolete and start to see a performance decrease? Even though apparently AGP's bandwith isnt even maxed out at this point. Or is it more of a case of the danger being it'll be left behind in hasty fashion regardless? If I interpreted one of the the articles I read on the subject correctly it sounds like Nvidia's bridge chip solution could give AGP more life compared to ATI's.

 

[MatrixVPR]

THIS IS AN ARTICLE THAT HIGHLIGHTS WHAT YOUR ASKING. I HOPE IT HELPS YOU WITH YOUR DECISION

http://www.sudhian.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=660

 

[imported_OrSin]

Get the NF3 and 939. I'm not fan of 754 chips. They are low end chips. The price is nice, but thier is no dual core support in the furture.

939 chips will support dual core. Thats means bios update and new chip is the most you will need for almost 2 years, longer if you don't not play FPS only.