upgrade from 9800non-pro

[t4t3r]

what is my best bet for around $100? my current 9800np randomly gives me the "power cord is not plugged in" error when booting, and its really starting to get annoying. just need something that will play hl2 at normal levels. is a 6600gt my best bet at around $125?

 

[NoStateofMind]

Yes. 6600GT it is.

 

[Malladine]

Disregard the following if you want to keep your current motherboard/cpu

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There's a 12 pixel pipe X800 at newegg for $105 after $30 rebate.

There's also this sapphire x800gto for $23 more than the msi x800 after the rebate but it has faster memory

Both of these are only 128mb but they have more pixel pipes/vertex shaders and run with 256bit bandwidth so should outperform a 6600GT the majority of the time.

The prices are the same not counting the rebate so, aside from any brand loyalty you may have, you'll be choosing either a faster card or one that supports some prettier graphics in one or two games (currently).

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If you're keeping the motherboard/cpu, the 6600GT is about the only reasonable choice at the $100-$130 price point. The only thing ATI has to offer in that range is an X700 and the 6600GT is superior.

If you find some extra cash, there's a sweet $195 256mb X800GTO in AGP flavour.

 

[evolucion8]

Better pay a couple of bucks more and get a Radeon X800 GTO2, you will get far more performance than any GeForce 6600 GT card and you got a great chance to transform this card to a Radeon X850XT.

 

[t4t3r]

not bad, only thing is it needs to be agp for now. i am trying to get another year or two out of this pc (2500+ xp, 1gb 3200, abit nf7-s 2.0, etc).

 

[dug777]

well, the 6600GT is a pretty good bet then mate

 

[selfbuilt]

The 6600GT is a good card, and it will give you a measurable boost over the 9800np. But if you're only interested in HL2, you might as well stick with ATI, I'd second the recommendation for an AGP flavour x800 if you can swing it (GTO if you can get it - there's no GTO2 for AGP). Here in Canada, ATI cards are typically cheaper than equivalent Nvidias, so it's a bit easier.

 

[cockeyed]

Before I would buy another card, I would check the poer connector to the card. Maybe the female pins have spread open; easy to tighten with the tip of a srewdriver. Have you tried using a different power connector?

 

[IlllI]

if you can bother with rebates, you might want to take a look at these Text

 

[Wentelteefje]

6600GT will do just fine in HL2 and the majority of the other games out there... Overclock the AXP 2500+...

EDIT: cockeyed's advice isn't bad, but I think anyone would probably first think of that... Nonetheless, give it a(nother) try... You could be saving money...

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: evolucion8
Better pay a couple of bucks more and get a Radeon X800 GTO2, you will get far more performance than any GeForce 6600 GT card and you got a great chance to transform this card to a Radeon X850XT.

He wants an AGP card, and it isn't a couple of bucks extra. He's looking for a card in the $100 range, and the GTO2 costs around $200.

6600GT or 6800NU is your best bet.

 

[t4t3r]

thanks for all the advice. i havent looked at the power connector on the card but ive connected it to each of the other spare molex connectors in my machine and it does the same thing. ill check the card tonight though.

oh yeah - im running the 2500+ as a 3200+ by the way. i am trying to upgrade a few of the parts in the machine though, like the memory and hard drives, and thought if i could get a nice bump in graphics for $100 it would be worth it to upgrade that as well. looks like ill be spending closer to $130 though for a 6600gt. i want something that i can use for the rest of the life of this current machine before i decide to upgrade (1-2 years down the road hopefully).

 

[Munky]

The 6600gt is a decent card for ~$120 or so. If this was pci-e there would be better choices, but in this case there's not much competition to the card in agp.

 

[Texun]

t4t3r

I'm in the same boat as you. I've got an AV8 and a 9800NP and don't like the thought of swapping a perfectly good board right now just to upgrade my card. Please reply back when you get a card. Let us know what you got and how it worked out.

Good luck with whatever you get.