Which AGP card to get...

[AntiFreze]

My brother-in-law is looking to upgrade from his onboard video (geforce 4) to a dedicated AGP card - no PCIexpress slot.

It's a 2.4ghz pentium (not dual core), with 1.5gbs of ram. His #1 focus is WoW and obviously would like to get the best for the money (might possibly want to try a new game out down the road on it).

He's not a tech person at all, and I live 1/2 way across the country so there can't be any after purchase modification, like installing a new cooler.

This is what I was thinking:

SAPPHIRE 100175L Radeon X1650PRO
512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$69.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102073


Will this fit, as well as be a huge upgrade? He currently gets some really slow speeds in WoW.

 

[imported_wired247]

WoW will run fine on that machine but I would recommend a 7600GT, or no less than a 6800GT (might find one used).

I'm not too sure about the X1650, I've never personally seen a machine with that card before.

 

[Denithor]

Of the dwindling AGP cards the x1650pro isn't too bad, at that price point. You might consider one of these though instead.

GeCube HD2600pro 512MB $77 after MIR
HIS 2600XT 512MB $100 after MIR

These will be more powerful than the x1650pro. The 2600XT offers a much faster core speed and GDDR3 for improved bandwidth over the x1650pro and 2600pro.

Keep in mind however that WoW requires more processor/ram for smooth operation than gpu power. Even with the price prohibitive HD3850 AGP ($215) on an old P4 he just isn't going to run with the cheetahs.

And none of these cards is going to provide an "optimal" experience in most of today's games, especially paired with a 2.4GHz P4.

Too bad he's not a builder, for <$300 he could get an IP35-E/e2180/2GB DD2/8800GS and run circles around WoW.

 

[v8envy]

I second Denithor's analysis. But any of those 3 cards will run circles around an onboard 'geforce 4' chipset. I'm guessing what he really has is a 420 MX which was a geforce2 MX with newer revision pixel shaders implemented in software.

And yeah, it's about time to move out of the stone age. That AGP card will simply hold your B-I-L from getting a real upgrade and truly enjoying WoW. It won't solve all the performance issues, nor will it be enough for newer games.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Geforce MX 4 series were worse than the Geforce 2 series

woops wrong thread, though suprisingly it works in this thread too

 

[AntiFreze]

Thanks for the response, I shot him an email. I think he should go for the 2600pro, since its close to the budget, and even though it has 0 reviews, that HIS has some pretty bad ones.

I'm 1/2 tempting to mail him my old 9500pro, that card ran wow fairly well with an athlon xp 1800, and 512mb of ram.

 

[imported_wired247]

I don't know what the drivers are like for the 2600 pro, but I can tell you a good friend of mine recently dumped his 3870x2 for a 9800GX2 because of some issues with ATI's drivers in WoW. I think it was antialiasing transparency issues or something (which might not matter on a cheap video card, since you won't be using AA)

He's happy now with the nvidia card.

Just a word of advice if this machine is mostly for WoW.