$100-200 AGPx8 Video Card?

[BlindObject]

So, I have enough money to finally buy a video card. Anything will be better than this ATI Radeon 9200...

So, as I was scrolling around, I found a lot of nice cards with nice speeds.

But I noticed 512MB cards have DDR2 speeds...but there are GDDR3 512Mb card, but they're over or about $200...I'm trying to keep the price from $150 to $170.

And many of the 256MB cards are GDDR3 and are about the same price as 512MB ddr2 cards...

The question is, should I pick the ones that have more memory with less speed, or the speedy ones with less memory?

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

A fast card with 256 MB of memory is better than a slow one with 512.

I'd pick a 7600GT.

 

[twite]

7800 GS, one of the best agp cards ever made.

 

[beef_jerky4104]

I'd look into the eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GS AGP 8X or the Sapphire Radeon X1950 PRO AGP 8X.

Those are the best AGP cards.

 

[BlindObject]

I see, I found this XFX 7600GT...it has nice specs...is this a go?

oh, and what's the difference between 7600GT and 7800GS?

 

[MetalX]

Best card for AGP is X1950XT... And a 7600GT has higher memory and core clocks than a 7800GS, but the 7800GS has a 256-bit memory bus instead of the 7600s 128-bit. This means the 7800GS has far more memory bandwidth than the 7600GT. Also, the 7800GS has more pipelines.

 

[nickc]

7800 GS, one of the best agp cards ever made.

best "my oppion".

 

[BlindObject]

Best card for AGP is X1950XT... And a 7600GT has higher memory and core clocks than a 7800GS, but the 7800GS has a 256-bit memory bus instead of the 7600s 128-bit. This means the 7800GS has far more memory bandwidth than the 7600GT. Also, the 7800GS has more pipelines.

Can you tell me how bandwidth affects my games/computer?

 

[tipstir]

Open the pipeline and the wider it is the more memory can be use by your applications and games.

Cheap cards have 64-bit memory and you can have 128MB to 256MB
Mid cheap cards have 128-bit memory
normal have 256-bit memory

So the box should say what type of memory bandwidth you have. Also 64-bit would be consider slower than 256-bit but just to let you know wider bandwidth and a slower clock GPU (graphic proccessing unit) will not be any faster than if it was faster GPU and 256-bit bandwidth path.

Other factors Clock speed 240 MHz Memory speed 400MHz Some cards can be OC - overclocked making a 64-bit seems like a 256-bit. It can work but then you run into other problems. If you keep these cards cool then you can do a lot more with them. If not then watch out!

 

[chuck4456]

SAPPHIRE X1650 PRO 512. 125.00. Runs HL, SH3, FC, BF2 and IL2 flawlessly. Great bang for the buck.

 

[Mirob]

Get the 7800GS! The x1950 pro is better but more money. There are x1950xt AGP cards too--the fastest AGP card ever made. Those are the top three. You may want to look into a PSU aswell.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

X19x0 AGP cards would be over the budget, 7800GS is $200 as well.

Then you say the cards might need a bigger PSU - might as well change the whole mainboard to a PCI Express one then, if you're going to spend all that money.

I'm still recommending 7600GT. You might even get a passively cooled one somewhere.

 

[nickslick74]

Agreed, anything more powerful will most likely require a new PSU, which would push you over budget.

Edited by Moderator: Removed quote. There`s no need to quote the post directly above your own, unless you`re only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section.

 

[Surkitz]

dont spend your money on the top end AGP. seriously, your wasting money. the new generation computers are already out. as others have said, you would probably require a new psu as well. a 7600, 7800 are still very good choices.

 

[Tedster]

NVIDIA AGP 7800 GS. Damn good card. Top of line for AGP.

 

[BlindObject]

My PSU is actually up to date...I got a free one.

650W

Oh, and what's the minimum PSU for 7600GT?

 

[beef_jerky4104]

7800GS is $200 as well.

Not true.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130274

That card only costs $180. My point proven. Don't get me wrong by the time you read this it may cost $250.

Anyway please do a little bit of research in the future. I do for every post.

 

[Mirob]

A 7600gt doesn't use much power. Your power supply should be enough for any card you choose.

I have a 7600gt OC PCI-E card and it's fine at 1024x768 but struggles at 1280x1024 with many new games.

This is a good card too - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102093 - a x1950gt probaly very close performance to a 7800gs but cheaper (same price as a AGP 7600g t.)
The faster x1950 pro is the same price at that 7800GS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161070. AMD is very competitive with midrange cards. The x1950xt (fasted AGP card ever) is out of you price range.

 

[BlindObject]

That sapphire card you showed me looks very promising, but it has 2 power plug ins...do I need more power for that? What's the least PSU for that?

Edited by Moderator: Removed quote. There`s no need to quote the post directly above your own, unless you`re only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section.

 

[Mirob]

A 450w PSU is recomended far any x1900 card.

 

[BlindObject]

How about a 7600GT?

Edited by Moderator: Removed quote. There`s no need to quote the post directly above your own, unless you`re only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section.

 

[nickslick74]

The same or less is required for that card.

 

[BlindObject]

Awesome, so I came down to two choices...and they both seem good.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102093
That's the Sapphire X1950GT with 256 bit interface. 1200mhz memory clock and 500mhz core clock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150210
That's a XFX 7600GT with 128bit interface. Core clock of 580mhz and 1500mhz memory clock.

The first one has more pipe lines and a 256 bit interface, but XFX has more memory clock speed and core clock speed.

Suggestions?

 

[nickslick74]

No brainer here, the 1950GT will pwn the 7600GT! To match the additional bandwith provided by the 256bit bus the 7600 would have to effectively double the clock speeds of the 1950GT to match up. But you don't have to take my word for it, just check the VGA charts at tomshardwear.com and see for yourself.

 

[BlindObject]

1950GT it is. I just need about a week for me to gather the rest of the money. I'm buying more RAM (only 512MB) with this card and MAYBE a PSU. Thanks for all the replies!!

Edited by Moderator: Removed quote. There`s no need to quote the post directly above your own, unless you`re only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section.