Video card upgrade advice requested

[Mbwilliams12]

Well here goes the first post.

My old rig has been running pretty well for a while now. I’m not quite ready to drop the money for a new MB and CPU quite yet, but I think I want to up my video card. I’m also thinking of dropping some money into a new LCD flat-screen and a new case.

Right now I’ve got:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+
MB: Gigabyte GA-K8U M1689D
Mem: 2x 512 Kingmax MPXC22D 38KT3-FHA (DDR-SDRAM)
Video: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200
PSU: I think it's a 550w not sure though (I've got 2 IDE HDs and a DVDRW)

I’m in the market range of $100-$200 for a new video card and would like it to carry over when I get a new MB/CPU. I was looking for some input and advice on a nice compatible video card and would be happy to listen to any other advice on the system as well. Thanks a lot. I’ve learned a lot already from just browsing. This forum is a’rockin.

 

[Surkitz]

Im guessing you are still agp like my system. Im really really considering this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046

I think its the best card for peeps with agp. The reviews give it good remarks as it seems to be very OC' able eventhough it already is OC'd from BFG. you can get pretty close or over 500mhz core clock with this. Im really considering it. my ati 9800 pro just didnt stand up to the new mideval II total war demo.

My other thought would be the ati side which is the X800 GTO, you can unlock the extra pipelines to get from 12 to 16 although the 7800GS already has 16 available. Plus the X800 seems to be cheaper.

Both these cards are in the $100-$200 range and considering directx 10 is coming, i would recommend anyone abstain from spending $$$ on an outdated agp system

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

If u can wait awhile, the X1950 is going to be released for AGP (or so I've heard) which would make it the best AGP card around. And the X800GTO pipelines cannot be unlocked, only the X800GTO2's can. A more powerful one from the same line is the X800XT/X850XT. They are the most powerful in the line and are equal to a 6800GT/Ultra in performance.

 

[Mbwilliams12]

Thanks for the advice, guys. Will the AGP version of the X1950 will be around $250?

The GeForce 7800GS 256MB looks nice too.

Also, if I am going to wait - will a modern board with Intel Duo still be a good choice with AGP? I plan to upgrade the MB and CPU in about a year (maybe six months - depends on the wife) and I'll like to use the Video Card I'm buying now. I'm not abject to waiting, just want to make sure my choices are good down the road too.

 

[Surkitz]

As far as I know, the intel duo boards only support the newer pci express, thats one reason why agp is gone to the museum. I wouldnt count on taking that card out and placing it in a new intel duo board if thats what you are thinking as it may not have any agp slots so you would be making a bad investment at that point. As far as price goes if they make the X1950 agp? it will probably be expensive to start

 

[Mbwilliams12]

Hmmm... Okay. Sounds like I may need to run a new upgrade thing all at once. It doesn't look like I'm going to get a good graphics card now that will accomidate a new MB with dual processor... Hmm...

 

[TimeParadoX]

So you have a AGP bus slot?
Like Surkitz said http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046 is probably one of the better AGP cards ( today )

If I was you I would just buy a new Mobo / processor / ram to upgrade to PCI-E and get the better cards like the 7900 =)

 

[tifc8lraz]

If u can wait awhile, the X1950 is going to be released for AGP (or so I've heard) which would make it the best AGP card around. And the X800GTO pipelines cannot be unlocked, only the X800GTO2's can. A more powerful one from the same line is the X800XT/X850XT. They are the most powerful in the line and are equal to a 6800GT/Ultra in performance.

Hmmm, I heard that was a mis-print in one of the forums. Do you think that the X1950 will be released in AGP Format? One would think that the card would be severely bottlenecked from the lower bandwith in the "outdated" AGP Slots. If it does come out, how much do you think it will sell for?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

No it's for real. PowerColor is working on it as we speak. It comes with the same cooling as its PCI-E counterpart and is the same in every way. It'll also be only $250 which is a little more than the average price of the 7800GS.