Graphics Card Question

[zonogon]

I'm planning on buying a new motherboard that has no AGP support but has a on board ATI x300 chip. I'm assuming that the memory is 128. I have an ATI Radeon 9800 pro (256) . I'm getting an AMD 64 3200+ CPU. Which combo would I get the best gfx on? The way I see it, the memory of 256 is greater then the 128 so its supposed to be better. I don't know how these things work, so im looking for some advice.

Thx in advance.
-zono

 

[BobTheBuilder]

256mb will make a big difference then 128mb

 

[catalyst1]

Well, having a separate video card would be the ideal choice. Onboard video is usually less superior and obviously not upgradeable. Not having an AGP slot for future expansion will severely limit you. Again, I would stay away from onboard video.

 

[MikeReiner]

Onboard video is for work systems that do not game.
if you're planning on gaming with that system, I highly recommend you get a motherboard supporting PCI-E, or at the least agp.
onboard sound is one thing, but video, ehehehehe

 

[Mental Liberator]

GAGAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!!

Onboard graphics cards suck so bad that they can bearly play freaking war craft 3, and if you're going to spend money on a 3400+ and then spend money on a crapp motherboard for crappy graphics that won't be able to play any games? ahhaahahahahaha

Buy a new motherboard with PCI-E compatability and buy a PCI-E card. DONE

 

[catalyst1]

Onboard graphics cards suck so bad that they can bearly play freaking war craft 3...

Not necessarily. A computer could have an awesome onboard graphics chipset, but it would not only cost a pretty penny, but it isn't upgradeable. Like I said, onboard video is usually less superior, but it doesn't have to be. Still, it would be best to stick with a separate card ideally with PCIe (the newer, better interface), but AGP will do - at least compared to onboard.

 

[EnemyofState]

If you have spent money on a 9800 pro and are buying a 3200+. Buy a mobo with agp support and throw that 9800 in there. Done

 

[zonogon]

yea, but the thing is, all the new vid cards are PCI-E, and maybe in the future i might buy a pci-e card. When that happens, that means i might have to buy a whole new mobo that supports pci-e.

i found some agp + pci-e mobos but the highest bus rate is 800 mhz fsb. the cpu im going to get goes up to 1ghz fsb. I want to use that full 1ghz. If i missed a mobo that can support all those please tell me =]

 

[catalyst1]

I would recommend NOT getting a combo motherboard like that. Usually when a product like that is made, it sacrifices performance and quality for flexibility. This isn't always true, but as you said, it has a smaller FSB, so who knows what else is inferior about it.

I suggest getting a PCIe board now, selling your AGP video card and using that money to invest in a solid PCIe video card. It's your best option for the long term. Any other option will probably either cost you more money or get you less quality.

 

[EnemyofState]

I suggest getting a PCIe board now, selling your AGP video card and using that money to invest in a solid PCIe video card. It's your best option for the long term. Any other option will probably either cost you more money or get you less quality.[/QUOTE]

Best option for sure