Looking for a video card

[Denier-of-Soup]

I'm still looking to upgrade my video card, but can't decide on which one to get. I want something that's DX9 compliant, made for gaming, runs at no more than AGP 8x, and something that'd go well with a 2.8 GHz Northwood P4. I'd rather not invest in something that my processor or motherboard won't be able to handle. It's a custom built system from HP, you see. =/

How does a Radeon 9800 or a GeForce 6500 sound? Any other ideas?

 

[Celegorm]

id say NVIDIA all the way. but get the 6800 AGP instead of teh 6500.

 

[CaneBaller]

i got the 6500 on a AMD athlon 3500+ 1gig ram
it plays BF2 on medium
counter strike on max no aa
its ok for me as of now
im waiting for DX10

 

[THEpiGUY]

How 'bout an X1650PRO? Looks pretty nice; GDDR3, 12 pixel pipelines with a 600MHz clock. It may not be the best with effects including anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, and maybe not high-dynamic range because of its 128-bit memory interface. But should be fine with about everything else. Still looks pretty nice though, and your processor & mobo should be able to handle it. Look at the guy who reviewed it on Newegg; He had a A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo and an XP 3200+ processor, not much newer than yours if any. If you're looking for a cheaper card than that, let me know. The Radeon 9800PRO isn't too bad of a card for just $70, but you will see much better performance with the X1650PRO if you've got the money.

EDIT: Just make sure that your PSU has enough wattage to handle it.

 

[CaneBaller]

get nvidia its better
get the 7800gt if u can really good card
go to google video this guy the 3dgameman has reveiws on video cards n other computer stuff

check that out

 

[THEpiGUY]

get nvidia its better
get the 7800gt if u can really good card
go to google video this guy the 3dgameman has reveiws on video cards n other computer stuff

check that out

He needs AGP; I'm pretty sure they don't make AGP 7800GT's, though I might have recommended one if they did. I got one, and am loving it thus far. But nvidia is not always better than ATI; certain nvidias are better than certain ATIs, and vice versa. For around the price of $130, there's no nvidias that are as good as the AGP X1650PRO; the 7600GS is the best you can get and it doesn't perform near as well as the X1650PRO. Getting a higher-end card than that, and maybe even getting that one, might not be a good idea, as the processor will probably be the biggest bottleneck. But if you've got sufficient money and you want the best graphics performance in AGP, go with nvidia. The best AGP gaming card from Newegg is the 7800GS, at a price of $240 after a $20 MIR. That's the non-factory-overclocked version of the card from eVGA.

 

[X1337]

First Thing, before you guys get in a hissyfit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057]SAPPHIRE 100174L Radeon X1650PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X CrossFire Support Video Card[/URL]

There is no such thing "AS" crossfire for AGP!. Second of all, If your really into gaming get the "7800GS", If your into gaming but dont play The newest games like "Alan Awake" than get the 7600GT. If your a ATI fan than look for the "X1650 - X1600Pro/XT". I own a X1600Pro, once you overclock the hole card it runs pretty fast in games

 

[Denier-of-Soup]

Is the 6500 PCI-X only? If it comes in AGP as well, how would it fare against the X1650 Pro? And what do you guys think of the X700 compared to the 9800? The only major change I see is the GDDR3 memory and support for OpenGL 2.0.

So far, the X1650, the X700, and the 9800 are the three cards I'm looking at.

edit: I just found out that my system's using a 240w PSU. x_x

 

[THEpiGUY]

First Thing, before you guys get in a hissyfit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057]SAPPHIRE 100174L Radeon X1650PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X CrossFire Support Video Card[/URL]

There is no such thing "AS" crossfire for AGP!. Second of all, If your really into gaming get the "7800GS", If your into gaming but dont play The newest games like "Alan Awake" than get the 7600GT. If your a ATI fan than look for the "X1650 - X1600Pro/XT". I own a X1600Pro, once you overclock the hole card it runs pretty fast in games

I'm not trying to get in a hissyfit; sorry for the confusion if there was some. Not gonna argue over stuff like video cards. Kinda hard to tell though sometimes when it's on the internet...no voice. But I just think that it's commonly misunderstood that nvidia isn't better than ATI, and ATI isn't better than nvidia. The 1650PRO is as close as you can get to the ATI equivalent of the 7600GT; better in a few areas and lacking in a few others. I couldn't find a 7600GT AGP on Newegg or MonarchComputer, but I have heard of them before. If you can manage to find one, that would be a good card also. And that's pretty weird about the Crossfire...didn't even notice that. Again, sorry for the misunderstanding.

Is the 6500 PCI-X only? If it comes in AGP as well, how would it fare against the X1650 Pro? And what do you guys think of the X700 compared to the 9800? The only major change I see is the GDDR3 memory and support for OpenGL 2.0.

So far, the X1650, the X700, and the 9800 are the three cards I'm looking at.

edit: I just found out that my system's using a 240w PSU. x_x

I've never heard of an AGP 6500, but if you can find one somewhere, though it is a good card, it wouldn't be near as good as the X1650PRO; the PCI-E version isn't anyways. It'll probably be a little worse than the X700 as well, but not by much if so. The 9800 would be better for features such as AA an AF than the X700, but it is lacking a little in the core speed department. Plus, it's DX9.0 (9800) as opposed to 9.0b(X700); both are outdated by now, but if my knowledge serves me right, the 9.0b is better. Here's a little comparison of all of them...

7800GS>X1650PRO/7600GT>X700>=9800>6500>GeForce FX series>Radeon 9250 and below

Don't get anything less than a 6500, if you can find one somewhere. You won't be able to play any newer games on high, probably not even on medium settings without a huge overclock. Those are there primarily for reference, in case you've heard of those series before.

And just as a side note, you might want invest in a new PSU . Good luck in your quest to getting a new graphics card...

 

[Denier-of-Soup]

You're probably wondering why my PSU has such a low power output. Well, it's because my system is ready-built. I'd rather not invest in a 400w PSU unless it's a custom-built system. =P

Anyway, I might settle on a 9800 or a X700. Anything above the X700 would have higher power requirements.