AGP video card upgrade

[Anoobis]

Well, yes but it is overkill. I thought you weren't looking to spend a lot of money? The rate your going you will end up spending $1200.

Honestly, I would try to see if your current PSU works with the new card (unless everyone says it WILL NOT, again I'm not completely up to date on PSUs) and if it doesn't, get the Antec 500. A lot of people have good things to say about them and it's about half the cost of the FSP. Not that the FSP is bad. It just seems like overkill in your situation.

 

[girlD6]

It gets really confusing sometimes. So many parts so much to know. I don't want to spend $1200 I really don't. Thanks

 

[mdd1963]

"I think the 7800GS is an overkill in your situation. Consider 6800GS or X800GTO."

If that is a Northwood "C" core, it could be running at 3.2G within 12 keystrokes in the BIOS...

I'd opt simply for a 6600GT if I were the original poster.....decent, relatively low cost...

 

[pat]

It gets really confusing sometimes. So many parts so much to know. I don't want to spend $1200 I really don't. Thanks

You don't have to. Your CPU is OK for most of today's game and apps, don't bother. I wouldn't upgrade your motherboard for a PCIe one right now. Your CPU wont perform faster anyway. don't spend too much for an AGP video card. something around 200$ will be sufficient enough for now.

I just got myself the x1600xt, (PCIe thou) and I'm a bit impressed by the performance vs price. I got it for less that 280$can, but has a silent heat pipe cooler on it and VIVO. normal fanned version cost around 180$can. I tried F.E.A.R on it and found it to be more than I first thought. I always preferred ATI's image quality, but that's personnal taste anyway.

A sapphire x1600pro AGP can be buy for 158$ can. That soud translate to about 130$US. So, 299$ is a rip off, as someone said.

Nvidia alternative should be good too, but I don't know them enough to comment.

But, don't spend too much on that system. get a decent video card now, and save cash for a major upgrade later. Selling your current system later would help to cover some cost at upgrade time.

 

[mandalay]

well if you were lookin at the x1600 pro 512mb I found one for $130.81
for agp

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-X1600P5

For power supplys here are a couple...

http://www.directron.com/4fanpsu.html

http://www.directron.com/w0014.html

http://www.directron.com/cx1450b.html

=o

 

[girlD6]

I am looking at the links now.

Thank you.

 

[mandalay]

ohh, i wasnt sure if you were upgrading your motherboard or not....

If you were then you would most likely be looking at Pci express cards instead of agp..

If you got a certain budget in mind sometimes you can get a video card, motherboard, processor and even new ram for a good price...

 

[girlD6]

In the next month or so I am going to upgrade motherboard, processor and memory. The system that I am upgrading now I will give to my son to save on building him a computer later.

I forgot that he is looking forward to playing this game just as much as I am and his computer stands no chance. He is long overdue for an upgrade.

Any recommendation on how to pull this very overwhelming project of would be very helpful. Thanks

 

[Anoobis]

I forgot that he is looking forward to playing this game just as much as I am and his computer stands no chance. He is long overdue for an upgrade.

What game? You didn't say anything about a game.

 

[girlD6]

Sorry

The Elder Scrolls Oblivion

 

[Anoobis]

If you don't want to spend $300.00 on a new card (I don't think you should), you should seriously be considering the X850XT. This card should still be able to get decent framerates on nice settings in Elder Scrolls IV, it's about half the cost and only requires a 300W PSU. This would be a perfect solution, especially if your passing the system on to your son. There's really no much point in putting a lot of money into this machine. Act fast though, as these things are selling like crazy. If I had PCI-E and $175.00 to spend, this would be the card.

If you feel you MUST spend over $200, you could also look at the 7800GT. Another card that the prices are dropping on and will still be able to play Elder Scrolls IV with nice quality. It says it requires a 450W PSU, but I've read on the forums about people getting by with as little as 350W, so your probably ok with it.

I just don't think you should be putting a whole lot of money into this if you plan on building a new one soon and the cards listed above should do well with ES IV. Which, BTW, you should wait until the new AMD AM2 and Intel Conroe platforms come out before upgrading. AMD should be available in June while Intel should be available sometime in the fall. Wait for some real systems and testing of BOTH platforms before making a decision on that. All this talk about the Conroe VS AM2 is still speculation. Either one may work better for you and your budget.

 

[girlD6]

I was trying to put together a system for the March 21 release date for Oblivion. There is no way I will be able to make the release date since I now have upgrade one computer and build a new one from scratch.

I just checked my son’s computer and the only thing in his system that I can reuse is the sound blaster live. His computer: Celeron 1400 MHz, 256 MHz pc133, ATI 9250 45 gig hard drive and a 25 gig hard drive.

So far I have ordered:

SAPPHIRE 100154 Radeon X1800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card

The Albatron PX915P4C

Antec Power Supply (SP500)

Now I am looking at spending a lot more than $1200 but I can take my time and do it right. I have the money to do this I just think that spending $2000 every two years is too much for me. I upgraded the system I have now December 2004 at a cost of around $1800.

I hope that I can find a reasonable price motherboard, process, video card and memory for my son’s computer.