New AGP Card Which one?

[ChocoLab]

Hi,

I am looking at upgrading my 7950GT AGP Video Card to one of the better ATI AGP cards.

Which one of the following cards are best for my gaming? I have researched them but can not find much info on them.

PowerColor HD3850 512MB GDDR3 AGP
http://www.powercolor.com/au/products_features.asp?ProductID=4584


PowerColor HD4670 1GB DDR3 AGP
http://www.powercolor.com/au/products_features.asp?ProductID=5808


I would have thought the newer HD4670 is a better card but I am totally confused as the HD3850 is more expensive everywhere I look, is it because of the difference between the Memory Interface?

My PC can run both of these cards as I have checked both the system requirements.

Thanks in advance!

 

[grieve]

I don't think i would upgrade any AGP card at this point...

You are better off saving some cash and buying a low end rig for $600 that will trounce anything with an AGP slot.

 

[frozentundra123456]

The 3850 and 4670 are about the same in performance. The 4670 would use less power and run cooler. You didnt mention any other system specs, but as the previous poster stated, you might be better off getting a new system, depending on what kind of processor you have.

 

[ColMirage]

Trust me, it's not worth it. You'll barely even notice the difference because you CPU will bottleneck it.

 

[ChocoLab]

I have a P4 3.00GHz. I was thinking if I can upgrade the GPU for $150 I can get another year out of my PC.

 

[cjl]

A 3GHz P4 is rather pathetically slow by today's standards. A cheap ($50) modern CPU would utterly flatten that P4 in every possible way.

In fact, this build right here would blow it away (I'm assuming you can reuse the case, OS, and monitor):

CPU and Mobo ($210): http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.239834
Video: ($110): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150337
PSU ($50): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
RAM ($70): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148262

Total: $440

For even less money (though this one is slower and less upgradable):

CPU ($60): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688
Mobo ($60): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135240
Graphics ($110): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150337
PSU ($50): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
RAM ($47): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211188

Total: $327

If you need an OS as well, you could always install the win7 RC which doesn't expire for nearly a year and is free right now, or buy this for $110:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116677

Even if you buy the copy of Vista, the total is around $550 for the first system or $440 for the second, and both would give you a much better gaming experience than you could ever hope for on that P4.

 

[vectorwolf]

I upgraded my older P4 3.2Ghz system with the 3850 a couple months back. It DID offer a small extra bit of performance, being what I think is the best (?) AGP card available. The previous bottleneck comment is, unfortunately, true however. The P4 can only keep up with the card to a point. Only really worth the cash if you have a truly outdated card.

Recently however, I spent approximately $460 (before shipping) building this new PC, and it's easily 2x faster than the old P4 rig. If you can stand using the current card a while longer, might not be a bad idea to save up for a new system altogether. Plenty of *very* good, and inexpensive, components are available nowadays.