AGP graphics Cards. (AKA help me, I'm spoilt for choice)

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 04 Jul 2008, 22:46

Ok, potentially i'm getting a P4 1.8 ghz on monday. Now I need a graphics card.

and looking on sybaritic, the only 3 cards they have in stock that look remotely decent are:

XFX PV-T71A-UDF GeForce 7950GT 8xAGP 256-bit 256MB DDR3 w/TV + 2DVI

Sapphire Radeon HD3650 8xAGP 128-bit 512MB DDR3 w/HDTV + 2DVI

Sapphire Radeon HD3850 8xAGP 256-bit 512MB DDR3 w/HDTV + 2DVI

Any suggestions, would rectron or corex or Eurobyte still have stock of AGP cards and more variety?

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 04 Jul 2008, 23:02

AGP HD3850 8O

That card would be the best choice. They also have them at Prophecy, http://www.prophecy.co.za/-c-37_52_53_424.html

I doubt anything faster has been made, but your CPU wouldn't really be able to push that card anywhere near it's limits unless your using a CRT capable of very high resolutions.

I would definitely get that card if it's within your budget.

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 04 Jul 2008, 23:09

ok i'll punt it once i get my PC. i think it might even be a celeron processor. its a socket 478 motherboard. Its basically a second hand pc from my uncles office. It will be a hell of a lot better than my P3 866Mhz. Um would a 22inch LCD tax it?

Edit: Prophecy doesn't have that model on their site, infact thats the highest spec card i've seen for AGP on any sight i've checked out.

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 04 Jul 2008, 23:19

From eurobyte, and not sure of the price

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GS

or still the radeon which has a higher speed.

Seems like i'll need a new powersupply as well and plenty of ram.

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 05 Jul 2008, 01:35

Prophecy does have the 3850:
http://www.prophecy.co.za/sapphire-1112 ... 23833.html

The HD3850 completely and utterly owns the 7800GS, probably more than double the processing power. The 7800GS needs around 90W and the HD3850 needs 115W so you need a 400W supply to be safe with either of them. A good 350W supply could work.

Make sure the motherboard can take AGP 8x 1.5V cards. Some boards use the old AGP standard and can only run 3.0V cards.

A 22" monitor will work well but you won't be able to play some of the newer games like Crysis because of your CPU. If it's a Celeron, expect only older games to work without lag. Newer games will lag.

If you have some money to spend, it might be better instead of buying a 22" monitor buy a 19" and go for a low end dual core like E4600 and cheap LGA775 motherboard. DDR is getting expensive and DDR2 is dirt cheap. You could then buy the PCI-E HD4850 for the same price as the AGP HD3850.

Maybe it's time for a total platform upgrade?

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 05 Jul 2008, 02:01

didn't see that. ok, i shall make a point of checking those things out on monday.

Ya, i really don'y have the money to buy an all out new pc or i would...

the 22'' Monitor i already have.

the thing is, We have a pretty powerful home PC, so i've been playing all my games on that one. but i can't always use it because it doubles as my mothers work PC and i cannot take it to lans, it cost a hell of alot and if anything happened to it, my parents would kill me...

The newest Game i have is Kane's Wrath and the most demanding would be The Witcher

And as i would be getting this Pc for free, it kinda makes sense to see what i can do with it, with in reason

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 05 Jul 2008, 02:35

Get the 3850 then. It will drive that 22" nicely. You should keep your eyes out for people selling their old P4 systems, you could pick up a 3.2Ghz P4 HT for R200-R300 which would boost your power immensely, but check if your mobo can take 800 FSB CPUs.

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 05 Jul 2008, 12:54

Ok, ill check that out on monday too. i know its a gigabyte board but i couldn't find the model number on it. I have a feeling it won't support an 800 FSB CPU.

Edit: Sybaritic has intel socket 479 porcessors for sale, surely they are 478's

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 05 Jul 2008, 13:48

Forgive me but wont the old tech CPU be a HUGE bottleneck for something like a 3850?

WiK1d · Post by **WiK1d** » 05 Jul 2008, 13:58

da_ripper wrote:Edit: Sybaritic has intel socket 479 porcessors for sale, surely they are 478's

Nope, 479 are Mobile CPU's for Laptops.

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 05 Jul 2008, 14:23

@ Dae: it could be.

@Wikid Do the mobile CPu's work in the ordinary 478 sockets?

psYChowIt · Post by **psYChowIt** » 05 Jul 2008, 17:09

RobThePyro · Post by **RobThePyro** » 05 Jul 2008, 17:17

dude, please. socket 775 if your buying new stuff! otherwise your gonna kick yourself

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 05 Jul 2008, 21:36

RobThePyro wrote:dude, please. socket 775 if your buying new stuff! otherwise your gonna kick yourself

As i Said, I'm getting A second hand PC, Its free! and I can't afford to buy a completely new PC.

Otherwise i would

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 05 Jul 2008, 21:37

psYChowIt wrote:nope

Refering to what?

psYChowIt · Post by **psYChowIt** » 05 Jul 2008, 21:53

"Do the mobile CPu's work in the ordinary 478 sockets?"

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 05 Jul 2008, 23:34

Mobile socket 479 mobile processors can work in your 478 system if you get the right adapter. Dothan CPUs were extremely overclockable and could be run overclocked them through the roof in a s478 provided you had the right adapter. These adapter's are as rare as hen's teeth and only certain mobo makers (ASUS mostly) had them available for select mobos. If you get get an adapter, a Dothan 2.0Ghz CPU you could probably clock it to 2.6Ghz-3.0Ghz and would perform very well, comparable to a FX-57 AMD CPU. Even then you still wouldn't be able to run all the very modern games because it's a single core.

It's not a viable upgrade path, it was before c2d but the costs involved would make it highly obsolete.

A HD3850 is highly overpowered compared to a Celeron, but if that's what he's limited to and cannot go S775 E4600, it would still be the best choice. Some modern games that aren't too dependant on CPU power would play very well. A 7800GS (ie 16 pixel pipe crippled 7800GT) is a waste of time, even though it would be a better match to the CPU. A 320 pixel shader ATI card is totally overpowered on a Celery, but sometimes too much power is better than too little power.

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 07 Jul 2008, 01:05

I do agree its a very dead upgrade path. Made all the worse because not even the graphics card could be passed onto a newer computer in the future. So i will give it a very thorough consideration before upgrading. As for what games i'd run on it, well nothing too modern. We don't tend to play the latest games at lans and the kind of games i'd be running on it, it would handle and the others i'll play on my mom's pc. But none the less, here is hoping its a pentium 4 and not celery

question: are there any lga775 boards that still have an agp socket? Or both agp and pci express 16x or and amd board with similar properties that are still for sale?

thanks people

and please excuse my ignorance, i've been out of touch with the hardware and tech scene for a little while.

Post by **GDI_Lord** » 07 Jul 2008, 08:10

Dude, my recommendation is to get the 3850. It's the best graphics card one can get for AGP right now. One can always overclock the CPU to try and get less of a bottleneck, but you'll appreciate the extra graphical firepower.

Ark · Post by **Ark** » 07 Jul 2008, 09:31

curious question.. how muh you paying for the graphics card?

the reason why I'm asking this is because your cpu will never let a high end card like that perform to its peak. I think you'll get better performance out of your rig if you buy a cheaper graphics card and spend the remaining cash on upgrading your mobo/cpu

psYChowIt · Post by **psYChowIt** » 07 Jul 2008, 10:51

@ Ark - R2395.69 (inc VAT)

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 07 Jul 2008, 11:13

ok well that idea goes out the window. Opened the case and took the heatsink off the processor. Its a Socket 370 1.2Ghz Celeron. which means its not worth it for me to do anything with. so i'll put linux on it and pass it on to our domeestic worker who's kids needs a PC...

There is another P4 board. socket 478m, 1.8 ghz but it has no AGP. also useless.

Thanks Guys.

Hman · Post by **Hman** » 07 Jul 2008, 11:22

Pretty much, you don't get fast PCI cards, and they're expensive.

Mow · Post by **Mow** » 07 Jul 2008, 11:27

Dude , buying a R500 motherboard and a 1950gt PCi-E card with a E2180 would give you much better performance. Lets look at that.

1950gt = 699 ex vat
2180 = 599 ex vat

rest on mobo .

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 07 Jul 2008, 11:36

Mow wrote:Dude , buying a R500 motherboard and a 1950gt PCi-E card with a E2180 would give you much better performance. Lets look at that.

1950gt = 699 ex vat
2180 = 599 ex vat

rest on mobo .

Hmmm ill check that out, that would be worth it. start with a motherboard upgrade and then a CPU upgrade in about 6 months?

thanks