AGP Graphics

[brammers]

Evening all

I'm not a hardcore gamer anymore, but I still enjoy the odd game and would like performance.

Unfortunately I'm still using AGP...

System is:

Athlon XP3200+
1.5gig PC3200
Windows XP

The budget is as close to £100 as possible!

The options seem to be:

GF6600GT 128mb (£90inc)
GF6600GT 256mb (£105 inc, though currently unavail)
GF7600GS 512mb (£105 inc)
GF7600GT 256mb (£130inc)
X1600Pro 256mb (£80 inc)
X1600XT 256mb (I can't find one! Are these available in AGP? I've heard they are)
X800 GTO 256mb (£117 inc)

That's quite a list of cards that seem to overlap massively in terms of what they can and can't do - Shader 3.0 vs 2.0 is thrown about as well as the different RAM amounts.

My main apps are:

Halflife 2 + mods (can't wait for TF2 or the Fortress Forever TFC port)
Battlefield 2
C&C Gens
The upcoming C&C title.

I'd like medium detail and about 1024*768

I'm quite sceptical about the ability of some of those cards to use their more advanced featuresets - sure an X1600 can run Shader 3.0, but can it do it at a steady 40fps? Am I better off going for one of the older generation with less features, but more raw horsepower?

Have I missed something? I daresay I have...

All advice VERY gratefully received - as you can see by my system I'm 3 years out of date when it comes to this and the benchmarks I'm reading atm aren't exactly clarifying the picture (sites seem quite poor when generations overlap, although I can't say I blame them)

Thanks again!

Adam

[jackvdbuk]

well ru on the same boat as me... and the card im thinkign of gettin is the Nvidia Geforce 6800gs, the 7800gs is a bad performance/ value ... the 6800 gs can be had for about 100/110 on ebay..

[Sumanji]

7600GT 256 MB is the best of the bunch from the cards you mentioned.. although I wasn't aware they were available as AGP cards?

[brammers]

7600GT available here in AGP:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...ics_Cards.html

Is that right? My second choice is currently the X1600 Pro 256mb at half the price. Any guestimates as to how this would run those games I've listed, and how long I could keep dragging it out for future titles?

I think my CPU/RAM combo is fairly respectable still - is this the case? Apologies for basic, possibly googleable questions, but I'm really behind the times and would appreciate some knowledgable advice.

[Sumanji]

Wow cool, thought it was only the GS on AGP

The info you are looking for is highly Googleable

But yeah the 7600GT will be more than ample. Head on over to Tom's Hardware and look at their GPU charts, that is a great place to compare different graphics cards.

For reference, I first played HL2 on a P4 3.2GHz with a 9800 Pro with a mix of high and medium details at 1024x768... got roughly 40-60fps, so you will do better with a 7600GT I'd imagine

[MSIC]

The 7600GT is a great card (i have one) but at that price i'm not convinced it's the best value for money.
The GS version (same functions, slower speeds) is much better value for money at £67 at Scan.
It will out-perform a 6600GT.

AVOID the 512 MB version - pure marketing, no performace benefit.

[Clingy]

Nice Thread....exactly my dilemma!

Saw that Leadtek 7600GT but £130 plus and not in stock yet. Thanks MSIC. Was probably going to settle for a 6600GT so 7600GS looks good. I'm probably trying to keep my spend below £80. What about the 7300GT?

Sumanji.....dont suppose you have a link to the correct page....I have been googling all weekend and cant find an up to date comprehensive comparison table.

[shaithis]

If your considering a £130 gfx card, you'd do much better spending 40-50 of that on a PCI-E mobo and the rest on a PCI-E gfx card. Probably get more performance for the same money.

[pmanington]

Actually AGP gfx cards perform identically to their PCIe equivalents

[chuckskull]

7600GT, stay away from the GS, nowhere near as good a card.

[noveltylamp]

Why not consider the 7300GT? I beleive it performs better than the 6600GT, is available in AGP and is < &#163;100.

[MSIC]

7600GT, stay away from the GS, nowhere near as good a card.

Comparing price and performance, the GS is between 50 to 70% as good as the GT, depending on the games, resolution, and assuming the rest of your system never becomes a bottleneck.
Providing that the cost remains between 50% and 70% (ish) of a comparable GT, then all is well.
The cheapest 7600GT is &#163;129.24.
The cheapest 7600GS is &#163;66.98.
This makes it good value, even better if you factor in Scan's free shipping etc.
I stand by my original recommendation (but the 7600GT is still a great card).
Regarding the 7300GT's, i can't find any. A prize to anyone who can post a link to one.

[Sumanji]

Regarding the 7300GT's, i can't find any. A prize to anyone who can post a link to one.

4th card down here... and also 6,7,8 and 9!

Where's my prize dammit

[edit] You're in Nottingham as well, you can come and give me my prize

[Clingy]

Close but no cigar...that's PCI-E

How about here

[Sumanji]

Owned

I still get a prize... right?

[Clingy]

Lol...yeah I'm sure MSIC will oblige

Eventually found the comparison chart....took me ages....lol

here