8x AGP card in 4x slot OK?

[theoaf]

Hi everyone

I'm getting a new monitor tomorrow (Dell 24") and I'm not convinced that it is going to look too pretty with my GeForce3 So I'm looking to get a cheap but good enough AGP card which will tide me over for a little while until I retire my ancient PC and build something more modern!

I was looking at this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127243
as a possible option, but believe it's an 8x card and my motherboard will only run at 4x. (The mobo is an Asus A7A266.)

I know it's a bit crazy to be running a nice modern screen with such old hardware but I'm in no massive rush to upgrade my PC - and would like the benefit of a bit more monitor real estate!

If you reckon the GF3 will be fine(!) then say so, alternatively suggest other cards which will do the job instead if you think the 7600 is unsuitable. I imagine my processor will bottleneck just about any reasonable card anyway

Thanks your help, I'd like to order for next day delivery so let me know what you think ASAP!

Oaf

[shaithis]

What do you use your PC for?

[Steve B]

my integrated graphics chip on my media pc (nvidia 6100) runs at 1920x1200 fine. how this would compare to a GeForce 3, i'm not entirely sure! perhaps someone with more knowledge could assist.

in answer to the AGP question, all AGP interfaces are backwards compatible, unless stated otherwise. So, in all likelyhood, yes, the new one will fir in a 4x slot!

[theoaf]

Hi

Thanks for the quick replies! The PC is used for a mix of stuff, mail/web and some SAP development (it's an ERP solution) and the occasional game. I'm not a big 3D gamer though I thought the extra horsepower of the 7600GT (for not much money) might be useful now and again...

My GF3 has VGA only, would DVI offer a better connection/quality? I'm pretty clueless on the "new" (if you can call it that) stuff like DVI and higher res panels.

Cheers and thanks again

O

[DougMcDonald]

AGP 8x cards will work fine in a 4x board althought obviously not working at their maximum.

I was running a 6600GT in a 4x board for a couple of weeks and didn't have any problems.

To be honest, from the sounds of your system, something like a 7900-esk card might be overkill, I would advise the 6600GT (not sure of prices at the moment, but I got one to superseed my GF4 4400Ti and was not disappointed)

The 6600 is good value for performance and is nice in AGP format, I was running battlefield 2, quake 4, NWN2, company of heroes etc all very comfortably on it.

It also has the DVI output you were asking about.

Seems amazon sell the nice PNY version (The one i've got!) for about £60 -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PNY-GeForce-.../dp/B0006TY5DI

(Ignore the **** review on amazon, the guy is probably a moron! )

[kalniel]

Re DVI: Not hugely

[DougMcDonald]

Aww man, I got ****ing censored!!

[theoaf]

AGP 8x cards will work fine in a 4x board althought obviously not working at their maximum.

....

The 6600 is good value for performance and is nice in AGP format, I was running battlefield 2, quake 4, NWN2, company of heroes etc all very comfortably on it.

Seems amazon sell the nice PNY version (The one i've got!) for about £60 -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PNY-GeForce-.../dp/B0006TY5DI

Sounds like the 4x vs 8x is OK. Most people seemed to say the same when I Googled it.

Thanks for your suggestion. Is the 7600 in my earlier post not a better buy via ebuyer + Google Checkout though?

Thanks for your help

Oaf

[cotswoldcs]

I reckon your current card will be OK (in 2D/ general Windows) but if you do anything in 3D (even a fancy screensaver would suffer at 1920x1200!) then a cheap upgrade would be worth thinking about. Don't overspend since you can't do much with a second hand AGP card once you've built your new system.

Have a look at :

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=498828
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=121496

[DougMcDonald]

Is the 7600 in my earlier post not a better buy via ebuyer + Google Checkout though?

Potentially yes, but via 4x agp you may not be getting the benefit it can offer,

Depends on whether you plan to upgrade other parts (most importantly mobo) and keep the same gfx or whether when upgrading, you would replace the lot.

The thing is, that upgrading to more recent components would most likely mean you would want to use PCI-e rather than AGP, at which point you would probably want a new card, maybe a 7950GT or something if saving a bit of cash.

Not a lot of point in getting the best agp card you can if it's only going to be used on 4x, and also, no real point getting a top end agp card if you plan to switch to pci-e

This is why on balance, maybe a 6600 or something a little older may serve you better.
In terms of a better buy - it may well be, in which case, why not :] if its more expensive though i would go with he cheaper option

[kalniel]

4x AGP is more than fast enough for a 7 series card, don't worry.

The 7600gt is a great card for the money.

[hse180]

It will be fine, running a x800pro in a 4x agp in missus pc.

[theoaf]

Thanks everyone. I decided to go with the 7600 in the end. It's probably slightly OTT given the age of the rest of my system but for the sake of 20 or 30 quid I'm not going to worry.

The whole system will probably get pensioned off at some point and I'll go dual/quad core (with PCI-e obviously) but for now it should suit me fine

I hope the Dell screen is as good as everyone says (2407WFP A04). It was a bit of an impulse buy - and the 19" CRT it replaces is going to need a crane to get it out I fear

Cheers all and thanks again.