Self-build advice - motherboard/graphics

[Smudger]

Hi there, I'm currently building a PC (3200+ AMD 64, 512mb RAM) and mistakenly ordered the Asus A8V AGP mother board when I wanted the PCI-e one. Is it worth the hassle of sending it back and asking for a swap for a PCI-e board with a view to putting in a PCI-e video card, or should I just make do and put in an AGP video card? I'm not too bothered about playing the latest games, just don't want a computer that's going to be obselete in a month's time...

[ajones]

I would say that if you're not too bothered about playing the latest games, then you should be ok with AGP. By the time you need to upgrade, there'll be a new technology available anyways!

[Smudger]

OK, thanks for that.

Now the next bit, can anyone recommend a decent AGP graphics card for c£50? Or am I aiming too low there?

[ifyouknowme]

ti4200 10 quid ebay

[Smudger]

OK, cheers, I'll have a look for that.

In my 'huge' game collection, I've got Call of Duty and Black & White, will it be able to play them at a decent refresh rate?

[NikolaX]

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=302976&cks=PRL
this is best for 50 £
if you find 9800pro or 6600 for c£ then go for it.
one more for less money - Hercules 3D Prophet 9600SE (25£)-http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_This_Week_Only_25.html#aGX_2d026_2dHE

[iranu]

or a 9700pro for £50 here http://www.retekdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Video_Cards.html

[Smudger]

OK, thanks guys, I shall have a look at all of those.

[Smudger]

Right, what's the difference between the 9600SE and Pro? And between them and the 9700? Is a 9600 pro with 256MB better than a 9700 with 128?

Confused...

[NightshadowUK]

The Pro version of the card is better than the standard and SE versions.

Onto the 9600Pro vs. the 9700, I'd be tempted to go with the 9600Pro. How much are each?

[iranu]

the 9600se is a cut down version and is an absolute stinker. There's no real advantage of having 256mb on a 9600pro. The plain 128mb 9700 is a better/faster card than the 256mb 9600pro. The 9700pro is even better still and for £50 would be my choice without any doubt.

I am still using one I bought from retek 2 years ago for £160 and it plays serious sam2 and call of duty 2 demos fine. No trouble with WoW either so it will do everything you want of it.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...229/index.html gives benchmarks for AGP cards.

[jamena]

I have a 128mb 9800pro AIW which I picked up new (retail boxed) for £76 a few months ago and it's happily coping with BF2 and CSSource at 1280x960 with graphics on medium. from what I hear then 9600pro will cope with them too, only not quite as well, so I doubt your box would become obsolete too quickly. I would avoid the nvidia 4200 as it's a bit past it and simply does not work with some games already. Possibly look at the low-end nvidia 6series cards (dunno what 6200/6600 performance is like but they aren't too expensive) or ati x300/x700 on a budget?

One thing to consider is whether you intend to use dual monitors or linux, in which case I am told that Nvidia is a better route to take at the moment.

[NightshadowUK]

What about a 9600XT?

[NikolaX]

XT is just little bump in core and memory clocks, nothig more.

Complete comparsion :

9600SE - 4 pipes / 64 bit mem. bus / fillrate- 1300 MTexels/s / Memory bandwidth - 3.20 GB/s

9600 - 4 pipes / 128bit mem. bus / fillrate- 1300 MTexels/s / Memory bandwidth - 6.40 GB/s

9600pro - 4 pipes / 128bit mem. bus / fillrate- 1600 MTexels/s / Memory bandwidth - 9.60 GB/s

9600XT - 4 pipes / 128bit mem. bus / fillrate- 2000 MTexels/s /
Memory bandwidth - 9.60 GB/s - only bump in core mhz

9700 - 8 pipes / 256bit. mem. bus / fillrate- 2200 MTexels/s / Memory bandwidth - 17.28 GB/s

9700 pro - 8 pipes / 256bit. mem. bus / fillrate- 2600 MTexels/s / Memory bandwidth - 19.84 GB/s

9800 pro - better mhz in core and mem.

So if this 50 £ is correct price for 9700 pro GO for it!

I hope this was helpfull

[Smudger]

I ended up going for the 9700pro. Thanks for the advice, guys.

[specofdust]

Those are good cards, my brothers got one(well, actually its a 9500Pro, but its softmodded to be a 9700PRo) and they've very good cards for their time. Plays CoD without any bother at 1280x1024 with lots of nice settins