AGP Upgrade worth it?

Eickst

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 24, 2005
Messages
1,884
Here are my current system spec, it's old....

Athlon X2 4400
Abit AV8 Motherboard
2GB DDR400
WD Raptor 74GB
Antec Neo 500w PSU
Sapphire X800XT PE


An entire system upgrade is out of the question, the person who controls my budget (my wife lol) won't go for it right now, maybe next year I can get away with an entire overhaul.

I was looking at the Sapphire AGP 3850 video card on newegg -

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814102730

It's $95 (plus tax and shipping so probably $115 total) and my question is, is this a worthwhile upgrade and can I expect better performance out of this card?

I only use a 22" monitor, so resolution never exceeds 1680x1050, and I don't play the latest shooters, I play BF2, X3:Reunion and Terran Conflict, Total War series, etc.

Thoughts?
 
Well think of it this way, on APG the $115 total gets you something a full generation behind and one level lower than the 4870, which is priced similarly for PCi-E (recently got one for $122). If I were you I would just wait for a total system change, as it's not likely you'll be able to sell the 3850 for much of anything when you do upgrade in the next year.
 
Probably not. Parted out on fleabay your Mobo/Cpu/Ram should get $200-300; which is enough to build an entry level athlon II quadcore system at which point you can get a much better GPU for your $100.
 
Here are my current system spec, it's old....

Athlon X2 4400
Abit AV8 Motherboard
2GB DDR400
WD Raptor 74GB
Antec Neo 500w PSU
Sapphire X800XT PE


An entire system upgrade is out of the question, the person who controls my budget (my wife lol) won't go for it right now, maybe next year I can get away with an entire overhaul.

I was looking at the Sapphire AGP 3850 video card on newegg -

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814102730

It's $95 (plus tax and shipping so probably $115 total) and my question is, is this a worthwhile upgrade and can I expect better performance out of this card?

I only use a 22" monitor, so resolution never exceeds 1680x1050, and I don't play the latest shooters, I play BF2, X3:Reunion and Terran Conflict, Total War series, etc.

Thoughts?
that 3850 is the fastest AGP card, and i recommend the upgrade path to it... that card should be able to last for you until you overhaul your system...
(i am still on a GeForce Go 7800 GTX/256MB)
 
you will get an improvement regardless

if you do get a new GFX why not the 4650 for the same price(cheaper by a buck with shipping)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161308


not sure if it doesnt fit the bill, but i would think it has the same performance, maybe better since it is a 4*** series not a 3*** series......


though i would recomend waiting until next year when you can get a new build(assuming nothing blows up :O )
 
You might also consider the HD2400 Pro. That's what I ran in my old system, upgrade from a GeForce FX5200. Great results.
 
You might look at the 4670, not quite as fast as a 3850 but it probably won't make too much difference with that processor anyway.

The X800XTPE really isn't too horrible. Really the major downside to the card is no Pixel Shader 3.0 support, so there are a few games such as Grid that will not run on the card. I used an X800XTPE in my Dual-Xeon rig before I upgraded in 2007 and it still runs great in there as a secondary rig. I can even hit playable FPS in games like Farcry2.
 
It's worth it if you want to revive that PC. I have a couple of AGP rigs and have "revived" them all by buying that same exact card and man I can tell you they rock it out.
 
if you can find a cheap 1950pro, that would work well.
i just sold off a system close to yours that ive been using for the last 2 years. a x2 4800+, 1.5gigs ram (found an extra 512 laying around so i tossed it in) and a 1950xt agp. it still ran almost every game on high settings with no aa, frame rates were on the low side ill admit, but considering its age it worked surprisingly well.
 
You might also consider the HD2400 Pro. That's what I ran in my old system, upgrade from a GeForce FX5200. Great results.

The 3850 would be a MUCH larger leap over the HD 2400 Pro, but as someone else pointed out I'm not sure if the X2 4400 would be able to take advantage of the extra bandwidth. An X1950 series card is better, but if the X2 can drive it the 3850 is about as good as he's gonna get. I guess it depends on what kind of price/performance ratio you're comfortable with. If the X1950 could be found for 1/2 price, it's offers more than 50% of the performance of the 3850 but from what I've seen the better AGP cards command quite a premium. Lots of people trying to sell the last good AGP cards for $60-$80 it seems. If you could find an X1950 for around the $40-$50 mark it would be a nice cheap upgrade; otherwise I'd go for the 3850.
 
answer to title question....no, unless you are going to "revive" it to retro, old school performance. That retro rig of yours would bring a few bucks now. People are paying alot for that old school stuff now a days....939 is hot stuff.
 
Last edited:
I don't know if what you're doing is worth it from an overall economical sense. Many people, myself included, by computers in parts at different times. You'll essentially throw away money that could have been a new motherboard when you do upgrade.

You don't necessarily have to buy everything at once. Buy the video card first and fill out the warranty, then go for the memory (it's usually lifetime) then get maybe a barebones system to fill the rest of it out. The problem you have is that you're not just outdated by performance, but standards, and when that happens you just need to suck it up and upgrade. Putting it off makes matters even worse. The longer you wait the worse it will be. Especially if something dies on your machine and you have to buy a replacement part. DDR is more expensive than DDR2, replacing a 939 CPU is almost impossible, and so on and so on.
 
Do you plan on upgrading the system in the next year?
If yes, don't buy it. If you plan to wait at least two, then yes, go ahead.

One thing everyone here seems to be overlooking is that there's value in putting off an upgrade as well. As you wait prices drop. An AM3 board isn't cheap now, but it will be in 2 years. You'll also get twice the memory for the same cost.

With your system, and this card, you can play every game out there. Not on max settings, but then again neither can someone with a 3ghz quad ;)
 
My sugestion would be to either wait, or...

Buy a PCI-e 939 motherboard. If you look around on the forums, you can pick one up for $40/shipped pretty easily. Then you could get an 8800GT for under $70/shipped or a 9600GSO for around $50/shipped.

I think that would be a much better upgrade path, and ALOT better GPU for your money.
 
My sugestion would be to either wait, or...

Buy a PCI-e 939 motherboard. If you look around on the forums, you can pick one up for $40/shipped pretty easily. Then you could get an 8800GT for under $70/shipped or a 9600GSO for around $50/shipped.

I think that would be a much better upgrade path, and ALOT better GPU for your money.

That's not a bad idea as essentially all you would have to do is swap out the motherboard and vid card and keep the rest. Probably a little better bang for the same buck.
 
If, by chance, that X2 4400 is a S939 CPU, you could sell it for a pretty penny and buy a new system
 
Tell your wife 2012 is COMING!!! and you can try to save the world with the new corei7 rig :D
 
I was in your same shoes last year. Had an x800xt and upgraded to a x1950pro. Im summary, save your money, the difference was hardly noticeable and definitely not worth $100+
 
Take it from a guy who knows (see sig).

It's worth it.

(Get the 3850)
 
Buy a PCI-e 939 motherboard. If you look around on the forums, you can pick one up for $40/shipped pretty easily. Then you could get an 8800GT for under $70/shipped or a 9600GSO for around $50/shipped.

I think that would be a much better upgrade path, and ALOT better GPU for your money.

I second this. For anyone that wants to play recent games, AGP has been dead for a while now. If you can manage it, definitely get yourself a motherboard that will accommodate PCI-e, and then a decent PCI-e card. It might end up being slightly more than the AGP 3850 you were looking at, but it'll cost much less than an entire system upgrade and provide more performance than upgrading to a better AGP card (not to mention you'll be future-proofing a bit).

You're planning to spend $115 for an AGP card upgrade, so why not spend $150 on a newer motherboard + a PCI-e card? It's a much wiser investment, IMO.
 
Thanks for the comments, I'm going to try to keep an eye out for a used socket 939 board with a PCI-E slot, and pick up a PCI-E video card. If I can't find one I'll probably just hang on to this old junker until I get budgetary approval from the speaker of the house.
 
I've always had good luck with the users here in the FS/FT section. Never had a problem, and prices are reasonable if you look around for a good deal.
 
Thanks for the comments, I'm going to try to keep an eye out for a used socket 939 board with a PCI-E slot, and pick up a PCI-E video card. If I can't find one I'll probably just hang on to this old junker until I get budgetary approval from the speaker of the house.

Sounds like a good idea. Another thing with the PCI-e video card, is that when you decide your CPU isn't cutting it any more, and you upgrade your CPU/Motherboard/Memory, that you already have your video card for a newer system.
 
That is a decent video card.

Might be able to save more money buy buying one used.
 
hey i have a 3850 i was using in an opteron 170 @ 2.8ghz rig, it was made by powercolor
http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?ProductID=1730

oh and mine was the all copper cooler not that black plasticy looking one

it worked really well and you could overclock the hell out of it according to a lot of reviews.

if you can overclock your cpu it will really make it shine but a 4400+ at stock isnt really that bad either.

anyway i was going to update or post a new FS thread in the fs/ft section, but if you are interested in it, just send me a pm

i got the powercolor one bcs it had the zerotherm cooler on it, and yes it did keep it nice and cool and the fan was really quiet as well.
 
Back
Top