Another AGP users quandry...

U

Ultima99

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Messages
4,905
Hey guys, I'm about to pull my hair out over what to do with my system for a video card upgrade.

I currently have the following in my system.

Athlon64 3400+ socket 754
Abit KV8 Pro mobo
1.5GB DDR 400 SDRAM
Geforce 4 Ti4400 128MB AGP

I am perfectly happy with my CPU's performance, I just need a better video card to enhance my WoW widescreen gaming experience.

The options I've found to date are as follows.

1. Buy an AGP card to replace the Gf4.

Gf6200 - cheap & easy - How big a difference would this be?

Gf6600 - fairly cheap & easy - Probably a decent performance increase.

Gf6800GS - Too much money - I'd probably spring for the 7800GS before I did this.

GF 7800 GS - The best AGP card, but expensive and nothing like a PCI-E 7800

2. Make the move to Socket 939 & PCI-E

The expense here has really turned me off to this idea considering my A64 3400+ still does the job more than adequately.

3. Buy a Socket 754 PCI-E mobo and get a PCI-E video card.

I'm really looking into this option, since I could get a much better video card and still use my old CPU. Any suggestions on going this route?

There my dilemma. #2 is pretty much out, I'm not made of money. #1 is aggravating, so I'm leaning towards #3.

Please give me some good input on this, its much appreciated.


Edit: I do favor Nvidia based cards for the replacement.
 
I faced this problem not to long ago, and ended up with an EPoX EP-8NPA SLI s754 motherboard, and an eVGA 7600GT.

the 7600GT performs almost exactly like a 7800GS, and now I have a PCIe SLI motherboard so I actualy HAVE an upgrade path. Funny that its actualy cheaper to do this than to just buy a 7800GS though.
 
Thanks for the input, glad to hear from someone who got stuck where I am now.

I might be looking to get into a 7900 GT though since I would be going through the trouble of all this.
 
If you're just going to play WoW, you should get something like a 6600 GT. If you really want to save money I'm sure you can find a great deal on a used one.
 
Like the poster said above me, If you are JUST going to play WoW, even a 6600GT should provide some good framerates. Perhaps a 6800NU also. You could go either route for <$150 and just get an AGP card.

Though making to the move to a PCI-express based system wouldn't be very painful -- in fact I kind of reccomend it. I also have a 3400+ S754 and it does a wonderful job at every game I've thrown at it so far. My 6600GT is showing its age, though. Since I have PCI-express I can easily make the move to a 7600GT or 7900GT if funds are abundant.

I would suggest moving to PCI-express and perhaps going for a 7600GT. The 7600GT's are ~$150 after rebate already, and you could get a very nice S754 PCI-express motherboard for less than $100 easily. If you like the idea of being able to go SLI, the epox 8NPA is a fairly nice board.

Your 3400+ is no bottleneck and there's no reason for you to go to 939, so I'd say option 1 if you want completely painless upgrade, option 3 if you would like to move up to more current tech and open up more upgrade paths and options. I would do number 3.
 
what if im just a die hard agp hold out?

im currently on an x800 pro, im goin to pickup a 7800 GS OC and then give my x800 pro in my dads pc....the whole reason for me to get a new video card, cuz im tired of bf2 runnin on his pc like crap with the 9600 pro he has....

and ill be happy with the latest n greatest agp

cuz i just dont wanna upgrade to pci-e and new cpu, i wanna wait till amd's M2 stuff comes out, and they go w/ ddr2, so im hopin this rig will hold out w/ me for another 3 or so years with this upgrade....who knows though.
 
I'm sorta in your position. I <3 my 2800+, would love to move to dualcore/PCIe but definitely not made of money.

You should browse the FS/T forums for a nice used 6800GT. Shouldn't be very expensive.
 
fark it. i got the 7800gs oc or whatever from BB, meh time to toy with it :)
 
Viper87227 said:
if your going the 754 PCIE route, I strongly reccomend this board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138268

Just used it ina build for my sister... its a fantastic board. Great overclocking. If your not into that, at stock its an incredably stable board.
Click to expand...
Only problem with that is its a Micro ATX motherboard, and they can be too short for some cases (Expansion slots dont reach far enough to line up)

If you have a case that will fit it ok, and you dont want SLI it looks like a great solution; if not, EPoX FTW :D
 
Heres what I did using the 1st system in sig, went to overclockersuk and got a Gainward 7800gs bliss. Whats special about this card is its got a 7900 core on it and 512megs ddr3 and all 24 pipes on it and its in agp. Cost is high but in my case I have hardware that going down the chain and untill my linux box grows pcix and AM2 socket I needed at least one more agp card to hold me over. Now this might not work for you in your case but it is another option available to you if you need more options. Just my 2 cents worth. ;)
 
Ultima99 said:
Thanks for the input, glad to hear from someone who got stuck where I am now.
Click to expand...

i too was faced with the same problem. i was using an asus k8v se deluxe mobo with a 9800pro. i thought about the 6800gs or 7800 gs agp. decisions, decisions.

finally i purchased an abit nv8 pci-e mobo and an evga 7600gt. the combo was less expensive than a 6800gs agp on it's own. who knows. i may trade up to a 7900gt within 90 days (step up program) and i should be set for some time. i say ditch the agp board.
 
I just purchased a x800xl off the sale/trade forum here to replace my aging 9700 non pro.
It was a very nice increase in frame rates. Obviously I sill have an agp system as well, but
I think I'm going to wait a bit and see how the new dual core "Conroe" and AMD chips are
before I make another system upgrade. With the kind of work I do on my computer dual
core looks VERY nice. That's one thing to think about, if you go PCI-E right now are you
going to have a board that supports the newer processors on the horizon. Perhaps you
have no interest in future dual core systems (or maybe you'd be more than satisfied with
what's offered right now). Just a thought.
 
OK, from a fellow WoW user, and stuck with AGP (for now), I would have to say pick up an EVGA AGP 660GT. You can pick them up dirt cheap, and I easily have my core overclocked by 100Mhz, and the ram by 50Mhz, on water cooling. I am also only running on a p4 3.0, and WoW runs super smooth.

I know you can pick up a 660GT for around $100-$120. Then you can just wait and save up for your next computer overhaul.

My 2 cents.
 
sell current cpu/mobo/vid card, but new 939 mobo/DC opteron cpu/pci-e vid card

i was in the same situation, i maybe came out of pocket $200, best upgrade i ever have done

the longer you put it off, the more it will cost, do it now
 
Ultima99 said:
1a. Gf6200 - cheap & easy - How big a difference would this be?

1b. Gf6600 - fairly cheap & easy - Probably a decent performance increase.

1c. Gf6800GS - Too much money - I'd probably spring for the 7800GS before I did this.

1d. GF 7800 GS - The best AGP card, but expensive and nothing like a PCI-E 7800

2. Make the move to Socket 939 & PCI-E

The expense here has really turned me off to this idea considering my A64 3400+ still does the job more than adequately.

3. Buy a Socket 754 PCI-E mobo and get a PCI-E video card.
Click to expand...
1a. - will be slower than your current videocard, even though it supports newer features.
1b.- will be about the same speed, but give you some new features, sadly when those features are turned on, it will probably be slower (though look better) than your current card.
1c. - reasonable option, will extend the use of your system another year or so
1d. - great videocard, but then a year from now, you'll have a decent videocard, and want a new CPU (compared to Conroe & other new chips!), but no new CPU's will be AGP. Luckily there will probably still be plenty of people with old system who will buy your videocard used.

2. doesn't really make sense since 939 will soon be faced out for AM2, so why buy a new CPU & MOBO & VIDEOcard.

3. might be the best compromise. extend the use of your CPU & ram. And you can get a GOOD (PCIe) videocard that might last you a few upgrades.

4. Wait a little longer and do a whole upgrade to DDR2 & PCIe, which will last you A LOT longer. (AM2 system or Conroe - if you're smart!)
 
Yea, uh, WoW? That thing caps out at Max EVERYTHING at around a 6600GT/6800 Ultra esque card
 
Thanks for all the replies. Yeah I know WoW isn't too demanding and it does command all of my gaming focus currently. However I do hear about UT2007 and wonder if I should limit myself with a 6xxx card. Then again the WoW expansion will come out and I will never break away from it :rolleyes:

I'm really eager to make a decision on this and with my 6xxx hesistation I expect I will go with the PCI-E 754 route.

Now my internal struggle boils down to 7600 vs 7900....

I will let you guys know what I end up doing.

Again thanks for all the suggestions.
 
chrisf6969 said:
2. doesn't really make sense since 939 will soon be faced out for AM2, so why buy a new CPU & MOBO & VIDEOcard.
Click to expand...

AM2 was not worth waiting for, it sucks compared to Conroe and is only marginally faster than 939 systems (only measureable in benchmarks, you would never see a difference in real-world computing) + costs more, i equate it to the introduction of Dual Channel memory configurations, a 5% gain at best at a higher price, not significant, besides, 939 prices should come down a little bit at the AM2 release, which would make 939 an even better buy

AM2 will be the step that was pretty much useless other than to have a working DDR2 platform before the "next big thing", but anyone who was holding out on a 939 system in order to go AM2 wasted alot of time and expected too much from AM2, for current 939 users, AM2 should be skipped entirely
 
nobody_here said:
AM2 was not worth waiting for, it sucks compared to Conroe and is only marginally faster than 939 systems (only measureable in benchmarks, you would never see a difference in real-world computing) + costs more, i equate it to the introduction of Dual Channel memory configurations, a 5% gain at best at a higher price, not significant, besides, 939 prices should come down a little bit at the AM2 release, which would make 939 an even better buy

AM2 will be the step that was pretty much useless other than to have a working DDR2 platform before the "next big thing", but anyone who was holding out on a 939 system in order to go AM2 wasted alot of time and expected too much from AM2, for current 939 users, AM2 should be skipped entirely
Click to expand...

The point of going to AM2 is so he can get upgrade later. Just like right now he can't get an X2 for his 754 socket, later on, the latest greatest chips will only be released on AM2.

Also, he will be able to keep the components like DDR2 & PCIe card for at least the next upgrade, if not next 2 upgrades.

Personally, I'm going to a Conroe system next.
 
Ultima99 said:
Thanks for all the replies. Yeah I know WoW isn't too demanding and it does command all of my gaming focus currently. However I do hear about UT2007 and wonder if I should limit myself with a 6xxx card. Then again the WoW expansion will come out and I will never break away from it :rolleyes:

I'm really eager to make a decision on this and with my 6xxx hesistation I expect I will go with the PCI-E 754 route.

Now my internal struggle boils down to 7600 vs 7900....

I will let you guys know what I end up doing.

Again thanks for all the suggestions.
Click to expand...

If you have the money I say go for the 7900 or an X1800XT. Both cards have great performance, and will probably last a bit longer then the 7600.
 
Yeah, I've come to that conclusion myself.

Some suggest selling what I have and moving to 939 now. With AM2 coming I don't want to lock myself into the same situation so soon.

Some suggest to sit on what I have and wait for AM2. Well I've read the initial AM2 stuff will be only marginally faster than current 939 systems, but will likely have a premium cost. As such neither appeals to me.

I will get a 754 PCI-E board and a 7900 GT. This will hold me over to the point I forsee the A64 3400 no longer being adequate. (Somehow I forsee this around when we see the 2nd wave of AM2 platform launches) yeah, im psychic ;)
 
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