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Best AGP card?

N

netside

n00b
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Sep 20, 2009
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My computer is without PCI-E slots, but I don't want to build or buy a new PC because the rig I have now has Dual Xeon 3.06Ghz processors. It has an AGP slot only.. and I was wondering what the best video card for an AGP slot would be, that is 100$ or under. Thanks, and any help would be greatfully appreciated.
 
There is also a 4670, memory seems to only be 128bit, but overall clock speeds are faster. You can compare the specs on newegg, they are both listed and priced within 10 - 20$
 
X1950 is also a good choice if you can find one. I have one now on craig's list.
 
The HD3850 is the best AGP card.

The HD4670 really close in performance and uses less power/heat.

The x1950pro AGP card is great if you can find one for a decent priced used. Will run any game (@ medium settings) as long as your CPU can handle the game.

The HD4650 AGP is probably all the video card you will need for an older AGP system if you want to save a few bucks over the HD3850/HD4670.
 
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Back when I had a AGP board, I have an old GeForce 4600ti...It wouldn't play Call of Duty 4, I bought a GeForce 7600GT, it played the game flawlessly. I'm not sure how good of a card you are wanting, but that did meet my needs at the time. BTW: It's on eBay.
 
Ladic said:
What about the Radeon X800pro?
Click to expand...

Skip the x800xt because it doesn't support SM3.0, which many games require now (examples Vegas, BioShock, etc). The x1950pro is about twice the performance of the x800xt too.

The x1950pro is the lowest spec video card I would recommend. It supports all games to date, runs Crysis at medium settings well and most other games at high settings @ medium resolutions (1280x1024/1680x1050).

The only AGP Nvidia card worth looking at is the 7900GS, but it seemed to struggle with newer shader intense games like oblivion, bio shock, etc that the x1950pro ran much better.

The ATI x1650, 2600PRO/XT, HD3650, Nvidia 7600GT, and 7600GS may also fit your needs but don't expect these video cards to run new games well (expect to run low settings on new games). These video cards are about the performance of the x800xt, but unlike the x800xt these all support SM3.0.
 
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If you can find an HD 4670 AGP card with reference 2ghz memory then it would trump the HD 3850 but the prob is most of the ones I've seen have slower memory which matter quite a bit with these cards as they only have 128-bit memory.

The HD 3850's can be had used for arround $60 - $75 shipped so bang for the buck go with a used HD 3850.
 
ilovehuhu said:
how about Radeon X1950PRO AGP8X ?
Click to expand...

Way too expensive.

You can pick up a faster, newer HD4650 for ~$80, HD3850 for ~$100 and a HD4670 for ~$100+. The x1950pro is about half the performance of these video cards.
If the listed specs of the Diamond HD4650 are correct and it actually comes with DDR3 memory its a great buy. 1746 mhz memory (~28 GB/sec of memory bandwidth) + same 750 mhz core clock speed of HD4670. Diamonds product pages indicates these specs are correct, but a couple reviews at newegg make me suspicious. Usually the HD4650 has DDR2 memory clocked at 800-1000 mhz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103080&cm_re=Hd4650-_-14-103-080-_-Product

http://www.diamondmm.com/4650512A.php

Hard and Confused said:
If you can find an HD 4670 AGP card with reference 2ghz memory then it would trump the HD 3850 but the prob is most of the ones I've seen have slower memory which matter quite a bit with these cards as they only have 128-bit memory.
Click to expand...

No, the HD3850 256bit bus @ 1656 mhz greatly outpaces the HD4670 128bit bus @ 2000 mhz memory bandwidth (53 GB/secs 32 GB/sec). The HD4670 does make up ground with its newer architecture and ~15% faster core clock speed, but overall the HD3850 is a tad faster (depends on the game though). Many AGP verisions of both these video cards run slower memory speeds (1400mhz, 1600mhz, 1746mhz , etc.) but the same math applies.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=579&card2=550
 
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Keep in mind that an older card like an X1950 or X850 will be using the legacy catalyst drivers instead of the normal catalyst drivers. These are usually only updated every 6 months or so.
 
HD 3850 is probably the best you're going to get at that price range and AGP. Sticking with AGP just for a couple of old xeons doesn't make a lot of sense unless you absolutely can't spend more than $100 on upgrades. Even a cheapy Phenom II dual core system plus cheapy PCIE card would be faster.

Check out this combo from New Egg for instance:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?submit=ChangeItem

$279 for a Phenom II x2 550 dual core Black Edition processor + motherboard + 4850 1GB PCIE video card. That's not a bad start and pulls you out of the dead end AGP slot architecture.
 
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