Upgrade 9800pro : AGP + cheap

J

Joshuad156

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
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I currently have a P4 2.8 with a Radeon 9800Pro AGP. I would really like to know if there is an inexpensive AGP upgrade that anyone here could recommend. I am also looking for anyone who can tell me if there is a considerable performance increase in doing this. I've tried to do a little research, but I could only find one recent article on this.

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=545

They seem to speak very highly of this card as a budget upgrader for users stuck with AGP. I really have very little money to put into this and I can find this for under $130 (Newegg sells an OEM 256MB for under $120). Can anyone comment on this card vs a 9800 Pro. Any suggestions for alternatives that aren't as expensive as an AGP 7800?

I play mostly WoW and get very acceptable performance on my 9800Pro. But I occasionally play BF2 and Quake4 and my 9800Pro just doesn't cut it with those games.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give. You are all tons of help.
 
In your case I'd go for the x1600pro. Either that or a used 6800 series card.
 
I just picked up the 6800GS cheap and I'm coming from a 9600XT (not much weaker than your card) and man WHAT a difference! For such an inexpensive card this thing pounds!
 
For $120-130 the X1600pro is probably the best brand new card, but imo it's not that big of improvement from a 9800pro. It's better but not much of an "upgrade".

You can get a used AGP X800XL off Ebay for $125-150 which is twice as powerful.
The FS/FT forum might have some good bargains too.
 
go with an ati x700. its a little expensive at $200 but it kiks major ass at most games. compusa had them on sale for $130 a few months ago, when i got mine, so try shoppin around 4 1
 
JoshuaAD-
I was in the same situation. I retired my 9800 Pro 128mb and went for the x1600 Pro. It didn't do much for me, and when you look at the spec's its not surprising (only 5 vertex pipes and 4 texture units!?). Part of the reason was I wanted something that could help with H.264 in hardware, but it just wasn't enough card for me. I RMA'ed it and now have a GeForce 6800 Ultra coming that I won off eBay.

With the big push to PCIe, there are some nice AGP cards out there to be had. Although I admit, it took a few auctions for me to win one at a half-decent price (ATI/NV are you listening -- people still want rocking AGP cards!).

Heres a link at GPUreview.com that shows what the 9800 Pro looks like against the 6800 Ultra. (Plus for me, NV offers H.264 accel in hardware via the newest drivers for the GF6 and G7 series, otherwise the X800 or X850 Radeons are a solid choice, too).

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=179&card2=31

Hope this helps,
Acey
 
went from the radeon 9800 pro 256 to x850 xt couple of months ago.
the x850 xt is louder than the 9800 (especially @ full tilt), but it plays the new games that were previously unplayable w/ the 9800.
definitely worth the upgrade.
 
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