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AGP 9800 pro worth upgrading?

corkhead

corkhead

corkhead

Associate
Joined
23 Apr 2008
Posts
232
Hi all,

I have an older p4 system that i use as a media centre, but it's also used for games a lot. It currently has a 2.8ghz p4 2gb ram and a 9800 pro 256mb graphics card.

I really don't want to upgrade the whole thing cos i cant justify it, (unless i can get the lot for <100 sheets) but my question is would the newer but still agp cards give me much improvement over what i already have?

After looking, theres only 1 agp card left available the HD3560, is that it? no more 3850 pros around?

i play games like BF2 BF1942 AVP2 jedi academy freelancer so nothing new :)

Cheers guys
 
Similar situation to myself at one point.

You're best off looking for a second-hand Geforce 7600GT as you are going to be massively CPU limited in pretty much everything you play. Alternatives are X850XTs/etc. but they don't have DX9c capability.

Put it this way. I had an Athlon XP2500 sitting at 200x12, with a Radeon X800XT, playing X3: Reunion with all the detail on maximum (apart from AA) and there was something like a 0.5fps difference when I took all the detail off.

It will be similar with your system.

Also, you should remember that a 3650 will take quite a considerable amount of power to run and your existing PSU might not be up to it.
 
ahh yeah the psu... its a 431w enermax, originally it cost about 90. Im not sure if thats enough, may be cutting it fine?

Is the 3650 the best available option other than going second hand or would an nvidia alternative be betterdo you think?
 
errr

my choices are:

7600GT
HD3650
X1950 pro
HD3850

would the x1950 be better than the 3850? they are similar price on a certain auction site

EDIT: Im lying ther arent similar price :( the 3850 is more. From experience the more it is the better it is, usually so im inclined to go with the 3850 hmm..
 
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Basically we're all warning you off the 3850 because your CPU won't allow it to perform as good as it should - a 7600GT won't be bottlenecked by your CPU but a x1950 might, as its a better card, hence overclocking your CPU may well make up for the shortfall. If I were you I'd get a second hand 7600gt/x1950 pro and spend the £80 you've saved from not buying the HD3850Pro toward a cheap P31/C2D/DDRII/PCI-e system
 
corkhead said:
ahh yeah the psu... its a 431w enermax, originally it cost about 90. Im not sure if thats enough, may be cutting it fine?

Is the 3650 the best available option other than going second hand or would an nvidia alternative be betterdo you think?
Click to expand...

You psu will be fine.

I ran an E6550 @ 3Ghz, 4850, 3 SATA drives and 2 DVDRWs with a 465w no problem.
 
krooton said:
You psu will be fine.

I ran an E6550 @ 3Ghz, 4850, 3 SATA drives and 2 DVDRWs with a 465w no problem.
Click to expand...

It's not the wattage that's the issue tho, it's the ampage.

I stuck my old x1950pro into my gf's machine, which had a cheap 500W PSU, and within 5 minutes of being on the windows desktop the room stank of blown capacitors.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, the 3850 is a definate no no then. I'll have a browse for a 2nd hand 7600 or if possible a 1950.I'll have to check the psu manual too.

May just end up keeping what I have and save for a full upgrade.

Thanks chaps!
 
uvmain said:
It's not the wattage that's the issue tho, it's the ampage.

I stuck my old x1950pro into my gf's machine, which had a cheap 500W PSU, and within 5 minutes of being on the windows desktop the room stank of blown capacitors.
Click to expand...

Mine was an enermax, they are an established brand.
 
get the 3850.you may be cpu limited but you will still see a massive increase in performance compared to your 9800.you can still get the 3850 for around 89quid + shipping if you shop around.your psu is more than enough to power your system with the 3850.my file server with the following specs below only consumes around 250watts with 2 cores loaded and the 3850 is running fah.Just make sure your mobo support agp 8x if not might be better to save and upgrade later.

Athlon x2 6000+
4gb RAM
2 hard drive
1 optical
3 pci card

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17929622
 
just had a look at the motherboard manual, its an asus p4pe and it does support agp 8x might have another look at 3850's then see what prices i can find :)
 
Get a cheap 2nd hand x1950pro and, with the money saved, buy an ASrock 4Core mobo and a C2D to get you started on your new system....

DONE
 
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