AGP Graphics Card Upgrade

[seacayenne]

I should like some advice as to whether I can make a worthwhile improvement in the performance of my set-up by just upgrading the AGP graphics card and which card should I go for ?
I've got a Radeon 9800XT at present. The cpu is Pentium P4 2.8ghz and the mobo is a Gigabyte 8KNXP .
The alternative would be a major upgrade to include new PSU, MoBo, CPU and graphics card (SLI/Crossfire ?) etc. I'd like to do this eventually but I need to delay until my finances have recovered. Maybe 12/18 months.

 

[melbourne720]

I should like some advice as to whether I can make a worthwhile improvement in the performance of my set-up by just upgrading the AGP graphics card and which card should I go for ?
I've got a Radeon 9800XT at present. The cpu is Pentium P4 2.8ghz and the mobo is a Gigabyte 8KNXP .

Depends what you are using your PC for, but on the whole yes. May I/we ask:-

(a) What is your budget?
(b) Do you play games?
(c) Got much RAM?
(d) Got much space for a double slot cooler?
(e) Do you really like games ?

 

[seacayenne]

Additional info. on my enquiry.
Budget - £150-ish
1gb of memory
Space - O K.
My interest is at the moment mainly sims, flight & rail. But I've recently bought COH and a couple of other games which have made me feel I really do need to do something about improving my kit.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Tbh, you'd be best off savign a bit more and looking at upgrading. Your system isnt the worst I've seen, but if you do intend to get more into other types of games, if you've got a good screen, you're going to feel more and more limited, by cpu as much as by gpu, as you're going to end up getting a lot of fps fluctuation. I would personally recommend saving about £300 to £400 if possible and going from there, because a lot of your gear was end of line over a year ago, and you're going to be throwing money at a proverbial dead horse if you keep spending on it.
AGP is also a lot more expensive than PCI-E now - if you'd had a AMD64, you can get a pci-e mobo and the x1950pro pci-e card, for the same price as the agp variant of the card alone.
If you have to go for something now, try looking at a famous auction site or mm for a second hand 7600GT/X800XT, as they'd be a definate improvement, but you're still going to end up limited.

 

[melbourne720]

7600 GT @ £140
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-088-LT

Or if you want to spend a bit more...

x1950 Pro @ £187
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-004-GC

Although that last choice will be some-what limited by your CPU.

I'd got for the 7600 GT.

 

[seacayenne]

Many thanks for your advice. I think I'll hold fire until the funds permit the major upgrade.