AGP Card upgrade

[FRANKSnBEANS]

I know how everyone just loves these threads, haha, sorry. But I'm just looking for some 2nd opinions here.

Looking for most likely the last upgrade to my agp system:

ECS L4VXA2 (v1.0c)
ultra x2 550w
pentium 4 2.4ghz
2gb patriot ddr400
Radeon 9550

I know I can get a whopping performance boost out there by uprgrading the sagging 9550. Which one? Was thinking this. I don't think I would benefit much from the 512mb version. Plus the rebate appears to be back, which is a nice touch.

Will not spend $200, as that's silly for an agp card nowadays.

Just looking to beef up the settings in the games I play.

[MrSuave]

The X1650XT is probally your best bet. Dont worry about the 512mb. If you want to save a bit of money up, the 7800GS would give you the best possible upgrade, as it is the best AGP card at the moment. Coming from an 9550, either choice you decide with, you will get quite an performance upgrade.

You might want to check that power supply, just to make sure it will suffice. Ultra does not have the best reputation.

[theedisoneffect]

Forget the 7800gs, the 2.4ghz P4 will bottleneck it, so you won't really see much or any gain over a cheaper card.

Honestly, you might be just as well off with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814141038

It still performs pretty well, maybe not quite up to a x1650xt, but still pretty decent and it's quite a bit cheaper.

[SoloCamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by theedisoneffect

Forget the 7800gs, the 2.4ghz P4 will bottleneck it, so you won't really see much or any gain over a cheaper card.

Honestly, you might be just as well off with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814141038

It still performs pretty well, maybe not quite up to a x1650xt, but still pretty decent and it's quite a bit cheaper.

Dude....bottleneck this...bottleneck that....It's all a bunch of BS. I'm running a 2.8ghz p4 with an X800pro transformed into an XT. Every 10mhz I overclock it, the smoother the game play gets. Yes, it may not perform on par with the newest systems out there, but a graphics upgrade is a graphics upgrade.

A 6800XT is a joke of a card compared (especially compared to a x1600xt) to what he could be getting to give his system "one last stand". I'd say that x1600xt is your best bet if you don't want to spend more.

[FRANKSnBEANS]

Well yeah, bottlenecking is a bit over rated imo. But still, I wouldn't get the full benefit of a 7800gs or x1950 based on my system. That's just overkill. The performance would increase drastically, but not more than a card that I could get a few bucks cheaper.

[SoloCamo]

Yea, i'm not saying there is absolutely 0 bottleneck...however, like you said it is over rated. An older cpu is no reason to plop in a crappier card because someone says this won't be any benefit.. Get the best you can within reason.

For example, if my system was pci-e, I wouldn't pair my 2.8 p4 with a 8800gtx...That's just overkill.

[FRANKSnBEANS]

Right, right, but basically my 9550 just plain out right stinks. I can only run games on low settings, and even on low, the performance isn't too grand. Found this great web site from another thread on techimo: http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srl

According to that, I pass the minimum and recommended settings for over half my games. But, that surely isn't the case. That could be misleading too, just because I have a 9000 series card. I need an upgrade, and I think I'm gonna go ahead with the x1650xt.

[SoloCamo]

Oh I know....I went from a geforce 4 ti4200 to an x800pro...the performance difference is beyond amazing. You'll definately be happy you upgraded.

[theedisoneffect]

Ok, let's get some things cleared up here. First of all, I said the 7800gs would be bottlenecked. Not the X1650XT. The X1650XT may indeed be a reasonable option, but for considerably cheaper, the 6800XT would also provide huge performance gains over a 9550. I call that 'breathing new life' into the system, no? It's just a matter of how huge of a performance gain you want. Personally, I wouldn't wanna spend >$100 on a card that I can't put into a newer system when I upgrade later. It's just a waste. Like Solo said, a graphics upgrade is a graphics upgrade.

Secondly, Solo, you honestly expect me to believe you see a noticable difference from a 2% overclock?

Quote:

Every 10mhz I overclock it, the smoother the game play gets.

And also, an X800 in a 2.8 P4 system isn't at all like an X1650 in a 2.4 P4 system. Different processor speeds (different core design, too, I think?), and a huge gap in video card performance.

[SoloCamo]

Well the simple fact is....My x800pro is unlocked to have 16 pipelines enabled...., I also happen to keep it at 520mhz core and 1100mhz memory. Stock it is 475mhz core, 900mhz memory...Biggg jump. The point was that, even on an older rig like mine every mhz counts towards better performance. If I bump it up to 525mhz core and 1150memory I get smoother framerates, and i've got fraps to prove it.

I've done various testing over and over with fraps and games like oblivion, fear, CS:S..etc.. That little extra 10mhz here and there does equal out to another few fps here and there. If I wanted to I could keep my x800pro @ 535mhz and 1200mhz memory all day and all night and I would see a difference via fraps.

Also, please realize that the x1650xt is not much better than the videocard i'm using now...not by much that is. Another thing to keep in mind is that my cpu is extremely limited since my mobo is only limited to single channel support. We all know how much p4's love bandwidth, and without dual channel, it just kills it for me.

The x800pro is bottlenecked in my system....just like the x1650pro would be in his...just like the 7800gs would be in mine as well. But that was not the point. The point is that even with the bottleneck I can guarantee you that there would be a difference between a 7800gs and x1650pro in performance, even with the 2.4ghz p4.