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Thread ID: 96048 2008-12-27 01:48:00 video card upgrade chiefnz (545) Press F1
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732700 2008-12-27 01:48:00 hey all,

thinking about a video card upgrade....

currently have an X800 XT...

would it be a good upgrade to go to a Radeon X1550 or something like an X1900 card.... AGP

any thoughts appreciated

cheers, 		chiefnz (545)
732701 2008-12-27 05:52:00 The fastest agp card you can get is a Radeon 3850 for around $250. It'll be pointless though if your cpu (what is it?) can't keep up with it.

I think the X1550 is actually slower than the X800 XT. If you're looking to score a bargain there's a Geforce 7800GS on Trademe right now with a $40 reserve. :thumbs: 		jason_f90 (3544)
732702 2008-12-27 09:52:00 This is the best AGP graphic card:
ATI Radeon HD 3850 512MB DDR3 AGP 8X TV-out

I have one on my "older" spare computers:internet/multimedia/games computer and its great.:thumbs:

Make sure you get 2 gig or 3 gig of ddr400 ram to make good use of the graphic card and to help out your older computer anyway.:thumbs:

CPU wise if it's 2 Ghz or more it will be sweet as and all gamers know that not all games are cpu bound but they are gpu bound.

Because it is the best agp graphic card I got it because I wanted to make my "old" computer do its best that it could do and to make my "old" computer last as long as it can for playing computer games and its done a good job at that too!!!:D

I have my agp computer at my parents house for when I visit them.
It's specks are:
CPU:4000 (AMD 939)
RAM:3 gig ddr400
GPU:3850 512MB AGP:thumbs:
HD:3 x 1000 gig,1 x 120 gig
LCD:22"

I used to have a 7800GS and it was a good graphics card but a 3850 is a great graphics card!!!:D

Check this:www.pricespy.co.nz

Also check out Trademe and other computer shops for prices as well. 		memphis (2869)
732703 2008-12-27 21:22:00 Memphis, I was admiring the rig in your sig until I got to the O\S = XP 64bit pro!!..

What are you doing lad, Vista 64bit is literally years ahead of XP 64bit....V64 loves 8GB, especially with pre-fetch enabled..... 		SolMiester (139)
732704 2008-12-27 22:12:00 Thanks guys,

PC specs:

Intel P4 3.GHz
2GB DDR400 RAM
1 x 250GB SATA
DVD/RW
Radeon X800XT
Sound Blaster Audigy

Yeah I saw the 3850 after posting here and it does look pretty good. Might have a hunt around and do a few comparisons.

Thanks again for the advice. 		chiefnz (545)
732705 2008-12-29 06:36:00 You will get a performance boost with a 3850, but that P4 will bottleneck you to some degree depending on the game and resolution (assuming your wanting the upgrade for games).

You are better off taking that $250ish and putting it towards a new rig as your is at then end of its worthwhile upgrade life. You can get a very respectable Core 2 Duo, 2gig ram and HD4850 rig for around $1000 ex monitor & OS for reference.

Big money diff, but realistically upgrading the GPU is barely worth while and you have to bite the bullet eventually. 		Battleneter2 (9361)
732706 2008-12-29 10:17:00 His computer would be perfectly fine to play most games if he got the 3850 512mb graphic card. :thumbs:

I would say it would be perfectly fine on a 22" lcd for gaming no bigger.;)

I would get it for sure as it would be great for 95% + games out there as long as you know its limits.-(Crysis, etc. forget about trying to play that on max settings,and other similar hardcore games).

Plus not everyone keeps on buying and buying new games all the time as most people have a life -working/family etc. and don't have enough time to finish the games they have from ages ago,so they don't buy the new flash games because they have not finished what they allready have.

Also it would be a good idea to get because it would be a good graphical upgrade from what he has now and seeing as he has managed for this long with the card he has now this would be a good upgrade and he can carry on with this for however long he wants too and then upgrade to a i7 socket lga 1366 cpu later on when they are cheaper,and skip the lga 775 socket cpu alltogether or get the best lga 775 cpu he can afford when its dirt cheap when i7 cpu's become mainstream so saving even more money.

Not everyone needs to or wants to be on the cutting edge all the time as people do have other life comitments work/family/run out of time etc.

Plus on his computer he has 2 gig ddr400 ram,3 Ghz cpu he will be sweet as and would be a very good match for his computer.Fastest agp gpu and a 3 Ghz P4 cpu and 2 gig ddr400 ram no worries,sweet as for a match up,well worth while.:cool: :thumbs:


Besides there is a few things that you can do to make your graphics card last a bit longer for playing games.

1. Have the latest stable drivers for the graphics card.-(DONT use BETAS -they are not stable and can cause problems).

2. Get the latest dx 9.c for XP Pro/Home

3. Lower your desktop screen settings and game screen settings.

4. Lower your quality settings/minimum/non and put it on performance settings.-(Anisotropic filtering,Antialiasing etc. put to zero etc.).

5. Lower the in game settings.

6. Get the latest patch for your games.

7. Have the latest drivers for your mobo,sound card,graphics card,etc.

8. Have Windows all patched up.

Game on everyone,and have fun!!!

:thumbs: 		memphis (2869)
732707 2008-12-30 03:00:00 Precisely my thoughts Memphis...

I have been doing quite well with the current rig... currently playing Crysis, Crysis: Warhead and Left 4 Dead... witohout any hassles... not running them on full eye candy but enough for the game to be visually appealing as well as playable. The 2GB of RAM has made a big difference.

I keep all the games patched as well as Windows and I keep my software install pretty lean... I only run what I need to and if something doesn't get used.. it gets uninstalled pretty quick smart.

I am in no hurry to upgrade the entire rig and I will be going directly to the i7 socket lga 1366 platform as this makes more sense.

I'll be hunting around for a 3850 card.

Thanks for the replies. 		chiefnz (545)
732708 2008-12-30 04:06:00 chiefnz, what monitor do you have? SolMiester (139)
732709 2008-12-30 05:33:00 Running a 19" Polyview screen.

Resolution is set to 1280*1024 		chiefnz (545)
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