best graphics card for agp

[Moose 0]

OK, I need to stop this now lest everyone asks Bo if their PC will run the game. Take a look at his response to Joseph_Q and remember that he also states, more RAM is good and go from there. Unwritt3n, I would say you are good to go on medium with some eye candy if not a bit more.

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Can anyone tell me what's the best graphics card for agp, and maybe how long before that card is completely outdated? Kinda short on cash so I can't update my whole rig right now.

[Reb 0]

OK, I need to stop this now lest everyone asks Bo if their PC will run the game. Take a look at his response to Joseph_Q and remember that he also states, more RAM is good and go from there. Unwritt3n, I would say you are good to go on medium with some eye candy if not a bit more.

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Can anyone tell me what's the best graphics card for agp, and maybe how long before that card is completely outdated? Kinda short on cash so I can't update my whole rig right now.

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I believe there is a 7800gt or gs in AGP version

[Moose 0]

I believe there is a 7800gt or gs in AGP version 

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Really? I had no idea the 7's had agp versions. That rocks.

[Reb 0]

I believe there is a 7800gt or gs in AGP version 

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Really? I had no idea the 7's had agp versions. That rocks.

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My last off topic post

Club3D GeForce 7800 GS 256MB DDR3 (AGP, DVI, TV-Out) CGN-GS786

EVGA GeForce 7800 GS 256MB DDR3 (AGP,DVI) 256-A8-E505-AX

Point Of View GeForce 7800GS 256MB DDR (AGP DVI)

Sparkle GeForce 7800 GS 256MB DDR3 (AGP, DVI, TV-Out, D-Sub) SP-AG70SDT

XFX GeForce 7800 GS 256MB DDR3 (AGP, DVI, ViVo) PV-T70K-UAD

I hope this helps out

Edited April 12, 2006 by Reb

[WhiteKnight77 1]

I want to add, if you are going to get a video card for gaming, make sure it has a 256bit memory interface to go along with the large amount of RAM or the card will be hogtied from the get-go.

[Reb 0]

I want to add, if you are going to get a video card for gaming, make sure it has a 256bit memory interface to go along with the large amount of RAM or the card will be hogtied from the get-go.

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Yup, very important. The easiest way to memorize what memory interface the card uses (in case of Nvidia) is:

x600 and lower is 128bit (6600, 7600 etc.)

x800 and higher is 256bit (6800, 7800 etc.)

[Cookie 0]

I think there are some 6600's at 256 bit...

[Reb 0]

I think there are some 6600's at 256 bit...

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Not to bash you or anything, but there isnt

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce6_techspecs.html

http://www.nvidia.com/object/7_series_techspecs.html

I had a 6600gt. The reason i sold it was because of the memory interface

[agentkay 0]

The memory interface is only important for AA and AF and this importance can be lower when fast vram is used. People who have no idea what AA and AF is, will do just fine with 128bit cards. The 7600GT is beating even 6800GT/Ultras (256bit cards) by not the smallest margins (20-50fps) I just checked the prices in my area:

7600GT 256MB - under 180€

7900GT 256MB - under 280€ (sold out...doh)

[Papa6 88]

WK77, I know you're an OLD bloke here and have been here from almost the get go, I read the link about graphiccards earlier here and found most 6000 series are all 128bit interfaces except the 6800.

I think the real issues won't be the interface so much as the onboard memory. 256 is almost the minimum.

[=3dS=rOOk 0]

HDR was ON it seems.... Does it have a great impact on FPS?

That in the video is something like the 'final build'?

[Sup 0]

WK77, I know you're an OLD bloke here and have been here from almost the get go, I read the link about graphiccards earlier here and found most 6000 series are all 128bit interfaces except the 6800.

I think the real issues won't be the interface so much as the onboard memory. 256 is almost the minimum.

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I have a 256mb 6600, and I almost bought a 256mb 6200.

[Rocky 1,224]

I'm looking for a AGP upgrade too, and was looking at the 7800GS. Heck of a price, still researching though...

[Moose 0]

I'm looking for a AGP upgrade too, and was looking at the 7800GS. Heck of a price, still researching though...

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It's about 230 € here. That doesn't look too bad. It's still a lot of cash, but I've seen worse. Still going to save some cash from not upgrading to PCI-E I guess.

Pure luck that I discovered my post here, I thought it was deleted. Thanks for keeping it! Thanks for the help guys. Might come back with a few more questions though.

Edit, the card I mentioned is a Club3D 7800GS 256MB.

Edited April 12, 2006 by Moose

[Pave Low 16]

@rocky, you'll want to check this one out then

I just replaced my BFG 6800 Ultra O/C with it

still has it's 20-Pipe enable (not "crippled" to 16 like the others) and it has 512Mb RAM Mmmmm

The greatest thing about this card is that it actually has 512 MB memory and this is probably the fastest card with the most of memory that your money can buy. It has eight memory chips working at 1200 MHz but they could be clocked even more. The card has 425MHz core but it worked just as fine at 460MHz.

This card's magic is that it actually has G71, Geforce 7800 GT PCIe core bridged down to AGP. It has G70 core with full 20 pipelines that worked at 425 MHz and famous BR2 chip managed to bridge the card down to AGP. It finally made perfect sense as 20 pipelines has to be faster than the 16 that you get with EVGA card. EVGA 7800 GS card works at 460 MHz 1350Mhz core and we managed to reproduce the same clocks with the Gainward card. Gainward uses Arctic cooling for this card and we can tell that it does the job. It is very silent and it will keep the card cool and even let you overclock a lot.

Gainward's AGP is a wolf in sheep's clothing

Which 7800GS: BFG, XFX Extreme or Gainward?

[Rocky 1,224]

So, that would be faster than my FX5950XT then?

[WhiteKnight77 1]

The memory interface is only important for AA and AF and this importance can be lower when fast vram is used.  People who have no idea what AA and AF is, will do just fine with 128bit cards. The 7600GT is beating even 6800GT/Ultras (256bit cards) by not the smallest margins (20-50fps)  I just checked the prices in my area:

7600GT 256MB - under 180€

7900GT 256MB - under 280€ (sold out...doh)

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The memory interface is very important, moreso than the amount of RAM. A 128MB card with a 256bit memory interface will be faster than a 256MB card with a 128bit interface. More information can be transfered via a 256 lane digital road than a 128 lane road. Think about it.

[element11 0]

You cant get a GT in agp, only the GS series comes in AGP. The GT cards are PCIe. I was going to get a 6800 GS, but I went with the 6800 Ultra instead. Only thin i can say about AGP, is that down the road if you wanna put this card onto a new mobo, you wont be able to because the AGP will soon turn out like the ISA gfx slots.

[Rocky 1,224]

Only thin i can say about AGP, is that down the road if you wanna put this card onto a new mobo, you wont be able to because the AGP will soon turn out like the ISA gfx slots.

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I think, there is at least one board that has an AGP and a PCI-E slot at the moment.

[Cpl Ledanek 247]

Only thin i can say about AGP, is that down the road if you wanna put this card onto a new mobo, you wont be able to because the AGP will soon turn out like the ISA gfx slots.

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I think, there is at least one board that has an AGP and a PCI-E slot at the moment.

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AsRock Motherboards

review on motherboard

Edited April 12, 2006 by Cpl Ledanek

[Foxtrot360 0]

Just forget it. ######.

I have a 6600 GT AGP, i love it, but youll probably want more power for something like GRAW. (especially if the rest of your system isnt even, you dont want a 7800 GT and a 1.70 GHz AMD Athlon or 256 RAM and a bunch of other big stuff, its better as even.)

And probably better off with less VideoRAM and more Interface.

*opens pandoras box* Oh and it will save you trouble to go Nvidia, but if you want ATI fine with it (but dont expect good drivers.)

Edited April 14, 2006 by Foxtrot23

[CR6 0]

@Element11 - AGP will still be standard for years to come for non-gamers,  and even some gamers alike. Not all cards take advantage of the high bandwith of PCI-E. Nor do all of the games.

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Sorry, but that statement is incorrect. Not sure how you came to those conclusions ...

The transition from AGP to PCI-E is NOT driven by gamers, but by the hardware industry (ATI, Nvidia, Intel, Dell, mobo makers), and has been one of the fastest transitions ever (compared to say the adoption of USB, DDR2 etc.)

Have you been to a computer hardware store lately? The majority of higher end cards now are PCI-E.

So most non-gamers getting new systems these days will either have on-board video or a PCI-E expansion slot, there is NO way "will still be standard for years to come for non-gamers" - only the non gamers who bought a system 1-2 years ago, and those people won't upgrade their graphics anyway.

High-end AGP cards are getting scarce fast, and any left over AGP cards 1-2 years from now will be low end stuff like we see with PCI cards now (e.g. Radeon 9200, GeForce 5200).

I suspect in the next year, people looking for higher end graphics will be forced to upgrade to a mobo with PCI-E.

So if you have a high-end system (>3GHz or so) with an AGP slot that you want to use for another couple years, you're best to buy the fastest AGP card available now, as you won't be able to find them (other than eBay) 2 years from now.

[pz3 338]

incase you didnt see my other thread.

I recently bought a BFG 7800gs overclock

The benchmarks in 3dmark 05 were only 200points above my old graphics card (6800gt), and even did worse in some of the fps test.... ended up scoring like 5200 or somthing

but dont let this discourage you as in everygame iv tested it in. It out peformed my old 6800GT by a good bit.

If your not wanting to upgrade to PCI-E or anything else have you this is the card to get.

'Oh btw some games, I didnt actually pull FPS up but these settings all played perfectly smooth to my eyes.

Farcry + HDR , All high or ultra high @ 1280x1024

HL2 all settings maxed @ 1600x1200

Need For Speed: Most Wanted All High 2x AA 8xAF @ 1024x768

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, 2x AA, 8xAF, All settings high 1280x1024 no problems.

could do more havent got to play with it to much

Edited April 13, 2006 by Prozac360

[CR6 0]

The benchmarks in 3dmark 05 were only 200points above my old graphics card (6800gt), and even did worse in some of the fps test....  ended up scoring like 5200 or somthing

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How fast is your CPU?

I was complaining about my 6800GT, but part of the prob was that the game I played (BF2) was being limited by my 2.4GHz cpu and RAM. Once I upgraded to 2GB and overclocked to 2.9 GHz, my frames were much better (but cannot do AA/AF)

So a GF 7900GS maybe overkill for an older CPU. My advice to Rocky is to check benchmarks around the web to see at what proc speed the higher end cards these days get CPU limited.

If you still end up getting the highest end AGP GPU, perhaps the main benefit is that you can run things with 4xFSAA and 16x AF etc.

[pz3 338]

AMD64 3500+ @ 2.35ghz

it could be .. and wouldnt suprise me if it wanted more cpu power.