AGP graphics card recommendations?

Tezcatlipoca · 25-09-2007, 13:41

My trusty 3 1/2 year old Medion PC is starting to sound quiet ropey.

It does what I need it to do, & I don't see the point in buying a whole new PC. I've already recently added more RAM (2GB in place of the original 512MB) & a bigger HDD.

It sounds like a fan is on its way out... I've opened the case, & then turned it on to try & locate the noise.... seems to be from the graphics card.

Very noisy/clicky/buzzy.

The card is an ATI Radeon 9800XT (branded as a Medion 9800XXL or something).

So, does anyone have any recommendations for a cheap AGP card to replace it please?

I'm not fussed about playing the latest games on it, as I have my 360 & my Wii for games. The only games I actually tend to play on the PC are C&C3, Defcon, & HL2/Ep1 (& the upcoming Ep2), which my current old card is fine for.

25-09-2007, 14:11

How cheap? x1650pro perhaps or a no gamer like a 6200 ?

Tezcatlipoca · 25-09-2007, 14:16

Certainly under Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£100, preferably Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£50 or so I guess.

Not fussed about being able to run things like Crysis etc. (need more than a new graphics card for that), just so long as it'll handle what I use the PC for now, I'm happy.

Tightscot · 25-09-2007, 14:19

ATI 1950 GT for Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£69 & VAT Linkage

25-09-2007, 14:22

6800 46 quid http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=118336

Uncle Peter · 25-09-2007, 14:36

I've got this Leadtek 7600GT:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=462642

Works a treat even with the new stuff. 75 squids though

Aragorn · 25-09-2007, 15:04

Artic cooler fan for the 9800XT? Eg Arctic silencer 3 for Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£15

nffc · 25-09-2007, 15:06

X1650 or even a X1950 - no real contest.

That reminds me I have a PCI-E MB with a X1650 in boxes

Tezcatlipoca · 25-09-2007, 18:30

Cheers, guys

Given me a few to think about there.

I see some of those take up two slots because of the whopping great fan? I guess they need more power too?

nffc · 25-09-2007, 19:50

some of them do, but you should usually keep a slot free anyway. Often AGP / PCI1 is mapped to the same IRQ so it conflicts if you have cards in both, not to mention that despite the recommendations it is often best for thermal considerations to leave it free.

My new silent PCI-E X1650 (not fitted yet as I need to change MB as well) has a heatpipe to a large HS on the reverse of the PCB. Probably better airflow there.

AntiSilence · 25-09-2007, 20:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

It sounds like a fan is on its way out... I've opened the case, & then turned it on to try & locate the noise.... seems to be from the graphics card.

The fan on my 6800GT started died a while back, and I couldn't afford to replace the card with one of the same kind (@ Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£310 back then) so I got an 8cm case fan and superglued it on to the plastic cover over the heatsink and plugged it into a HDD power cable

Works a treat

cookie_365 · 25-09-2007, 22:27

I've still got the AGP card from my old machine that I managed to zap - it might have survived my attentions, or it might not. I've got no way of checking.

If you're prepared to pay the postage and risk it being both cookieproof and royalmailproof, you can have it for nothing

mr_bo · 25-09-2007, 22:34

If you wanna make a bid for my X800pro then go ahead! i have no idea what it's worth or else it'll end up on ebay as a m/b, gfx, cpu and ram combo. I want to upgrade soon anyways.

Tezcatlipoca · 07-10-2007, 20:40

Forgot about this thread!

I'm thinking of going for this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118281

ATI Radeon X1650 Pro, Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£56.52 including VAT.

Would've gone for the one in Zing's first post, but it's still listed as "pre-order - awaiting ETA from supplier". And the way my card is, I don't think I can wait too much longer

If it needs extra power, how does that work? Just connect one of the plugs from the PSU?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cookie_365

I've still got the AGP card from my old machine that I managed to zap - it might have survived my attentions, or it might not. I've got no way of checking.

If you're prepared to pay the postage and risk it being both cookieproof and royalmailproof, you can have it for nothing

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_bo

If you wanna make a bid for my X800pro then go ahead! i have no idea what it's worth or else it'll end up on ebay as a m/b, gfx, cpu and ram combo. I want to upgrade soon anyways.

Thanks for the offers

, but I think I'll just get a new one

Matth · 07-10-2007, 21:40

As mentioned in one of the review comments:

DO NOT USE Catalyst 7.9 or 7.8 drivers - they are broken on AGP.
Hopefully, 7.10 (the upcoming October release) will fix it.

And yes, AGP cards use a drive power connector - if they need more than slot power. There is no specific AGP power connector, unlike PCI-E (2 perishing varieties of that!).