Best AGP Video Card?

I'm thinking of upgrading my ATI Radeon 9800XT since it's becoming a little slow for running a couple of games that I use most (Oblivion, WoW, Battlefield 2142) at 1280x1024 with everything set on high. As a matter of fact, BF2142 has problems in medium settings with my current card. I was wondering which AGP video card was the best overall regardless of price now that AGP is practically done (I believe). Doesn't matter if it's Nvidia or ATI. I'm really not a fanboy of either. Oh, also, any extras that the card might or might not have (SM3, HDR, etc.) would help in making my decision. Thanks for the help.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

This gives you advice on how to change settings to run 2142 more effectively.

As for an AGP graphics, this looks pretty good for an AGP.

Just out of curiousity, how much RAM do you have?

Most amazing jew boots

I have a Dell XPS Gen 2, btw, so overclocking can't be done with it as far as I know. I'm not sure, but I guess the card would have to be out-of-the-box? Can someone tell me if that is right?


Domino, my specs are:

Intel P4 3.2Ghz
1GB Ram
ATI 9800XT 256MB
160 GB HD

Anything else you need to know, just ask.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Regardless of price, this is as fast as AGP gets for consumer cards, 7800GS.

There are other options such as X850XT PE's that might be better, but probably not by much. If you really are looking to spend that much dough on a video card, you might as well look to upgrading to a Core2Duo w/ overclocking. Its really quite the performance/dollar thing to do right now. Easily a whole new system with 1GB DDR2 RAM, MoBo (Gigabyte 965P-DS3), Conroe 1.8GHz Core2Duo, and a 200-300 video card can be had for under $700. That is smokin hot hardware.

However, if you want what is best for your aging AGP platform, that 7800GS is the way to go.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

As Dayvon said, right about now, it might be the time to switch to a Core 2 Duo system, or hell, even a PCI-express sytem. AGPs card releases are slowly becoming fewer and farther between. With Vista coming out, I'd go for a DirectX 10 compliant video card as well whenever they become available.

Speaking of which, when are they becoming available?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Omnislash124

As Dayvon said, right about now, it might be the time to switch to a Core 2 Duo system, or hell, even a PCI-express sytem. AGPs card releases are slowly becoming fewer and farther between. With Vista coming out, I'd go for a DirectX 10 compliant video card as well whenever they become available.

Speaking of which, when are they becoming available?

In two weeks. The nVidia 8800s are being released on Nov. 7. I'm still not going to pick one up until a decent DX10 game (aka Crysis) is released as well. I have a feeling the first wave of DX10 cards are going to suck just like the FX series did with DX9.

Get a PCI-Express motherboard with Core2 support. You won't regret it in the future.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Just for the fun of it though, Powercolor is releasing a X1950Pro AGP based card.
I would not however suggest paying $340-369 USD for an older system.

FELIPE NO

I myself have a 7800GS, and I can definitely recommend it. I upgraded it from a 6800 vanilla with 128 MB of RAM, and the difference was night and day. Oblivion became playable at decent settings, and World of Warcraft became good, too.

I think that something's bottlenecking me, though. I have an Athlon 64 2800+ in my system, and 1.5 gigabytes of DDR400 RAM. Is it the RAM or the CPU?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by The_Griffin

I myself have a 7800GS, and I can definitely recommend it. I upgraded it from a 6800 vanilla with 128 MB of RAM, and the difference was night and day. Oblivion became playable at decent settings, and World of Warcraft became good, too.

I think that something's bottlenecking me, though. I have an Athlon 64 2800+ in my system, and 1.5 gigabytes of DDR400 RAM. Is it the RAM or the CPU?

It would depend on a number of things such as
1. Resolution
2. Environment *outdoor areas are murder*
3. Graphics Settings

Do realize that even top of the line SLI/Xfire rigs drop into the 20's when in a clustered outdoor area with descent settings *not even max* Your card is evenly matched for your system.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I've been looking around for an AGP upgrade to my Radeon 9800 Pro, so that I can upgrade my old CRT to an LCD. I was going to go with the EVGA e-GeForce 7800GS 256MB DDR3 AGP, but then I googled up complaints of poor performance and lockups using AMD, including while playing World of Warcraft.



Should I be considering a more expensive ATI solution?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

If you really are going to stick with AGP, then look at getting a x1950pro. They will probably be the last and best AGP card.

Otherwise, depending on what hardware you have, you could consider getting a motherboard such as this... ASRock 775Dual-VSTA It has AGP and PCIe slots (4x PCIe slot) with DDR and DDR2 slots. Nice for those of us that want to slowly upgrade. This board is a $60, and with a e6300 Core2Duo, a total cost would be about $240 if you have DDR400 RAM and an AGP card. Then later you can pick up a PCIe card. Or, if you already have a socket LGA775 processor, you can just buy the board and a new PCIe card.

Otherwise with AMD if you have socket 939, you can look at this mobo... ASRock 939Dual-VSTA and alot of the same applies. Get a new processor, or use you old, and then buy a PCIe card later.

I might be doiing something like this soon as I'm wanting a Core2Duo for DVD -> MP4 encoding. If I do, I'll let you know how it goes.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.