Agp upgrade?

Offalycool

Hi all, Im thinking of doing a cheep upgrade to my old Amd 2800+ xp with a gig of ram and a 9800 pro 128mb. The case came with a 350W power supply so im sure that will be a bottelneck, but give'n my buget (E150. max) ill just have to live with it. I figure the Gfx card is a little tired now so im looking for the best performance/price Agp card that will complament my cpu, and psu. any suggestions?

uberpixie

Offalycool wrote:

Hi all, Im thinking of doing a cheep upgrade to my old Amd 2800+ xp with a gig of ram and a 9800 pro 128mb. The case came with a 350W power supply so im sure that will be a bottelneck, but give'n my buget (E150. max) ill just have to live with it. I figure the Gfx card is a little tired now so im looking for the best performance/price Agp card that will complament my cpu, and psu. any suggestions?

Really with the CPU you have, it will bottle neck any half dacent gfx card you buy new.

A friend of a friend went to a 6800GT on an AMD XP rig from a 9800 and noticed very little difference.

Would nearly say save the pennies for a new rig.

Or try scrounge a cheap socket 939 mobo with agp + an A64 chip 2nd hand.
(you at least can re use your ram+ psu)

I went from a 2400+ XP to a 3500+ A64, keeping my 9800 NP.
(Doubled my frames in Half life 2)

If you do intend on getting an new AGP card have a look at the 7600 GS in AGP.


Tis under €150 and meant to perform well for the money.
(But I think it really will be the CPU that will really kick you in new games, even with a new gfx card)

http://www.xtremecomputing.co.uk/review.php?id=289&page=1
(link to 7600GS AGP review)

The only other card really in your price range worth considering would be a X1600 Pro.

Offalycool

thanks for the speedy reply. I was afraid you would say that. The thing is, a new rig is not fesable untill well into next year, and i guess im finding it hard to play restraint. I should have a grand to blow in May, And http://www.ankermann-pc.com/en/ looks like a fair deal. but untill then I hope my 9800 pro holds out, that is unless there is some super cheap and brill agp card I cant live without.


Ps.. Thanks for ur suggestions.. do u think my 350w psu can feed the beasts?

uberpixie

Offalycool wrote:

Ps.. Thanks for ur suggestions.. do u think my 350w psu can feed the beasts?

If you have a dacnet PSU and not a knackbag Qtech you should be fine.

I run a 3500+ A64, 1 gig ram, 200 gig hard drive and a X800XT PE on a 240W PSU in my shuttle box.

My friend runs a 3200+ A64, 1 gig ram, 2 hard drives and a X800XL on a 380W antec PSU.

I think a good quality 350W PSU should have no probs running a new card in your rig .
(unless you have about 10 hard drives in it....)

Def have a look out in the F/S section for cheap AGP based 939 mobos and a single socket A64 939.

There has to be a few people out there with old 939 kit to get rid of, especially the lads you have just upgraded to the new intel stuff, or the lads who ditched an agp 939 board for one with PCI express.

Offalycool

I just had a look at that psu calculator in the comp teck sticky.. if i imput my machine (to the best of my knowledge) it comes in requiring 283w's. Funny thing is if i change the card to a 7800 gs agp it only goes up to 289w! I dont know how accurate this is but i find it surprising.

I dont know much about buying second hand gear, i think it is probably a little risky.

Ps.. I think my mobo is socket A. so if i want to upgrade my chip, th mobo has to go.. right?

PPs.. just had a look under the hood, It's a Q-Tech

With reguards to http://www.ankermann-pc.com/en/ , do u think the 525w maxsilent psu option in the core2 build section is quality? I cant find anything in english on google about it.

uberpixie

Offalycool wrote:

I just had a look at that psu calculator in the comp teck sticky.. if i imput my machine (to the best of my knowledge) it comes in requiring 283w's. Funny thing is if i change the card to a 7800 gs agp it only goes up to 289w! I dont know how accurate this is but i find it surprising.

I dont know much about buying second hand gear, i think it is probably a little risky.

Ps.. I think my mobo is socket A. so if i want to upgrade my chip, th mobo has to go.. right?

You would have to replace the mobo :-)

It's pretty much build a new PC territory.

That said you can pick up a socket 939 AGP mobo + and a 3200+ A64 for a €139 off komplett.

That would actually give you a good boost in more modern games, even still using a 9800 Pro.

You could always try add a cheap agp gfx card later.

Other than that you are prob talking about a €600 for a new mobo + Ram + gfx card + PSU for a cheap socket AM2 upgrade with pci express.

(When you consider the costs of DIY on the chaep, the Ankermann stuff seems good value)

Offalycool

Thanks very much UberPixie ,will have to consider my options. Ankermann does look promising, maby it just isn't worth it right now.

uberpixie

Offalycool wrote:

PPs.. just had a look under the hood, It's a Q-Tech

Well if it hasn't blown up or gone on fire yet i'm sure its fine:D.

Offalycool wrote:

With reguards to http://www.ankermann-pc.com/en/ , do u think the 525w maxsilent psu option in the core2 build section is quality? I cant find anything in english on google about it.

Honestly couldn't tell you, but if you were really worried about the quality of it, there is a tagan 380W for €50 extra or a Be quiet 420W for €75 extra.

Both are said to be dacent quality PSUs.