Hi all,

I would like to know what video cards will I be able to upgrade to. I would like a 256MB card so I can run some of the newer games.

My specs are:

AMD Athlon XP2800+
ASUS A7N8X-LA motherboard
1 GB DDR Ram
80 GB Hard Drive (Soon to be replaced with a larger one, Probably a 300GB drive)
128 MB GeForce FX5200
16x LG Dual Layer DVD Burner
Unknown PSU wattage but the computer is a Compaq Presario 5060AN if that helps
Windows XP Home edition (which I am replacing with SP2 version)

Thanks
Trent Pegler

Considering your specs I'd suggest an X700 Pro or a 6600GT.

X850 ought to suite you well. They do make it in AGP flavor, so you should have no troubles.

I would look more in the lines of a nice ATI / Sapphire / Powercolor Radeon X1650Pro. You will find the AGP versions on Newegg.com

Take Care,

This has 512MB GDDR2 memory & a Core Clock of 600MHz. Not bad for the price at all.

HIS Hightech H165PRF512AN-R Radeon X1650PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $136.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161052

id be careful with the Combinations, Asus is notorious for having a wishy washy rep when it comes to compatibility between their motherboards and 3rd party video cards.

Bobby, the 850 would certainly be more powerful then the two I suggested, but I didn't suggest a 6800ultra, x850 or the 7900gs because a) The cpu/ram would be bottlenecking these cards anyway b) the PSU is quite possibly a 300W generic model and c) with AGP pretty much out of the picture and dx10 being here, he could buy something cheap-ish and still fairly adequate now and save up for something better later.

Might his processor act as a bottleneck? I had an X700 Pro in a PC based on a Celeron D and the thing wasn't performing like I thought it would. I put it into a PC based on a 3000+ and it gave a fairly large boost in performance. A X1650 in his PC might be overkill.

Agreed, besides a mid-level card with 512mb vram is a waste of silicon anyway . Due to the low bandwidth of 128-bit ddr2, half the vram would just sit there and do nothing throughout the card's lifespan.

well yer i guess his cpu would be a bit of a bottleneck. Like with my system and the gfx card I have I get roughly 4500 in 3Dmark06. However, benchmarks with the same gfx chip in a Core2 Duo machine puts it around 5500. A huge boost. However, did I notice the difference between that and the old SLi 6600GTs? Yes I did. So at the end of the day...yes you wont get the most out of the card, but still more than a lower performing card. So get the most you can afford if you dont see yourself upgrading ur complete pc anytime soon.
If you do forsee urself revamping your whole pc, then stick with a lower price bracket card like a X1650Pro or whatever. If you want the best performance, go for a 7800GS or something. I believe the Gainward version is actually a 7900GT in disguise with 24 pipes.
And you will need to upgrade the PSU...the stock ones are nothing special.
Good Luck man.

Diablos said:

Not quite, when you consider how much it costs. That HIS Radeon X1650Pro 512MB is priced to sell, so those few more $$$ is well worth his investment. Who knows, he might want to upgrade his system in the near future, because AGP is not going anywhere as long as eBay is around.;)

his CPU is fine. Apparently Nvidia has in Mind to Release a 8 Series board for the AGP interface to Topple the X1950 Pro 512, Who would of thought the Interface would last so long. Perhaps the Interface could of had a speed increase and possibly Dual Card Configurations. Technically speaking i havent seen anything else that utilizes the PCI Express bus besides video cards.

I have found

a NEW InnoVision nVidia Geforce 6200 256M DDR2 AGP DVI TVOut HDTV for $80.00 AU on eBay plus postage. Would this be suitable for my PC?

i say go with at least a 6800 XT.

EiD_Sir_Airman01 said:

I would but I have a limited budget. Plus I will be getting a new hard drive as well, but it will only be 250GB, not the 300GB one I mentioned in the first post.

well going to the 6200 will not be a drastic boost in perf, going to 6800 series will be, besides that the 6800 series should be within your budget now, also if you want something so bad, wait a little longer when you have the expenditures to get what you want.

It'd be better to get an ATI series 9xxx card instead:

A 9600XT for $66
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102043

Or better yet a 9800Pro for $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814195027

or heck even a geforce fx rather then the 6200. The 6200, in my humble opinion, was a failed product. If you want to just browse the net, watch simple low-res videos, listen to music, work on MS office or something like that, then the 6200 is fine... if you're into games, you'd probablly be better off spending those 80 bucks in your local bowling alley.

I would have enough money for this:

XpertVision nVidia GeForce 6600 LE 256MB for AU $129.95 plus postage.

Would this be a good alternative to the 6800XT?

MATE...didnt know you were Australian...Or did you just go to an Australian website? Mate, you can get a 6800XT here for like $155, and you can get a 6600GT (which is much, MUCH more powerful than the LE version) for a bout $135. Go with one of them mate. If you had a PCI-E computer I could give you my old cards for free, but agp I cant help you that much.
PM me if you are Australian and would appreciate any further help regarding retailers.

hooray for another aussie around here...even though i don't really show my face that often

Trent Pegler said:

For a few extra bucks, you can get this:
HIS Hightech H165PRF512AN-R Radeon X1650PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $136.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161052

Much faster, and newer with SM 3.0 support which is important in gaming