AGP video card line-up.

[hockey man]

Guys, I'm not familiar at all with the older AGP 4x/8x or 4x video cards. Do any of you have a link to a "AGP Line-up" were I can see a list of AGP cards and their specs? Also, what ones are recommendable these days?

[saphalline]

Do you just want the major ones or all of them? There are far too many to list if you want all of them, but I can cover the major ones if you want.

[odannyboy000]

i have a radeon 9800 pro 256 that is agp 8x. i am very happy with it. but there are slightly newer vid cards that have cineFX 3.0 and even better shaders. the 9800 pro was the best you could get in 2003. read up about it.

[hockey man]

I guess just a list of ones that should be recommended to someone look'n to upgrade a AGP video card. Both the 8x and 4x. I've noticed a couple of questions like that reciently and wanted to be able to help answer them, but found myself not knowing any AGP cards.

[saphalline]

Current prices tend to affect things, but I'll cover the highlights.

For a cheapo AGP vid card, the GeForce4 MX 4000 is like $30-40 or so. It provides very little power (based off the pathetic GF4 MX 420) but is usually 4x compatible (always useful). It can have 64MB or 128MB of DDR RAM, at a narrow 64-bits, generally around 3-5 GB/s of RAM bandwidth. 2 x 2 pipes, DX7-class (no shaders), core speed of 200-300MHz. The MX 4000 specs vary greatly, but at this cheap price, who really cares about the specs?

For a slighly larger budget, or for PC's with lower wattage PSU's (ran into that recently), the GeForce FX 5200 is a good choice. Costs around $50-70, it can be 4x or 8x/4x. 64MB, 128MB, or even 256MB of DDR RAM, 64-bit or 128-bit, generally around 3-6.4 GB/s of RAM bandwidth. 2 x 2 pipes, DX9-class (technically), core speed of around 250MHz. Not really able to run DX9 games like Doom 3 or HL2, but it's a decent performer for older games. You could possibly play HL2 in DX8-mode, but this thing doesn't have a lot of power behind it.

For a good performer that is usually 4x compatible, the Radeon 9600 Pro/XT is my choice. Last time I checked, the XT could be found on Newegg for about $90-100. 128MB or 256MB of DDR RAM, though I would recommend the 128MB versions, 128-bits, generally around 9.6 GB/s of RAM bandwidth. 4 pipes, DX9-class (barely), core speed of 400-500MHz. Able to play Doom 3 and HL2 at the lowest settings, and other games like WarCraft 3 at medium/high settings.

For performance-minded 4x gamers, the Radeon 9800 series is good. Generally in the $110-140 range (last time I checked) it's important to pick these out carefully for true 4x compatibility. 128MB or 256MB of DDR RAM, 256-bits, generally around 20-24 GB/s of RAM bandwidth. 8 pipes, DX9-class, core speed of 325-380MHz. Able to play Doom 3 and HL2 at around 800 x 600 with medium details, and can handle pretty much any sub-DX9 game out there.

Above the 9800's, I start recommending the AGP version (8x slots) of the 6600 GT. You're familiar with that one, so I'll stop here.

[pangea33]

Thanks for breaking it down, Saph. I'm saddled with a system that doesn't really have any worthwhile upgrade capacity. Maxed out (almost) socket A cpu, IDE drive interfaces, AGP graphics, etc. A legitimate upgrade begs for a whole new machine. A cost effective graphics card at least allows for a little wiggle room.

[hockey man]

Thanks Saph. That does make it simple. . .