AGP versus PCI (Radeon)

[hyrum]

I have a computer that came with the Radeon 32MB (7200) about three years ago now. I am looking to buy a 9200 for now (9600 and 9800 are still priced too high) but I'm finding that they are all PCI while the 7200 was AGP.

Are all Radeons now PCI? I am very new to this but I'm assuming my Asus A7A/266 motherboard will handle the 9200? I have a 1.4ghz processor and 1Gb ram.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: hyrum
I have a computer that came with the Radeon 32MB (7200) about three years ago now. I am looking to buy a 9200 for now (9600 and 9800 are still priced too high) but I'm finding that they are all PCI while the 7200 was AGP.

Are all Radeons now PCI? I am very new to this but I'm assuming my Asus A7A/266 motherboard will handle the 9200? I have a 1.4ghz processor and 1Gb ram.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

No. most Radeons are AGP. Stay away from PCI cards, they are much slower.

What's your budget? If the ATI 9600 pro is too much, you may want to consider a G4 Ti 4200.

With all the vid card upgrading caused by the release of Doom 3, you may wanna look over at the FS/FT forums for a good deal too.

 

[hyrum]

Ah ok. I was looking on Ebay where there are dozens of Radeon 9200 PCI cards. I don't really have a budget, was just hoping to get a graphics card for about $100 somewhere so i can play soem of the new games (no, not Doom 3)

 

[dguy6789]

Here you go,

Radeon 9600 128MB for 94 bucks.


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-289&depa=1

 

[hyrum]

ooh good deal indeed...unfortunately they don't send to Canada Such a shame since it's such a great site.

 

[Peter]

And, if the PC is a couple of years old, please check for AGP 4x support before buying a 9600 or 9550 series cards. These don't fit AGP 1x/2x boards anymore.

 

[hyrum]

This is my motherboard....it APPEARS to have AGP4 support?

"1 x AGP Pro/AGP 4X"

A&A266 Motherboard

Thanks for letting me know that, I had no idea...but I'm assuming this motherboard can support that card...

 

[Cawchy87]

100 Canadian is 75 US. I would look in the For Sale For Trade fourm for a Geforce 4 ti4200 or a ti440 . And where in canada are you located?

 

[hyrum]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
And where in canada are you located?

Ontario, about an hour west of Toronto and in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Also, I'd say my budget is between 100-200CAD.

 

[Cawchy87]

darn, i am winnipeg my self. I could have given you my old ti200 for real cheap if you lived close. A ti4200/4400 would run any game out right now (with the exception of doom 3) decently. Probibly low graphics settings for the games but they would be playable. A 9600pro would imo improve enjoyablity of the game (higher framerates) but itsn't i huge upgrade over the ti4xxx series. you would still have to play on low to medium settings. I have had a geforce 3 ti200 (below the 4200) and it can run far cry but on very low settings. My 9600xt (over clocked 9600pro) could run it on medium settings and it looked quite good. It is really up to you. Depending on how much gaming you do and what you consider "playable." My friend runs every game on his mx420 (not a good card) and tells me i waste my money on decent computer parts. To each his own i suppose. Post in the for sale for trade fourm or ask us when you are going to make a purchase and we will tell you if it is a good deal or not.

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: hyrum
This is my motherboard....it APPEARS to have AGP4 support?

"1 x AGP Pro/AGP 4X"

A&A266 Motherboard

Thanks for letting me know that, I had no idea...but I'm assuming this motherboard can support that card...

That particular ALi north bridge has had some kind of stability issue with AGP 4x cards. Good luck ... whatever you do, give it its latest BIOS and ALi's AGP driver.

 

[Cawchy87]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=1370622&enterthread=y

thats a good deal on a ti4200. i would pick it up if i were you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Actually, I'm surprised to hear that you weren't able to find Radeon 9000/9200 AGP cards anywhere. WalMart even has them on clearance. I found out about the 9200 PCI models recently, and was a bit surprised to find out that they even exist, since the whole purpose of the existance of the 9200, was a 9000 chipset modified to support AGP 8x. To mod it again, just to support PCI, seems odd to me.