Upgrading my AGP-based system

[blacktankofhopelessness]

I'm looking to upgrade my vid card for games like Medieval 2: Total War, I hardly play FPS at all. Now, I am aware that these games often put more strain on the CPU than the GPU compared to more graphically intense games, but Medieval 2 seems to be much more "graphic" compared to its predecessors which is why I'm looking to get a new card.

I hear the 7600GS or GT is the way to go if you still have an AGP system. And no, I'm not upgrading my entire rig just yet. What would be your recommendation based on the system I have now?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Maxspeed996]

what's your budget ? I had the X700 and $300 and upgraded to the 7800GS CO Superclock.....and OMGWTF!! It's amazing what a difference it made....the 7600 will easily be twice as fast as the X700.
If you can wait another week or so...ATI is releasing the X1950 in AGP form , and it should be faster than the 7800GS CO Superclock (currently the fastest AGP card made)
lets not bring up that UK version 7900 because it's almost impossible to get our hands on.

 

[lobbyone]

I would recommend getting the 7600GT, bang for the buck!

 

[Tarindel]

I just bought a 7600GT.

Newegg is out of Leadteks at the moment, but they seem to have the XFX 7600GT in stock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150201

 

[VooDooAddict]

I heard the X1950 AGP was a typo in the press release.

My 6800 (Unlocked to 16pipes but default clocks) just started to die.

Struggling right now with the decission to dump more $$ into AGP with a 7600GT AGP ($175+Ship) or to make a budget move to PCIe. Move my stuff to a PCIe s754 board in a Qpack for @ $100 then drop in a $260 eVGA 7900GTO and possibly "step-up" to a 8800GTX at the end of the year when I move to Core 2 Quad.

It's so much cheaper to just drop in the 7600GT ... but I really hate to dump so much money on a dead end solution, espessialy when I don't expect the 7600GT to give me drasticly higher framerates then the unlocked 6800.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Thanks for confirming what I believed to be the best solution. I'm in Sweden where the 7600GT seems considerably more expensive than the GS at most webshops. Is there a really big difference in performance between the GT and GS, and by that I mean so big that it warrants almost double the price for the GT?

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: blacktankofhopelessness
Thanks for confirming what I believed to be the best solution. I'm in Sweden where the 7600GT seems considerably more expensive than the GS at most webshops. Is there a really big difference in performance between the GT and GS, and by that I mean so big that it warrants almost double the price for the GT?

7600GS AGP vs 7600GT AGP

For those of us with access to Newegg.com ...
$125 7600GS AGP
$180 7600GT AGP

40% faster GPU for 44% more $$. Not often in computer components do you get a nice scaling like that. I don't know how much the two types of cards run in Sweden... but I don't know if I would pay double (100% more $$) for the 7600GT AGP. It would depend highly on what I was going to do with it.

 

[Tarindel]

Yes, the 7600GT significantly outperforms the 7600GS.

You might check out how much the X850Pro costs in Sweden.

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: Tarindel
Yes, the 7600GT significantly outperforms the 7600GS.

You might check out how much the X850Pro costs in Sweden.

I hate you...

I had completely written off the X850 Series from my mind due to the lack of SM3.0

Now that I think about it though. This is only a short term replacement for me. I'm planning to get a DX10 Card and a Core 2 Quad after the new year. The SM2 of the x850Pro should last me.

In the long term ... as a spare card ... which will be more useful a mid range SM3 (7600GT) or the high end SM2 ... I had settled on ... grrr... hate ... hate

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Thanks for the tip! The X850 Pro is almost exactly the same price as the 7600GT on all the webshops I've checked out. I have to say the cheaper 7600GS (at roughly $140 on the swedish market) appeals to me and my wallet more... The X850 Pro and 7600GT will cost me around $240 here.

 

[Slammy1]

Wait out a deal, you should be able to pick up an x850XT for around $150.

 

[Summitdrinker]

interesting, at 130 dollars the x850 pro seem like a good deal, I going to upgrade in about 5 weeks. right now I m running the orginal radeon 32mb ddr card on my P4 2.8 since my radeon 9800 died