What AGP card is cheap and can play all games out now?

[ChonChon]

im looking for, pretty much, best quality on all the games for a cheap card. i was looking into the XFX GeForce 6200 256MB (LINK ).

how would this do for games like Quake 4, DOOM3, F.E.A.R., Ultimate Spiderman, King Kong, stuff like that -- the new stuff?

basically i wanna know if this is a good card to spend money on (im only looking to use it for half a year, most a year), and if not, which one is?

thanks a lot.

 

[kyparrish]

F.E.A.R. will give you the middle finger if you start it up with a 6200 256mb installed. Everything else will play like crap as well, except solitaire. You'll pull pretty good FPS on 3d pinball, though.

Seriously, if you want to be able to play those games with decent settings at a decent resolution, you're going to need to look at cards starting at the 6600GT, 6800, 6800GS, etc. On the ATI side, the X800GTO2 seems to be nice because they can be flashed to 16 pipes.

ChonChon, what are you other system specs, and what is your budget?

 

[ChonChon]

first off, i play F.E.A.R. at 1152x864, 32-bit, and medium qual everything (no shadows ) with my FX5200 128mb...a 6200 should be able to do WAY better.

as for my specs...they are now:

AMD Athlon XP 2000+
LeadTek GeForce FX5200 128MB (which i use to PLAY all the games i listed, just not as good as i want...to "medium"!)
1GB SAMSUNG 2-2-5-7 DDR400 RAM
ASUS A7V400-MX board
80GB WD HDD
LG 16x DVD+/-RW

 

[Madwand1]

6600GT can be bought for as little as $120.

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

I didn't know the X800GTO2 was available in AGP (If it is, get that!). Also the 6800GS is a good idea, but also I thought that was also PCIe only? The 7800 GS is probably the best way to go, although its price is really a little high. Probably the best AGP card right now if the price came down a bit.

If you budget is <$100, find someone willing to sell you their 9800 pro for cheap. If your budget is more around $200 you might still find those X800/X850 XT's that have been on firesale.

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
6600GT can be bought for as little as $120.

Also a good choice.

 

[orangat]

Lets see, an fx5200 playing F.E.A.R. at 1152x864 medium qual everything (no shadows).
I have a hard believing that. Is it running at 15fps?

o/t On another board, someone else had a 9250 and insisted it was a good card for games like Doom3, what a waste of my time that thread was.

 

[UNCjigga]

Where are the X1600 AGP cards? I keep hearing about them but haven't seen any benches yet. I also heard that in addition to the 7800GS AGP card, Nvidia might also put out a desktop version of the 7400 for AGP. That might be cost effective.

 

[ChonChon]

thats true, that might be very cost effective...

hmm...unfortunately my buget is around $100 or less...

is a 9800pro better then 6200 256mb? im trying to stick with stricty nVidia here...

what about...6600 non gt?

 

[Gstanfor]

I'd strongly reccomend a 6600GT personally. I wouldn't want to drop below a 6600LE as bare minimum though.

If the FX5200 is as "high-end" as you have ever previously been, then honestly, you have no real idea of how a decent gaming card is meant to perform.

6600 non GT and below are really only meant for very occasional 3D usage, probably to run yound kids games or similar.

 

[ChonChon]

i just got offered a 6800NU...i heard its really good, and this person gave me a real good price...

?

 

[kyparrish]

6800NU would blow away your FX5200.

 

[Raduque]

Depending on the price, I'd take it. A 6800nu is a great card, I'm very happy with mine, upgrading from a 9700Pro.

 

[ChonChon]

well of course, i know that much...i mean...it would probably be able to play the new games full quality everything, wouldnt it (on 1280x1024)?

if so, i will get it for sure. this card will last me a while if i get it, a lot longer then i anticipated a 6200 to last (im getting an ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, so this card will still be good for a while, even though it is AGP, which i dont really care about as long as the performance is there).

 

[kyparrish]

It's not going to play FEAR @ 1280x1024 on the highest settings. But, if it's a good deal that you're getting, I'd go for it.

 

[Elfear]

If you can get the 6800NU for a decent price than grab it. It is overall faster than a 9800Pro and 6600GT and can be oced fairly well from what I've seen. Also has the possibility of unlocking the extra quad. Oced and unlocked, my brother's 6800NU was on par with a 6800GT.

 

[ChonChon]

hmmm....

would even an X800XL play doom at highest settings @ 1280x1024?

.....6800GTs are sexy!

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: ChonChon
well of course, i know that much...i mean...it would probably be able to play the new games full quality everything, wouldnt it (on 1280x1024)?

if so, i will get it for sure. this card will last me a while if i get it, a lot longer then i anticipated a 6200 to last (im getting an ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, so this card will still be good for a while, even though it is AGP, which i dont really care about as long as the performance is there).

Don't get ahead of yourself, it's a good card but it won't be able handle a majority of today's games at 1280x1024 with max eye candy. Heck, FEAR and COD2 give a 7800GTX a run for its money at those settings.

 

[ChonChon]

well....lets say on quality that is still good enough to make you say "holy crap this is amazing" rather then that "gay ass video card cant support ******"...

isnt that right? thats really all im looking for, simply put.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: ChonChon
well....lets say on quality that is still good enough to make you say "holy crap this is amazing" rather then that "gay ass video card cant support ******"...

isnt that right? thats really all im looking for, simply put.

If you go easy on the details and disable AA for some games, than you should be fine with that card.

 

[ChonChon]

hmmm....in that case im gona go for it

thanks SOOOO much ppl!!!!!

 

[Elfear]

Good luck with that. You will be amazed at the difference between that 6800NU and your 5200. Think of it like driving a 3-cylinder Metro around for awhile and then taking a new V8 Mustang for a spin.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: ChonChon
well....lets say on quality that is still good enough to make you say "holy crap this is amazing" rather then that "gay ass video card cant support ******"...

isnt that right? thats really all im looking for, simply put.

Jumping from an FX5200, it'll be that.

FEAR was "holy crap amazing!" on my 9700Pro, and on my 6800NU, it's just faster. much more playable at the same settings then my ati card. I think you'll enjoy the 6800.

BTW, I'm also considering the ASRock 939Dual board. I hope it's a good board.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: ChonChon
well....lets say on quality that is still good enough to make you say "holy crap this is amazing" rather then that "gay ass video card cant support ******"...

isnt that right? thats really all im looking for, simply put.

Jumping from an FX5200, it'll be that.

FEAR was "holy crap amazing!" on my 9700Pro, and on my 6800NU, it's just faster. much more playable at the same settings then my ati card. I think you'll enjoy the 6800.

BTW, I'm also considering the ASRock 939Dual board. I hope it's a good board.

Yup.

6800s are good stuff. I've got a GT in my main rig(see sig), and a NU powering my lappy, which gives me lots of good times when I'm at school with nothing to do for a couple hours before my next class(college is cool like that, kinda).

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: ChonChon
im looking for, pretty much, best quality on all the games for a cheap card. i{ I } was looking into the XFX GeForce 6200 256MB (LINK ).

Near as I can analyze your request, you have made a contradiction in terms here (and I've gone blank on the name of that crossup -- "Oxymoron" -- that's it), somewhat like the joke about "Military Intelligence".

"Cheap" simply eliminates the possibility of getting much of a modern gaming card, unless you simply don't play any fast stuff!

how would this do for games like Quake 4, DOOM3, F.E.A.R., Ultimate Spiderman, King Kong, stuff like that -- the new stuff?

basically i{ I } wanna know if this is a good card to spend money on i({I'}m only looking to use it for half a year

The 6200 128/128 that came out with the 6600 and 6800 wasn't partticularly fast to use for action games. I put one in a P4 I assembled for one of my kids to use, but he's not a game player. I had an FX 5200 in my grandson's machine for a little while (what a slug! My GF3 Ti-500 ran rings around that thing).

Ever since the release of the GF 6xxx's, it's been widely known that the 6600 was the least powerful card you could even try using for fast action, in hopes it could be OC'd with some success. Today, the 6200's readily available are either a cheapened, and slowed down 64 Bit part, or worse than that, a TC part that might as well be an FX 5200.

Getting a Vanilla 6800 is going to be enlightening for you, I'm sure.