[SOLVED] Looking for AGP Card Under $70

Upgrayedddd · 07-14-2008, 09:57 PM

I've been browsing around for a graphics card and came across the Radeon X1650 Pro and HD2600 Pro series. They're both within the budget that I want (below $70).

I've witnessed people with AGP having countless problems with any ATI card X1950 Pro and beyond. Sapphire, VisionTek, etc. HD2600 cards all have driver issues. I don't want to buy the HD2600 and get poor to zero performance out of it. It's not a native AGP card, since it uses the PCI-E to AGP Rialto chip. I really don't see why they couldn't have bothered making it native. A lucky few have had the card work flawlessly. Anyway, have the issues been addressed at all? I'm aware that there are hotfixes.

That is why the X1650 is my fall-back, as it seems to be the last native ATI AGP card. nVidia recommendations that offer similar (or better) performance at the same price are welcome.

**magnethead** · 07-14-2008, 10:52 PM

I believe Nvidia has the 6800 or somewhere in there as an AGP?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143102

there's a 7300.

Upgrayedddd · 07-15-2008, 02:36 PM

Yeah, there's a 6800 AGP. The X1650 Pro seems to beat both the 6800 and 7300 GT under stock clockings, though. And I can get it cheaper (~$59). Are paper specifications a good thing to go by? I'm currently comparing cards with GPUReview.

**emosun** · 07-15-2008, 04:01 PM

Eh , the x1650 isn't very good. I used to have one in my old rig a few years back. Gave me a little less then xbox 1 or ps2 graphics. You would be better of with a 200 series , there at least twice as fast.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...073&CatId=2234

Upgrayedddd · 07-15-2008, 04:42 PM

But the reviews for AGP 2400, 2600, and 3850 are AWFUL. Anywhere, any manufacturer. NewEgg, TigerDirect, Amazon, tech forums...they all complain about horrible to non-existant DX9 support. This review from just 3 days ago:

Quote:

"Impossible to make work reliably. Even after uninstalling old drivers using Driver Sweep and installing CD drivers and current online drivers from Sapphire's website, this card gave me stop errors and hard reboots after >30 minutes of gaming. Don't waste your time or your money. Or, if you wanna see for yourself, check Sapphire support forums...the thread for this card is 63 pages long."

- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102709

They're ATI's disowned children--no official support through Catalyst. The hotfixes are alpha-release-quality and not likely to get serious attention (why would they? It's not an ATI condoned card.) I could order a VisionTek version of the card online and return it locally at a BestBuy if it gives me trouble. But it is extremely likely that it WILL given that the majority of reviews report failures. I guess it's a risk I'll have to weigh myself.

I was just wondering if there was an alternative that matched or surpassed what's in my price range; troublesome cards excluded.

**emosun** · 07-15-2008, 04:48 PM

No not really. The newer agp graphics cards from ati are built for newer machines. Most people get confused and think they are designed to upgrade old ones. They are made for newer computers that just unfortunately have an agp slot. So there success rate is usually 65%. Most people just need a bios update to fix the problem.

I would take the chance. Better then going with a card that would be known to work but have bad graphics and no dx10 support.

Upgrayedddd · 07-15-2008, 05:24 PM

You may be right, and I may take the risk. I've been looking around some more and found this review. The person is using the same motherboard (likely the same OEM computer, also) as I do and got a DX9 game to run well.

If there are no more suggestions or input, then this is solved. Thanks.

07-14-2008, 09:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
Upgrayedddd Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 14 OS: Windows XP Home SP3	[SOLVED] Looking for AGP Card Under $70 I've been browsing around for a graphics card and came across the Radeon X1650 Pro and HD2600 Pro series. They're both within the budget that I want (below $70). I've witnessed people with AGP having countless problems with any ATI card X1950 Pro and beyond. Sapphire, VisionTek, etc. HD2600 cards all have driver issues. I don't want to buy the HD2600 and get poor to zero performance out of it. It's not a native AGP card, since it uses the PCI-E to AGP Rialto chip. I really don't see why they couldn't have bothered making it native. A lucky few have had the card work flawlessly. Anyway, have the issues been addressed at all? I'm aware that there are hotfixes. That is why the X1650 is my fall-back, as it seems to be the last native ATI AGP card. nVidia recommendations that offer similar (or better) performance at the same price are welcome. __________________ PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380 Motherboard: ASUS K8S-LA (SiS 760/964 Chipset) Socket 754: 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice) RAM: 1.5 GB DDR-400 (1x1 GB + 1x512 MB)

07-14-2008, 10:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Looking for AGP Card Under $70 I believe Nvidia has the 6800 or somewhere in there as an AGP? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143102 there's a 7300. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System Last edited by magnethead; 07-14-2008 at 10:56 PM.

07-15-2008, 02:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
Upgrayedddd Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 14 OS: Windows XP Home SP3	Re: Looking for AGP Card Under $70 Yeah, there's a 6800 AGP. The X1650 Pro seems to beat both the 6800 and 7300 GT under stock clockings, though. And I can get it cheaper (~$59). Are paper specifications a good thing to go by? I'm currently comparing cards with GPUReview. __________________ PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380 Motherboard: ASUS K8S-LA (SiS 760/964 Chipset) Socket 754: 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice) RAM: 1.5 GB DDR-400 (1x1 GB + 1x512 MB)

07-15-2008, 04:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,988 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Looking for AGP Card Under $70 Eh , the x1650 isn't very good. I used to have one in my old rig a few years back. Gave me a little less then xbox 1 or ps2 graphics. You would be better of with a 200 series , there at least twice as fast. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...073&CatId=2234 __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

07-15-2008, 04:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,988 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Looking for AGP Card Under $70 No not really. The newer agp graphics cards from ati are built for newer machines. Most people get confused and think they are designed to upgrade old ones. They are made for newer computers that just unfortunately have an agp slot. So there success rate is usually 65%. Most people just need a bios update to fix the problem. I would take the chance. Better then going with a card that would be known to work but have bad graphics and no dx10 support. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

07-15-2008, 05:24 PM	#7 (permalink)
Upgrayedddd Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 14 OS: Windows XP Home SP3	Re: Looking for AGP Card Under $70 You may be right, and I may take the risk. I've been looking around some more and found this review. The person is using the same motherboard (likely the same OEM computer, also) as I do and got a DX9 game to run well. If there are no more suggestions or input, then this is solved. Thanks. __________________ PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380 Motherboard: ASUS K8S-LA (SiS 760/964 Chipset) Socket 754: 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice) RAM: 1.5 GB DDR-400 (1x1 GB + 1x512 MB)