FrozenPeas

Im looking for a decent AGP card preferably under $70. So far these are the ones im debating over.


The Visiontek ATI Radeon 2600PRO is $60, but I heard bad things about it, also I saw the sys requirements is a 350-watt power supply. I'm not sure how much watt power supply my comp has so heres a sticker that I found inside my computer that I took a pic of:
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/7974/hohljhlkax0.jpg
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1177112903079


The nVidia Geforce 7600gs is a little pricey for me at $84.99 it exceeds what I want to spend but if its the only card that gonna be decent I might have to: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121064


Theres also the Radeon 2600XT for $86.99 (after mail-in-rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161208


Im not much of a pc gamer, really I want this card just to run WoW and Diablo 3 nicely. Thats why im really skeptical about paying over 70$ for a card. For as of right now its mainly for one game where you already have to pay monthly. Any help on picking, added suggestions or advice would be great.

Houndog777

Can your motherboard utilise AGP x8..?
Blizzard have not declared the System Requirements yet for Diablo3, so a bit hard to say about that one.
WoW is not demanding at all;
Pentium-4 1.5GHz or AMD XP1500+ processor
1GB of RAM
64 MB 3D graphics card
Broadband internet connection
A two-button, scroll-wheel mouse is also recommended.

I like this card......
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102756

SAPPHIRE 1011 Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X HDCP Ready and DirectX-10 support for $40.

Upgrayedddd

It looks like you've got 240W to work with. That is probably enough, and the available amps looks like they will be too. Calculate your system's power consumption here to make sure. And post it.

An issue I see with the 7600 GS is passive cooling, i.e.: no fan. But it doesn't run as fast as the 2600s so it may not need it, and if you have good case cooling then it won't be as much of an issue. If you want to overclock it and add active cooling later in the future, it'll do even better. Plus it'll likely just work out of the box.

It's up to you, though. I'd say go for the Newegg card Houndog777 posted if you want to risk it. It's the same as the VisionTek, and for less. The problem is across the entire HD2600 (and X1950, 3850) line. So if any 2600 card gives you problems then likely all of them will. You may as well go for the cheaper version of the card. Google around your motherboard model + 2600 pro agp and see if anyone got it working/or hasn't.

And good luck! I'm going to take a gamble on the 2600 card soon myself but luckily I found someone with my motherboard/system who got it to work so I feel a little better about it.

emosun

If you can afford the xt go with the xt.

FrozenPeas

Yea my bus interface is AGP 8x, I was leaning towards the 7600gs because my current card is a nVidia and I heard alot of bad things from the ati 2600 members. Although the 2600 is less than half the price which is making me change my mind. But even though the 2600 is a much better deal I really dont want to pay half as much for a card that isnt going to work properly. Really I don't understand what are the risks behind the 2600? Should it not function just as well as any other AGP card? Because I would really like to pay only 40$ instead of 85$.

PS: On newegg the 2600 is out of stock, does the ETA:07/21/2008 mean when it will be available for purchase?

Houndog777

Hi,
Choosing components isn't easy my friend, and you're doing the right thing by doing some research. Sadly, people that criticise always outnumber the ones that praise by about 25/1.
If a card doesn't work properly, you do what you do with any other thing you've just purchased. Send it back.
Why not look at the boards/forums of the games you like and see what kind of cards the experienced players are using?
Take your time, stay within your budget and buy what "you" want and need. I've found that "gamers" can be a bad choice for advice, as any card that isn't as good as theirs and/or costs 300 bucks is just dismissed as crap.

Upgrayedddd

Aghhh, they say they're in stock now but bumped the price to $69.99. I should've ordered this morning when it was still listed at $39.99. You know what dude, I'd wait it out. It's what I'm going to do. I feel like a chump coughing out more than $50 for it. Especially since the PCI-E versions go for way cheap. I know it has a premium because it's an obsolete slot-type, etc. But still screw that, they're going to drop eventually.

Also, if you want to get more juice for your system (your 240W is enough, but only just barely) consider getting an Earthwatts 380 PSU. They're going for $39.99 right now with free shipping. I ordered one because I thought I'd be ordering the card today as well. It's a good brand, GREAT efficiency rating, and a decent price.

FrozenPeas

Yea, I ordered the 2600pro this morning only realizing newegg cant ship to America and bill to Canada so basically im screwed there ;(.

Basically my 3 card choices are the BFG 7300GT, evga 7600gs and vision tek hd2600pro. Under system requirements they all seem to require between 350-400 watt power supply. Yet a lot of people have been telling me I can probably run all of them. How is that possible if I have a 240w?

I found an open box BFG GeForce 7300GT 350MHZ 512MB DDR2 card for $96.00 ($58.00 after mail in rebate) so I might go with that. Although I think it requires a 350 watt power supply.

emosun

Who said you can run it on a 240w? 350/400w should be the minimum for all of those.

Houndog777

Hi, agree with Emosun regarding power, however I can see from that image 14?Watts and below it, 240W. You may already have a 380-400W PSU.
Ask a friend to look at that label, or write down what it says on that part of the sticker, or tell us the manufacturer name and model number.

Also wanted to tell you that the GeForce 7100 & 7300 cards are not recommended for any decent games. Good for watching a movie or playing solitaire, but thats about it.

FrozenPeas

Could you tell my PSU from that?

wrench97

Looks like 13.6 amps on the 12v rail if so you will need to upgrade it.
For an AGP card you will need a minimum of 18 amps on the 12 volt rail.

wrench97

Not that but from the last picture you posted before the edit.

wrench97

Something like this is more then you need but good quality PSU below 400 are getting hard to find. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

emosun

This ones a little cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171028

FrozenPeas

Thanks, but I really don't want to have to upgrade anything more than the RAM and Video Card. I'm just wondering what graphics card can I use with the PSU I currently have? Any of these 7600gs, 7300GT or HD2600?

wrench97

No any video card will require a more powerful PSU.

emosun

Yup your current psu won't support a video card upgrade , this is fairly common. Psu and video card upgrades go hand in hand.