markyboynektor

i have a k7s5a motherboard with a geforce2 mx 100/200 64mb video card, i want to up-grade, but the motherboard has a x4 agp interface..would a x8 agp video card (128mb or 256mb) work good with my motherboard? would performance be better than what i got?

i thought about useing a PCI interface video card , maybe a chaintech fx 5200 or something similar. is this a good idea?

markyboy

http://www.techsupportforum.com/newt...ewthread&f=24#

mark3567

Hi,

First of all, putting an 8x card in a motherboard that only supports 4x will not increase the efficiency of your video. You must also make sure if you purchase one with 8x capabilities, that it is backward compatible with the 4x slot motherboard. Otherwise, it simply will not work and you will have wasted your money.

That being said, a better card with faster memory and newer features will increase your performance, especially when you move from 64mb to 128 or 256mb. The newer cards with faster memory (like ddr) just do so much more than the older ones, especially if you are into games.

If you use your computer just to connect and browse or as an onboard typewriter, then you won't see much benefit. In that case, you would be wasting your dollars.

I also, just don't recommend the PCI cards over an AGP card

That is my opinion anyhow.

Sarkast

Not to repeat what Mark said but i'd just like to emphasize that you will get a much better performance out of using an AGP card than PCI.

I also dont know what your budget is but a FX5200 is very low end and even though it will improve performance from your current setup - it wont be a lot.
But as Mark said - it depends on what you'd like to do so at this time its hard to suggest something. If you'd let us know what you intend on doing with the card and what you budget it - maybe we can suggest a better candidate.

Here is a page someone posted yesterday about AGP compatibilities. Bottom line is most "AGP 8x" cards are in fact 4x/8x compatible so they will work on your board.

http://www.playtool.com/PT/AGPCompat/agp.html

markyboynektor

well , i got rome:total war coming in the mail and i would like to check out half life 2 or maybe far cry. what video card is the best that has backward capabilities? my budjet is about $90 to $110 would the video card have it some where on the box saying it it backward compatible? would i see a big improvement? if there is not an increase in efficency, would there not be an increase in preformance? does a k7s5a motherboard have a 1.5 v agp or 3.3v agp?

thanks

Sarkast

It says AGP 2.0 so 1.5V.
With a budget of 90-110$ i would check out a 9600 Pro like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...125-169&depa=0

You wont be able to play HL2 at extreme detail but depending on the rest of your setup this card will probably have 3 times the framerates a 5200 would produce.

Sarkast

And what exactly do you mean by this ?

markyboynektor

i read mark 3567 reply, in the first paragraph he said "First of all, putting an 8x card in a motherboard that only supports 4x will not increase the efficiency of your video." and in the second paragragh he said "a better card with faster memory and newer features will increase your performance"
i didn't know what he meant by this..., but my question now is ..... if i install a video card with with an x8 agp interface that has backward capabilities on my univeral agp mortherboard. should i see a big improvement?

is pci interface video card worth looking into? is there really that big of a difference in preformance vs. an x4/x8 agp interface video cards?

thank u
markyboy

Sarkast

Well i gotta ask Mark what exactly he meant - i can only guess and i dont want to be wrong.

Fact is - if you'd go with a card like the one i suggested earlier (or similar) then you will see a HUGE performance increase compared to your GF2MX

I am not much of a gamer but when running RR Tycoon (one of the few games i played lately) on high detail i get maybe 10-15 fps depending on the game situation with my card (in the signature). I used a 9600XT for a while and these framerates improved to about 40-60 with the same detail settings. You see the diffrence.

Also dont think that AGP8x means its twice as fast as AGP4x. Thats a common mistake. Fact is most midrange cards cannot saturate the bandwidth provided by an AGP4x slot - so even if you stick them in an AGP8x slot they just dont use the available bandwidth. Even on high end cards it looks like performance diffrence between AGP4x and 8x is mostly maybe 5%... so nothing to really worry about.

markyboynektor

so u wouldn't have nothing to do with a pci interface video card.....-i should forget about that idea. right?

if i bought a gigabyte ati 9600pro 128mb would have to change drivers? i guess the card would come with software.

thanks

Sarkast

Well you dont have to get the gigabyte card i suggested - there are many other 9600 Pros so just look around on newegg (or other online retailers)... because diffrent cards might come with diffrent bonus things like games or other software. I just suggested that one because it was in your price range and i trust gigabyte products.

You'd defenitely have to change drivers and i suggest to follow the steps described many times on this page (uninstall old drivers first etc). The card will come with a CD with drivers and tools - but its best to go to the ATI website ahead of time and download the latest drivers as the ones on the CD might be a couple of months old.

PS.: Yes stay away from PCI. Thats why AGP was "invented" - because its so much more powerful than a PCI interface.

markyboynektor

ok, thanks, i guess the only thing i have to worry about is the interface type.

markyboy

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Sarkast

OK and once you got something let us know how you like it. Always nice to have some feedback when you tried helping someone.