Worthwhile upgrade for AGP?

Siba

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Looking for something to hold me over until the time when I get an entirely new system. Currently I'm using an X700 Pro AGP @ stock.

This caught my eye:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130036

eVGA 256-A8-N542-AX Geforce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
About $135 shipped

The rest of my system specs are as follows:
Athlon XP 3200+
2x512mb Corsair DDR400 running in dual channel
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Mobo
Audigy 2
Hyundai L90d+

I like to run everything at 1280x1024, native res for my LCD.
It would be nice to get all of my games (CS, X3: Reunion, Darkstar One Demo - retail when it comes out, Warcraft 3 FT, Titan quest) to run at 60 fps, preferably higher @ 1280x1024. I don't really mind turning down settings as a trade off for getting smoother gameplay, as I tend to play more action-oriented games. However, any extra eye candy that I can afford would certainly be appreciated.

Does this look like a good buy in my situation? About how well can I expect this 7600GS to perform, and more importantly, what kind of performance leap would I see? Are there better options out there that don't involve my spending more than about $150 usd? Would I be better off just saving my money for when I get a new system? (This option could take anywhere from 3 months to a year or more)

Thanks in advance for your opinions.
 

lano1985

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If you want to get one more round of grpahics performance out of your current AGP system before you get a new one, there is a few of options.

1) buy the best performing AGP card on the planet, the 7800GS, which is almost as fast as a 7900gt and faster than a 7600gt.

2) go for one of the top cards from a generation ago like an ATI x800 pro, x850 XT or nVidia 6800 GT/Ultra.

3) Buy the 7600GS which is probably the best budget card on the market.

my personal choice would be the 7800gs but that is prob 150-200 dollars more.

The 7600GS AGP is probably the best bang for your buck card available to you.

For an extra 50-100 dollars US you could get into a very fast card from the last generation. I guess you need to weigh up how much your willing to spend and how soon your new system is coming along.
 

lano1985

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UPDATE

go to the link below, it has got a 7600GS up against a couple of cards including an older 6800GS and an X1600 which i believe comes in AGP too.

http://www.vr-zone.com/index.php?i=3694

The 6800 GS seems to be the winner for games, and these days it isn't that much more expensive. It also incorporates shader model 3.0c
 

Siba

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http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

X800XL or X850 Pro for $119, both AGP.

Which is the better of the two? Do both of them end up ahead of the 7600gs? Is there anything I'd be missing out compared to the 7600gs, like sm support or whatnot?

And last, how much of an improvement can I expect to see from the jump from an X700 Pro? :)
 

Gary_Busey

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http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

X800XL or X850 Pro for $119, both AGP.

Which is the better of the two? Do both of them end up ahead of the 7600gs? Is there anything I'd be missing out compared to the 7600gs, like sm support or whatnot?

And last, how much of an improvement can I expect to see from the jump from an X700 Pro? :)
They don't have SM3.0 or the HDR that is found in Oblivion, the 7600GS does I believe. They're faster than the 7600GS. At stock, the X800XL is faster than an X850 Pro. When they're overclocked, the X850 Pro is faster than the X800XL. You should see a pretty big improvement, at least according to these charts:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/index0507.html

Check out the X700 Pro against the X800XL.