Best AGP 4x card? Help upgrading my old gaming pc

[DIYNewb]

Hi! i am looking to update my old system

AMD athalon thunderbird 1ghz cpu
Abit KT7A motherboard (4x agp)

Saphire Radeon 9000 video card (agp 4x)

my question is, will my agp4x motherboard support an agp8x card (albeit at slower speed, especially since these cards are going down in price)

If my mobo will not support agp8x, then what is the best agp4x card that i can get?

The reason that i am asking is that i want to wait until january 07 to upgrade to a C2Duo system, but i would like to get my old system running current gen games for a little longer/better until then, at minimal cost (as i'm saving up for C2D system)

I primarily want to use this PC to play Rome: Total War and the expansion.

The reason i am waiting until Jan 07 is that i want to see more refinement in the Mobos that support E6600 and also for DX10 cards (but who knows when that will be) also the game which i most want to play (medieval 2 total war does not come out until then)

Thanks for anyone that can help, and any firsthand experience with the KT7a mobo would be greatly appreciated, thanks THG forums.

 

[sirheck]

you could try an x800gto those seem to be pretty good cards
for around 135$ us

 

[Crashman]

No double-posting NEWB, delete the other thread.

There is no such thing as an 8x card, all 8x capable cards are either 8x/4x or 8x/4x/2x. Since all 8x capable cards are also 4x capable, you're good to go.

 

[uk_gangsta]

you could try an x800gto those seem to be pretty good cards
for around 135$ us

Yer, im orderin 1 of them tomorow for my system to tide me over and replace my radeon 9550 until the end of the year wen im geting am2 with crossfire.

 

[pauldh]

Yes as others have said any AGP 8X/4X card will work in that system (assuming adequate power supply).

But, a Tbird 1.0GHz is going to bottleneck so many cards out there. I would look for a $40-50 9700 pro or 9800 pro. Anything more than that is a waste. Even a $25 used Ti4200 would be way above a R9000. For most newer games, a tbird 1.0Ghz is under minimum spec. Others won't even run on it for lack of sse3 instructions. Bottom line AGP 4X won't hurt the card performance but the cpu will; if you must upgrade, go used and cheap...nothing fancy.

 

[DIYNewb]

No double-posting NEWB, delete the other thread.

yes you are correct, will delete other post

 

[pauldh]

By the way have you tried Rome:TW or the demo on your system? It should run on a R9000. Make sure it (or the demo) runs (even if slow) before buying a new card or the full game.

 

[DIYNewb]

Yes, both demos run, but i want a little bit better performance.

i'm looking at ATI Radeon 9700 Video Card for around $70 i figure that the cost for the 9800 isn't really worth it.

 

[kaotao]

Yes it is, and I've seen used 9800pros around that price.

 

[kaotao]

I'll sell you mine for $60, you pay shipping though. I don't have the original driver CD, but you can always get drviers from ATI website.

 

[dewey2641]

DIY What did you end up getting working?

 

[canesfanjax]

No double-posting NEWB, delete the other thread.

There is no such thing as an 8x card, all 8x capable cards are either 8x/4x or 8x/4x/2x. Since all 8x capable cards are also 4x capable, you're good to go.

lol tell tha tto dell i just called and they said 8x wil not work in their 4 x systems