Cheap upgrade in AGP: X700 vs 9800Pro, other suggestions?

[Dr_asik]

So my dad wants to play Medieval Total War 2, but his actual configuration is:

Pentium 4 Northwood 2.4 Ghz
ASUS P4B533 AGP 4X
512MB DDR533 RAM
GeForce MX 440
CD-RW drive, 80GB HD, Windows XP Pro SP2, etc.

So of course he needs a DVD-ROM, but the video card won't cut it either. He's not eager to spend hundreds to play a particular game, so I'm looking at video cards up to 140$, but lower is better. We live in Canada, so I've checked on NCIX and Tigerdirect. NCIX has an X700 for 95$, and I can't seem to find a 9800Pro, but in case I do, is it a better choice? There's nothing decent at ATI's clearance and X800s are way overpriced.

Any thoughts?

 

[enforcerfx]

Ya, I poked around Tigerdirect this is the best I could find. Im not exactly clear on the exchange rate from US to Canadian dollars. I think this factors in under your budget though. Also, try to invest in another 512mb of ram, you'll see better performance in games that way as well.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2484234&CatId=935

 

[cleeve]

DBLPST

 

[cleeve]

In Canada, the X700 is a decent deal.

If you want good performance for under $100, your best bet is ebay. You can find used X800 XLs for under $100 online, those are still honking AGP cards. Worth a look.

Other than that, the best deal I can find is a $150 X1650 PRO at future shop. Not a bad buy in canada if you have the cash, but a used X800 XL would be even faster...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I agree with what Cleeve said, no surprise there, but I'd mention that the X700 is cheaper than the $95 you listed, it is availabel for $70, and might do you until the whole system is upgraded.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16807&vpn=SP-X700-256-A&manufacture=SAPPHIRE&promoid=1022

Look to see if you can find a cheap X800 series, or the X1650Pro or X1600Pro for your price range (X1650 is better), but otherwise the cheap X700 will do for now, but will be lesser performing of course.