hey guys i am in need of some help here,
my visiontek ATI radeonX1300 card just died yesterday so im in need of a new one asap, all i want it to do is run WoW pretty well....my X1300 ran WoW at max settings with 2xAA at about 25-35fps outdoors and 48+indoors.

it has to be an agp slot card and i would like it to perform about the same as my x1300 did cuz i am used to how that plays and would really dislike lower settings, unfortunately i need it to be as cheap as possible(my dad covered the $160 cost of the X1300 2 years ago so now i have to pay )

from the research i have done so far the most common ones ive heard are the Geforce 6600gt 6800gt/gs 7600gs/gt but i also have heard mixed reviews about each(i want to stick with Nvidia cuz of all the bad hype with ATI). as i said before all i want it to do is run wow on max settings with preferably some AA... also i dont want to pay more for a 7600gt if a 7600gs will run wow at those setting just fine, catch my drift?

heres the X1300 specs: http://computers.pricegrabber.com/ [...] oduct_tab/

my system specs:
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.1ghz
1.5gigs of DDR ram
250 or 300W psu (one of the two)
windows XP home edition service pack 2
(if you need any others just say so)

your thoughts/reviews/solutions/suggestions?

You don't say what res you play at but I'm guessing no higher then 1280/1024.

I'd say 7600gt if you really want to stay with Nvidia or the HD 2600 XT if you decide to try ATI.

Have a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 965-5.html for more.

Also, you're probably ok but you might want to double check your PSU/12V rail and see what the requirements of the card you select are (though they many times overstate actual power needs on the box/spec). Make sure you have enough power.

Sdrac

go newegg and look for agp 3850
it is the most powerful agp you can find

ATI has had the better AGP options for some time now. A X1650 pro would be a step up from what you have and in the $60 range. The HD2600 pro, HD3650, and HD2600XT would be the next steps up from that.

The problem with NVidia is a 7600GS will probably cost the same as a much better 2600 pro, or the 7600GT will cost as much as the far better 2600XT.

go check out gecube.com they have several cards that will fit your needs. only thing i see about you computer that i don't like is the fact that it has a low wattage power supply. some of these newer video cards are power hungry. I recommend the hd2600 series cards for your rig, there are some faster cards but your cpu would limit their performance.

hd 3650 is ur best option.....

@ sdrac
sorry yeah i think i do play at 1280x1024.

@pauldh
and the only reason why i was staying away from ATI was because ive heard that they have different issues anywhere from driver problems to premature death lol but if they arent really that horrible then i would def go for the better price to performance ratio

Well, i haven't had any problems with ATI i think you should try it. I have owned one NVIDIA card and that was a TI-4400 waaaay back in the day. Then I had a Radeon 9800Pro, Radeon 1900XTX and now i have a Radeon HD3870. I totally have nothing agains NVIDIA though i got the radeon this time because i purchased a board with crossfire support. I'm glad i did because i now plan on getting a Radeon 4870

so based off of what you said pauldh im leaning towards the X1650 pro listed here: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] &CatId=318

especially if it is going to be a step up from my X1300, run wow better too and for only 60 bucks! that seems like a really good buy.

what do you guys think?
the only thing i didnt see is how much power it requires.

edit: read the comments below it on the link i provided...some of them arent to good?

Personally I'd go with this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102762
for $90 (a little more, but a much better solution. As well as being one of the most powerful AGP cards you can buy)

I have a Sapphire GDDR3 X1650 pro AGP and a HIS iceQ X1650XT AGP and have had no problems with either card. I think that card would be fine. It's a GDDR2 version (hard to find GDDR3 now), so it would trade blows but overall be a bit below the 7600GS. I can't tell you which is better for WOW, but I suspect both are easily fine. A 2600 series would be better(factoring in other games besides WOW), but probably be $75-90 and maybe overkill for your needs.

so assuming that GDDR2 is fine(thats what my X1300 was so would it even be worth looking for a GDDR3?) the X1650 pro is a step above the X1300 right?

all i need it to be is greater than or atleast equal to the X1300.

if so then it should run wow the same or better than i used to play it.


i did see the 2600pro on newegg but with shipping it would be 82 bucks... the x1650 from tiger would be 76 then 66 after a mail in rebate

just saw the same HIS 1650pro on newegg for 62 after the rebate, but there is also a sapphire version too that looks like its overclocked or something(has no rebate aswell) and a powercolor one, which would be a better buy?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] n+X1650PRO

The best one is the HIs ATi 3850 HD 512MB 256Bit GDDR3 IceQ Turbox2 AGp

sorry about that, I misread your first post and you are on a budget I see. But with GDDR2 it will be the same
I don't see a differnce in performance from 1300X to 1650pro but from your computer specs I don't see a choice for you.
Don't buy the 1650X or the 2600pro ( I will say)
1650pro it will not be that good of a card for that
and 2600 pro is not the best video card for gaming but for video capture
but the 2600XT is best than the pro

if you want to learn more please click on the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRK [...] re=related

Teh review will let you the differnces


Link to video cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 000+series

tigerdirect will kill your pocket kido, newegg will save you some cash

Yes, the GDDR2 X1650 pro is still much better than the stripped down X1300's. A X1550 would be like a top X1300 series. If priced about the same, the GDDR3 version is better (1380 effective memory clocks vs 800MHz), but you probably won't find one.

edit: BTW, X1650 pro GDDR3 > X1650 pro GDDR2 > X1300XT > X1300 pro > X1300. And keep in mind guys, he is on a budget, wants this for WOW, and is happy with his dead X1300's performance.