AGP 3650 vs. 3850 both 512MB

[steveroger]

Which one do I buy? The over powered 3850 or is the 3650 just fine for my AMD Athlon 2700+/2.16 Ghz processor w/ 1 GB of RAM and a KT400-ALH AGPX8 MOBO.

Will I just be wasting the 3850's power?

I won't be upgrading again. This is the end of the road for this system.

OH YES, the power supply stays at 350W.

No changing the fact pattern guys!

Just tell me is 3650 fine? Would I get a frame rate boost if I would go to the 3850? Or would I be wasting my money?

 

[AKM880]

The HD 3650 will be fine for games at lower/medium settings. Its gives me 30+ FPS on BF2. The HD 3650 is also a very good card for DXVA, or hardware acceleration for HD or Blu-ray content. I don't think the 3850 would be such a wise choice, but depends on what your doing or using this for.

 

[steveroger]

The HD 3650 will be fine for games at lower/medium settings. Its gives me 30+ FPS on BF2. The HD 3650 is also a very good card for DXVA, or hardware acceleration for HD or Blu-ray content. I don't think the 3850 would be such a wise choice, but depends on what your doing or using this for.

My son plays Guild Wars on it. The card we are replacing (not upgrading) was a GeForce BFG 5950. It was a great system for a long, long time. But the card burned up today.

I took a GeForce FX 5200 from another old system of mine and put in my son's system temporarily. The 5200 just doesn't cut it. It plays Unreal Tournament 2003 barely now. And Guild Wars crawls at an unacceptable frame rate on lower settings.

I just want something comparable to the 5950s performance. I can't figure out if that is the 3650 or the 3850. Further, would the 3850 be out of reach anyway due to it's CPU power needs.

Plus with only a 350W power supply should we go with the 3650.

Budget is an issue. So upgrading and new parts are not an option.

Should I get the 3650?

I am looking at this card on sale right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131097R

 

[steveroger]

I bought the 3650 after doing an extensive search on the forums about 3650 AGPs. My CPU is just too under powered to justify the purchase of a 3850. With the open box buy with Newegg.com, I didn't need the accessories, because it comes with a 4 pin connector and that is what I needed. Thanks for you help.

 

[AKM880]

Sorry for the late reply, good luck with the upgrade. Also you want to get the video card drivers directly from the manufacturers website, in this case its powercolor. Some drivers will not work for AGP but for PCIe. If you need DXVA you might want to consider CCC 8.4/8.5

 

[Christopher11]

3+6+5+0 vs 3+8+5+0

which makes

9+5=14 for 650 and 11+5 = 16 for 850


take the 850!

 

[boudy]

3+6+5+0 vs 3+8+5+0

which makes

9+5=14 for 650 and 11+5 = 16 for 850


take the 850!

Quit the B.S.
By your logic the 5950 smoked both those cards.

Hopefully the 3650 is working out for you.

 

[AKM880]

^ :lol: Unfortunately that isn't quite correct :lol:

 

[steveroger]

Well, I need help. I tried to install the 3650 and I have no display. I have power. The monitor is set to Analog. I can't seem to figure out why no picture.

I have a temporary GeForce 5200 and it is working. Why no display? I have tried to update the chipset but it makes no difference.

I have a KT400-ALH mobo, AMD Althon 2700+ processor. What Nvidia card would that AGP mobo and processor handle? The fastest please without bottlenecking too much.