AGP Graphics Card to play newer games

[mtnation]

Hi All,

Hello all I just bought Civilization 5 and I am having major issues with my ATI video card (RADEON X1650 Series). I have read that my video card although DX9 compatible cannot render or handle some of the newer software, thus my issues. So, I was thinking of a new machine, but now I am thinking maybe just updating my graphics card as a cheap fix. My system is as follows:

Cpu: PENTIUM 4, 2.6 GHz 800
Motherboard: ASUS P4P800 Deluxe, 800Mhz FSB
Box/Power Supply: ANTEC Performance PLUS, Model PLUS1080AMG- with Antec Original TRUE 430W P4 Power Supply, ATX, 12V 80mm fans
Video Card: ATI RADEON X1650 512MB
Ram: 1 GIG ram
Hard drive: (2) SATA Seagate 600 GB's with a RAID 0 configuration.

The machine itself can probably still run the game, but now it is a compatibility issue with DX9C or DX10. So, I saw some AGP 8X cards on New Egg for under $100 bucks, do you think that quick easy fix would help out? I am not doing any other high end gaming and if anyone is familiar with Civilization it is not some massive 3D environment. I was a little worried about the power requirements too.

Thoughts please.....

 

[nforce4max]

Personally the best agp card that you can get is a 3870/3850 agp but they are rare and hard to come by while 4650 agp is more common and slower but as far as agp goes it is no slouch. Forget Nvidia when it comes to agp. PS upgrade your ram.

 

[mtnation]

OK! So I think I can go up to 4 GB or ram, so you suggest getting new ram and the AGP card.

I was thinking this:

HIS IceQ H467QS1GHA Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card

 

[nforce4max]

It is a good card and is your only option aside from a rebuild. 2GB ram will be ok and is a lot better than having what you got now.

 

[plznote]

Yeah, nforce is right i would take the 4650 instead of the 4670 as it is quite cheaper and the performance is similar. The Pentium 4 is a decade old and may cause a bottleneck.

 

[nforce4max]

Yeah, nforce is right i would take the 4650 instead of the 4670 as it is quite cheaper and the performance is similar. The Pentium 4 is a decade old and may cause a bottleneck.

The P4 has never been a stellar cpu and the first generation was actually slower on a per clock bases than a P3 and the Athlon ran circles around bang for buck wise. Second gen P4 was the most popular and Prescot that replaced it ran even hotter than any thing before it.

 

[adam_x_brookes]

Personally I think that It's not worth upgrading, why don't you just save up for a cheap duel core computer or more with PCI-Express slot, otherwise you are just spending money on technology that is not re-usable. It's up you though.

 

[reccy]

Personally i would save up for a new PCI-E setup. You could with a little research and scouting around get a cheap system which would be quite alot better than your current at not a huge price.

The AMD route is the current "Bang for buck for performance" at the moment as i believe it.

 

[COLGeek]

What operating system are you running (assuming XP)? Adding a newer, better, stronger AGP card may or may not help your issues whether DX9 or DX10. As several have suggested, you would be better off upgrading your overall system.

You could purchase a mobo, Athlon II, and 4GB of memory, use on-board GPU until you save a few bucks (if needed) that would run circles around your current rig all for less than $200. See below:

$49.99 mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157186

$78.99 memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

$57.99 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687

Total: $186.97 and free shipping in the US for all items.

You could "recycle" all of your current components (case, PSU, etc) and just change the guts of the system with these components. Also, you could easily add a HD4650 PCI-E GPU with 512MB RAM for only $48.99 more (I have used several of these cards in various systems and they are quite good for the money):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102829

Just a thought. Good luck!

 

[mtnation]

I appreciate it, I had another thread in the new build area before this one, I was thinking of a 1k budget and had some ideas there. Can you guys please comment there on what I was thinking? The original responder gave me some good ideas, but I am so confused that is why I thought maybe just buy a new card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/299036-31-gaming-video-editing-capture-build#t2219168

 

[DEVILSHORN]

Just for your info I bought the radeon iceq HD 4670 and have issues every since. I belive its at the root of my problems with my monitor going black at times also. I also have a driver issue MSG I get is driver has failed and reverting back after rebooting you'll get the video back just the way it should be BUT it will happen time after time after time. I would give it a chance to be solved before I sunk money into a card that is known for its driver problems.

 

[plznote]

:lol:

The P4 has never been a stellar cpu and the first generation was actually slower on a per clock bases than a P3 and the Athlon ran circles around bang for buck wise. Second gen P4 was the most popular and Prescot that replaced it ran even hotter than any thing before it.

Thanks!!!

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You see i'm not very old...