Upgrade for a Nvidia GeForce Fx 5200 128mb AGP Graphics card

[tboybmx]

Hello everyone,
I would really appreciate any help from anyone on the best Graphics Card upgrade for a:

Windows XP Home SP3 Desktop Pc
Dell Dimension 4600 P4 2.8 GHz
2 GB DDR Memory (4 slots with 512mb each)
Nvidia GeForce Fx 5200 128mb AGP
Chipset - Intel i865P/PE/G/i848P
Southbridge - 82801EB (lCH5)

 

[plznote]

You could get a Radeon 4650.

 

[tboybmx]

You could get a Radeon 4650.

Thanks ,but does it come in a AGP...not PCI Express

 

[jaguarskx]

Yep...

http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Radeon-512MB-GDDR2-Video/dp/B002GHBW52/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1294287882&sr=1-2

 

[tboybmx]

Yep...

http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Radeon-512MB-GDDR2-Video/dp/B002GHBW52/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1294287882&sr=1-2

Thank you. Question What do you think of the XFX HD 4650 Radeon 1GB 128-bit DDR2 AGP 8X....would this be a better one then the one you suggested ( I just read someone suggesting that one in a much older thread)

 

[jaguarskx]

The HD 4650 is too slow to effectively use 1GB of RAM, therefore it is a waste of money.

The current HD 5670 is probably about 30% faster than the HD 4670 and it too cannot effectively use 1GB of RAM. The difference between 512MB and 1GB on the HD 5670 was at best 2 frames per second and the average was 1 frame per second improvement.

 

[tboybmx]

Thank you so much, I also called ATi twice and spoke to 2 different people...first one told me to get a 2400 or 2600 (which I found odd...maybe was because I JUST asked for an upgrade and NOT the best ). The 2nd tech told me to get a Raedon HD 3850 512MB GDDR3. I'm sorry to sound redundant, but can I get your thoughts on that one? Once again thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it as this is my first time upgrading a graphics card and posting on a Tech forum.

 

[tboybmx]

The HD 4650 is too slow to effectively use 1GB of RAM, therefore it is a waste of money.

The current HD 5760 is probably about 30% faster than the HD 4670 and it too cannot effectively use 1GB of RAM. The difference between 512MB and 1GB on the HD 5670 was at best 2 frames per second and the average was 1 frame per second improvement.

Thank you so much, I also called ATi twice and spoke to 2 different people...first one told me to get a 2400 or 2600 (which I found odd...maybe was because I JUST asked for an upgrade and NOT the best ). The 2nd tech told me to get a Raedon HD 3850 512MB GDDR3. I'm sorry to sound redundant, but can I get your thoughts on that one? Once again thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it as this is my first time upgrading a graphics card and posting on a Tech forum.

Radeon HD 3850 512MB GDDR3 Link:

http://www.visiontek.com/3000-series-cards/hd-3850/hd-3850-512mb-agp.html

OR

http://www1.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=227

 

[accolite]

ATI 3850
You can get it, it's fastest AGP solution out there, that said you CPU will most likely bottleneck it. If you could OC your CPU you might free it up a bit.
If you do decide to get a decent name brand PSU like CORSAIR, SEASONIC, etc..
read up on JonnyGuru.com lots of info there.

 

[plznote]

You'd be lucky to find a 3850 AGP they are very rare.
The 4650 jaguar pointed out is the best buy!

 

[tboybmx]

ATI 3850
You can get it, it's fastest AGP solution out there, that said you CPU will most likely bottleneck it. If you could OC your CPU you might free it up a bit.
If you do decide to get a decent name brand PSU like CORSAIR, SEASONIC, etc..
read up on JonnyGuru.com lots of info there.

I have bottleneck issues on and off watching internet video with just the Nvidia GeForce Fx 5200 126MB I have now which came with PC. My CPU rises from 50% to 100% alot of times that's why I wanted upgrade. Well I guess it wouldn't be called bottleneck issues..but rather performance issues, correct?

 

[tboybmx]

You'd be lucky to find a 3850 AGP they are very rare.
The 4650 jaguar pointed out is the best buy!

Yes, I noticed when I tried searching online.

 

[nforce4max]

The HD 4650 is too slow to effectively use 1GB of RAM, therefore it is a waste of money.

The current HD 5760 is probably about 30% faster than the HD 4670 and it too cannot effectively use 1GB of RAM. The difference between 512MB and 1GB on the HD 5670 was at best 2 frames per second and the average was 1 frame per second improvement.

You are wrong, the memory is being used but bandwidth is a issue on GDDR2 cards. You need to research your facts first before making such a statement.

 

[tboybmx]

You are wrong, the memory is being used but bandwidth is a issue on GDDR2 cards. You need to research your facts first before making such a statement.

So which card would you recommend?

 

[nforce4max]

To be honest I would try to find a 3870 agp GDDR4 edition as they are the absolutely fastest agp card ever produced by ati. It uses more power but it is 256bit with 16 rop and it will fair better in games than any 4650 agp even when the game is shader heavy you will still have a better card due to bandwidth. If you are wanting nvidia for some other reason then you are stuck with out dated hardware but still supported a 7800gs agp or if you are lucky a 7950 gt agp 512mb gddr3 edition. They pop up on ebay time to time at decent prices. If you want any of these card 7800 gs, 7950 agp 512mb, 3850/70 agp then you will have to hunt through ebay and other sites if you want to get one at a fair price. the 4650 agp isn't the best card for agp but when there is nothing else to have even the GDDR2 version will still blow your current card away. I know how weak it is as I got one downstairs.

In short you have to get smart quick if you want to get the best deal.

 

[jaguarskx]

You are wrong, the memory is being used but bandwidth is a issue on GDDR2 cards. You need to research your facts first before making such a statement.

Regardless, the 1GB of VRAM is wasted on the HD 4650.

Additionally, the "HD 5760" is a typo in my original post. It should have been HD 5670. Below is a review of a HD 5670 with 1GB of GDDR5 vs a HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR5. There is virtually no difference in performance.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/axle-radeon-hd5670-1gb.html

Therefore, if a video card that is much faster than the HD 4650 and cannot take advantage of 1GB, then presumably the HD 4650 cannot either. Which it doesn't.

 

[jaguarskx]

So which card would you recommend?

If you want a card that is more powerful than the HD 4650 and readily available for purchase, then you can opt for the HD 4670 1GB (there is available 512MB version)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161337&cm_re=hd_4670-_-14-161-337-_-Product

You CPU will most likely bottleneck it, but you should get better performance than the HD 4650.

 

[tboybmx]

To be honest I would try to find a 3870 agp GDDR4 edition as they are the absolutely fastest agp card ever produced by ati. It uses more power but it is 256bit with 16 rop and it will fair better in games than any 4650 agp even when the game is shader heavy you will still have a better card due to bandwidth. If you are wanting nvidia for some other reason then you are stuck with out dated hardware but still supported a 7800gs agp or if you are lucky a 7950 gt agp 512mb gddr3 edition. They pop up on ebay time to time at decent prices. If you want any of these card 7800 gs, 7950 agp 512mb, 3850/70 agp then you will have to hunt through ebay and other sites if you want to get one at a fair price. the 4650 agp isn't the best card for agp but when there is nothing else to have even the GDDR2 version will still blow your current card away. I know how weak it is as I got one downstairs.

In short you have to get smart quick if you want to get the best deal.

Excuse my lack of knowledge in this area, but what do you mean when you say; "better card due to bandwidth"? What bandwidth? Also can my mobo handle GDDR2, GDDR3 ...etc? sorry for the questions

 

[nforce4max]

Excuse my lack of knowledge in this area, but what do you mean when you say; "better card due to bandwidth"? What bandwidth? Also can my mobo handle GDDR2, GDDR3 ...etc? sorry for the questions

That response of yours is very frustrating <_< you clearly haven't done much or no research and I suggest that you look through reviews and charts for a few hours and that will go far in helping you pick the right card. Not just fps charts that the newts here only look at but hardware spec charts like shader count, rop count, how much bandwidth ect.

 

[accolite]

To be honest I would try to find a 3870 agp GDDR4 edition as they are the absolutely fastest agp card ever produced by ati. It uses more power but it is 256bit with 16 rop and it will fair better in games than any 4650 agp even when the game is shader heavy you will still have a better card due to bandwidth. If you are wanting nvidia for some other reason then you are stuck with out dated hardware but still supported a 7800gs agp or if you are lucky a 7950 gt agp 512mb gddr3 edition. They pop up on ebay time to time at decent prices. If you want any of these card 7800 gs, 7950 agp 512mb, 3850/70 agp then you will have to hunt through ebay and other sites if you want to get one at a fair price. the 4650 agp isn't the best card for agp but when there is nothing else to have even the GDDR2 version will still blow your current card away. I know how weak it is as I got one downstairs.

In short you have to get smart quick if you want to get the best deal.

I didn't know they ever made a 3870 for AGP? When the the series came out I was hoping for 3870 AGP and found none nowhere! I though the 3850 was the highest they built for AGP pure performance wise? Am I wrong?

Or is that a typo?

 

[nforce4max]

I didn't know they ever made a 3870 for AGP? When the the series came out I was hoping for 3870 AGP and found none nowhere! I though the 3850 was the highest they built for AGP pure performance wise? Am I wrong?

Or is that a typo?

No its not a typo they did make a few for agp however they are very rare. I do see two to three a month pop up on ebay at a decent price. The HIS models are about the best as it gets and the Sapphire is second place.

 

[accolite]

Well your right they did make it, the only reason I didn't believe it is because I never saw it on newegg.

 

[accolite]

I have bottleneck issues on and off watching internet video with just the Nvidia GeForce Fx 5200 126MB I have now which came with PC. My CPU rises from 50% to 100% alot of times that's why I wanted upgrade. Well I guess it wouldn't be called bottleneck issues..but rather performance issues, correct?

There are a few 3850 on ebay.
The bottlenecking your talking about is from your graphics card not being able to render the video.

I like the diamonds 3850 cooler, very ugly but also very efficient. There was also a review about somewhere maybe on this site they came to the same conclusion ugly but efficient.

 

[tboybmx]

That response of yours is very frustrating <_< you clearly haven't done much or no research and I suggest that you look through reviews and charts for a few hours and that will go far in helping you pick the right card. Not just fps charts that the newts here only look at but hardware spec charts like shader count, rop count, how much bandwidth ect.

Yah?
It seems you get a thrill at criticising people, please refrain from posting your irrelevant opinions and stick to the subject. As I definitely do not need YOUR help

 

[mrface]

Guys, please keep it civil.