AGP HTPC Card for me

[Dirk Terblanche]

Hello

There is two cards that fits my small budget as my last upgrade to my old pc to make it a HTPC and I do not know which one to choose.

PC:
AMD Athlon 2800+ (1.8Ghz)
1Gig DDR400 Ram
Dying Radeon 9250

I either want to put the Saphire HD3650 (512mb - ddr2) or the HIS HD4350(512mb - ddr3)

HD3650 - core 725 - mem 600 - 120 processing units
HD4350 - core 600 - mem 1300 - 80 processing units.

They cost about the same where I live and I do not know if the HD4350 would be better because of faster memory for my system?

Thanks, Dirk

 

[king smp]

I would go with the HD4350 (newer tech)
Though according to this:
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=562&card2=585
The 3650 will outperform the 4350 in pure FPS but the 4350 probably has better HD decoding and HDCP capabalities.
Also the 4350 draws alot less power and is quieter than the 3650.
I personally have a HD 4650 for my multimedia/office/light gaming tower.

 

[king smp]

Also be careful if the 3650 needs external power cable.
The 4350 should power off of the AGP slot.
Though I am not 100 percent sure of this.

 

[Dirk Terblanche]

According to that comparison the 3650 is faster but im thinking of the ddr3 HIS 4350 card and how it would compare (not the ddr2 version). see link of card. Power consumption is a plus on the 4350 also.
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-498.shtml

 

[king smp]

If it was mildly overclocked it would help.
The 64-bit memory interface on the 4350 is a drawback.
I went with a Sapphire HD 4650 low profile 1gb PCI-E for my system.
If Newegg is available to you the AGP 4650 is about 60-70 USD.
If you dig around on Ebay you can find OEM cards which have the same specs as the Brand Name but without pretty box and games

 

[king smp]

For a gaming system I would go with 3650 but for multimedia box like you are doing then the 4350 is the right choice.

 

[megamanx00]

I say 4650. The 4xxx on up cards have nice things like flash hardware acceleration. While I do enable hardware acceleration on my 3850 in the backup computer it was hit or miss with older drivers, sometimes it would work while crashing other time. I initially disabled it but with flash defaulting to enabling it with every update, and with some more recent drivers, I just leave it on. Really though, build a new machine

 

[Dirk Terblanche]

I live in south-africa. No Newegg.

AGP HD3650 = R650 -> $95
AGP HD4350 = 720 -> $105
AGP HD4650 =R880 -> $130

We do not have such nice prices, Ebay is an option but few of them are willing to ship to us.

Regards, Dirk

 

[king smp]

if budget is factor go with HD3650.
if that is USD then I dont think going with HD4650 is worth it.