Legacy AGP Cards - Radeon x1650 GT vs Geforce 7800 GS

[Maverik770]

Hey everyone!

I'm building a computer for my roommate using a bunch of my older computer parts that I have laying around in boxes. He is not really a gamer at all and just needs a computer to browse the net, watch Netflix, burn CDs/DVDs, etc. However, I may try to encourage him to play some older games with me. So with that said, I want to put the best spare graphics card I have available into this computer. So I'm trying to decide between these 2 cards that I have, which is actually faster and will perform better for games such as Mount & Blade or Source Engine titles. I have looked up specifics on both and really they seem like almost a total wash to me. The Radeon has more ram but the Geforce has a faster memory (bit) interface... What do you guys think? Will one outperform the other? Or is it a complete wash?

I have listed the rest of this computer's specifications. I appreciate any feedback anyone can provide. Thanks!

The computer it will be added to:

Windows XP Pro w/ SP3
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4 GHz San Diego
2GB Corsair ValuRam
120 GB Western Digital HDD
Abit AV8 Mobo

The 2 contending AGP based graphics cards:

HIS Radeon x1650 GT 512 MBs 128 bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161205

BFG Geforce 7800 GS 256 MBs 256 bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143046

 

[Maverik770]

No one has an opinon on which of these 2 legacy AGP cards is better? :O

 

[rolli59]

The 7800GS is stronger than any X1650 card http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/54675-graphics-card-ranking.html

 

[JDFan]

I had a 7800GS up till about 2 1/2 years ago when I upgraded my system and it ran things very well -- just be sure you have a decent PSU for the system as they do use quite a bit of power and will produce some heat so a good case also is important. As far as AGP cards go I'd say it was one of the best and did a decent job of gaming (though newer cards will kill it still does a decent job)

 

[-Fran-]

The 7800GS is very powerful, but the AGP bus really limits it. That's sad actually.

I have one running inside an old P4 and it can't even run wow properly. But since you're putting it on an Athlon64, it will be fine. I had a X1800XL (PCIe) back in the day paired with an Athlon64 X2, so you're gonna be fine.

Cheers!

 

[nforce4max]

The 7800GS is very powerful, but the AGP bus really limits it. That's sad actually.

I have one running inside an old P4 and it can't even run wow properly. But since you're putting it on an Athlon64, it will be fine. I had a X1800XL (PCIe) back in the day paired with an Athlon64 X2, so you're gonna be fine.

Cheers!

That is sad, I once owned a 7800gs my self and it did a fine job of running wow Retail in the summer of 09. This is the only card that I regret selling off
The 7800gs does have it's needs and most tend to neglect this card rather than keep it clean then again the Geforce7 era has problems due to poor bonding that lead to issues with thermals or bad vram. I also had three 7900gs ko and one would throw artifacts at 70c despite being able to overclock fairly well and been rock solid in the 60c range.

 

[17seconds]

If you can find a 7800GS+, like one from the Gainward Bliss Golden Sample series, that is actually a 7900GT chip on an AGP card. Definitely the fastest option if you can find one. I think EVGA also came out with a similar version.

 

[nforce4max]

If you can find a 7800GS+, like one from the Gainward Bliss Golden Sample series, that is actually a 7900GT chip on an AGP card. Definitely the fastest option if you can find one. I think EVGA also came out with a similar version.

Actually only about 2000 samples were ever produced so it is a very rare and collectible card. It only shows up on Ebay time to time because the owners are morons and do not know how rare that cards is. Also it is about as good as it gets for the agp as far as nvidia is concerned. $50-75 is worth it in this case while there are a few 7900gs/gt sample cards floating around for the agp as well but typically ship with very poor quality cooling vs the 7800gs. The 7800gs comes in two flavors one uses the G70 110nm core while the G71 uses the 90nm core. I owned the G71 version and it typically ran in the 50c range without the a/c on in my hot and humid climate.


The 7800gs and agp models of the 7900gs/gt do not mount aftermarket coolers without mods due to the placement of the gpu in proximity of the switch.

 

[Maverik770]

Wow! Great information everyone! Thanks a lot to everyone for their info. Sounds like the Geforce 7800 GS is the clear cut winner here. However, I did find this article in Google (linked just below) while searching my question. According to the AGP benchmark tests done in that article, the Radeon x1650 XT out performs the Geforce 7800 GS by a decent margin in most tests.

AGP Graphics Cards Benchmarks in 2007:
http://www.behardware.com/art/imprimer/663/

Anyone have any comments on that?

The Radeon card I listed is a Radeon x1650 GT... How does it compare to a Radeon x1650 XT?

 

[nforce4max]

Wow! Great information everyone! Thanks a lot to everyone for their info. Sounds like the Geforce 7800 GS is the clear cut winner here. However, I did find this article in Google (linked just below) while searching my question. According to the AGP benchmark tests done in that article, the Radeon x1650 XT out performs the Geforce 7800 GS by a decent margin in most tests.

AGP Graphics Cards Benchmarks in 2007:
http://www.behardware.com/art/imprimer/663/

Anyone have any comments on that?

The Radeon card I listed is a Radeon x1650 GT... How does it compare to a Radeon x1650 XT?

OK and? At least the 7800gs still has modern driver support unlike the x1650gt. ATI dropped support for all their DX9 cards except what is in the x360. If you want ati for agp get your self a more modern card that offer much more performance and also support win7. If you want a beast of a agp card then a 3870 or a 3850 agp will be something that any agp user would want for raw performance. The 7800gs is for those who want nvidia for a few reasons onto them selves. The Gefroce7 era cards are goods for video production ect due to picture in picture with was a feature that was dropped in later generations. Stable drivers and level performance but in certain games the Geforce7 era cards really did lose badly to ati due to the issues in programing the shaders on these cards. 24 shaders in a fully enabled G70/71 with 800 threads. Every thing works until those threads diverge in terms how the program code runs then it is all a mess.

 

[-Fran-]

Wow! Great information everyone! Thanks a lot to everyone for their info. Sounds like the Geforce 7800 GS is the clear cut winner here. However, I did find this article in Google (linked just below) while searching my question. According to the AGP benchmark tests done in that article, the Radeon x1650 XT out performs the Geforce 7800 GS by a decent margin in most tests.

AGP Graphics Cards Benchmarks in 2007:
http://www.behardware.com/art/imprimer/663/

Anyone have any comments on that?

The Radeon card I listed is a Radeon x1650 GT... How does it compare to a Radeon x1650 XT?

Well, 2 things... The AGP version of the X1650XT is an X1950 PRO in AGP flavor (don't know why some companies re-branded it), so the card you have in hand ain't gonna get close to the "X1650XT". And the second one, the 7800GS actually is neck to neck with the X1650XT on all benchies you linked.

Cheers!

 

[king smp]

I had a 7600gs which is the 7800gs little cousin and I loved that
card
OCd really well and I just sold it off for $35 on Craigslist
The buyer put it into a Dell 4500 and fried it
I know the 7600gs needed the 4 pin molex for power
and i am pretty sure the 7800gs does too

What is your power supply?

 

[rolli59]

Wow! Great information everyone! Thanks a lot to everyone for their info. Sounds like the Geforce 7800 GS is the clear cut winner here. However, I did find this article in Google (linked just below) while searching my question. According to the AGP benchmark tests done in that article, the Radeon x1650 XT out performs the Geforce 7800 GS by a decent margin in most tests.

AGP Graphics Cards Benchmarks in 2007:
http://www.behardware.com/art/imprimer/663/

Anyone have any comments on that?

The Radeon card I listed is a Radeon x1650 GT... How does it compare to a Radeon x1650 XT?

The X1650GT is probably less than the PRO!
At least in the 1950 series it was X1950XTX > X1950XT > X1950pro > X1950GT
Explaination on the benchmarks you found is that the gforce 7xxx series had problems with shader heavy games where as the ATI X1xxx series handled them better, a good example is Oblivion.

 

[Maverik770]

Awesome! Thank you very much for all of the detailed information everyone! I was having a hard time figuring out how the "GT" version of the x1650 compared to other variants of the x1650. But you guys have explained it all perfectly! I'm gonna put the 7800 GS in his computer and that should be rocking! Thanks again everyone!

 

[Maverik770]

Best answer selected by Maverik770.