I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+
with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play a fair
amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's. Unfortunately, my
budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost around $100, maybe a little
more for a really exceptional deal. I know a little bit about GeForce cards
but absolutely nothing about Radeon cards. I've also read that the minimum
card to consider for gaming purposes would be the GeForce 9600. A
salesclerk at the compter store recommended the XFX GeForce 9600 GSO over
the GeForce 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I didn't ask). Any thoughts
or recommendations? The card I'm replacing is an EVGA GeForce 7600GT, 256MB
DDR3 which served me well until the capacitors started blowing on it
recently.
Jinx Minx wrote:
> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+
> with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play a fair
> amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's. Unfortunately, my
> budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost around $100, maybe a little
> more for a really exceptional deal. I know a little bit about GeForce cards
> but absolutely nothing about Radeon cards. I've also read that the minimum
> card to consider for gaming purposes would be the GeForce 9600. A
> salesclerk at the compter store recommended the XFX GeForce 9600 GSO over
> the GeForce 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I didn't ask). Any thoughts
> or recommendations? The card I'm replacing is an EVGA GeForce 7600GT, 256MB
> DDR3 which served me well until the capacitors started blowing on it
> recently.
>
> TIA,
> Jinx
>
>
There is a 7600GT on the charts here, and you can see how much higher a
9600 family card is by comparison.
Are you absolutely sure you have a PCI Express slot ? Or is that a PCI slot ?
You say you're using a S462 AthlonXP mobile processor, and for that generation,
the slots are AGP and vanilla PCI. If you'd mentioned the motherboard name,
that might have been more apparent.
First thing to check, is read the customer reviews on the Newegg adverts carefully.
They'll mention driver issues - as in, there is typically limited support for
AGP drivers now. The card manufacturer web site may have the original driver
they provide, plus a "hot fix" driver intended to fix really bad bugs. The
AMD/ATI site may not show a driver for the card, if you go looking for an AGP
one. So research the driver issue carefully (i.e. pretend you need a driver, and
see if you can find one). It may turn out, you'd be better
off looking for a used 7600GT on Ebay, rather than take a chance on some
of these current day orphan cards. It depends on how much time you want to
waste, chasing down a driver that works. Also verify your game runs well
on the card in question.
This HD3850 appears to be using a PCI Express 2x3 connector, even though
the card is AGP. The back of the card shows the Rialto bridge chip, which
converts the PCI Express GPU to using AGP protocol for older motherboards.
(I wanted to verify I was looking at an AGP card.)
"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:gq770i$sv9$1@news.motzarella.org...
> Jinx Minx wrote:
>> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
>> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
>> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play a
>> fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's.
>> Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost around
>> $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional deal. I know a little
>> bit about GeForce cards but absolutely nothing about Radeon cards. I've
>> also read that the minimum card to consider for gaming purposes would be
>> the GeForce 9600. A salesclerk at the compter store recommended the XFX
>> GeForce 9600 GSO over the GeForce 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I
>> didn't ask). Any thoughts or recommendations? The card I'm replacing is
>> an EVGA GeForce 7600GT, 256MB DDR3 which served me well until the
>> capacitors started blowing on it recently.
>>
>> TIA,
>> Jinx
> Are you absolutely sure you have a PCI Express slot ? Or is that a PCI
> slot ?
> You say you're using a S462 AthlonXP mobile processor, and for that
> generation,
> the slots are AGP and vanilla PCI. If you'd mentioned the motherboard
> name,
> that might have been more apparent.
>
> *******
> Picture of AGP and two PCI slots.
> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-AGP_slot.jpg
>
> Top to bottom - PCI Express x16, x1, x1, x16, PCI slot, PCI Express x4
> (yellow), PCI slot (orange)
> http://www.hothardware.com/articleim...830/big_12.jpg
>
> *******
> I'll assume your highest performance slot is AGP, until you can post
> back a name for the motherboard.
It absolutely is a PCI Express x16 slot. My motherboard is a PC Chips A31G
(v 1.1). Besides, AFAIK, the 7600 GT is a PCI Express x16 card, not vanilla
PCI. That should have been clue enough. Perhaps you didn't mean to sound
patronizing, but that's absolutely how you came across.
>
> (List of AGP cards on Newegg)
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...d&Pagesize=100
>
> I see an HD3650 AGP for $77.99 and an HD3850 AGP for $99 (rebated). If I
> use this chart.
>
> "Call of Duty 4 v1.6 Fraps/Shock and Awe (1280x1024, 4xAA, 8xAF,
> max. Quality)"
> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...-v1.6,744.html
>
> 7600GT 17 FPS
> HD3650 26.6 FPS
> HD3850 55.5 FPS
>
> First thing to check, is read the customer reviews on the Newegg adverts
> carefully.
> They'll mention driver issues - as in, there is typically limited support
> for
> AGP drivers now. The card manufacturer web site may have the original
> driver
> they provide, plus a "hot fix" driver intended to fix really bad bugs. The
> AMD/ATI site may not show a driver for the card, if you go looking for an
> AGP
> one. So research the driver issue carefully (i.e. pretend you need a
> driver, and
> see if you can find one). It may turn out, you'd be better
> off looking for a used 7600GT on Ebay, rather than take a chance on some
> of these current day orphan cards. It depends on how much time you want to
> waste, chasing down a driver that works. Also verify your game runs well
> on the card in question.
>
Not interested in an AGP card nor another 7600GT, but thanks for the tips on
how to research driver issues.
Do you recommend choosing a card that has the +12V power connector vs. one
that doesn't? Advantages and disadvantages? My power supply is 500W with a
12V connector.
> This HD3850 appears to be using a PCI Express 2x3 connector, even though
> the card is AGP. The back of the card shows the Rialto bridge chip, which
> converts the PCI Express GPU to using AGP protocol for older motherboards.
> (I wanted to verify I was looking at an AGP card.)
>
> http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...131-141-06.jpg
> (front)
> http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...131-141-07.jpg
> (Rialto - orange square)
>
> That HD 3850 comes with a Molex to 2x3 adapter cable, so you
> can use a hard drive power cable to power the 3850.
>
> Have fun,
> Paul
How much weight should I place on core clock speed, memory clock speed,
amount of memory and memory type? Out of the two cards I looked at in the
store, the 9600 GSO has a memory clock speed of 500MHz, a core clock speed
of 580MHz and 768MB of DDR2 memory while the 9800 GT has a memory clock
speed of 900 MHz, a core clock speed of 600 MHz and 512 MB of DDR3 memory.
So, if I judge based on these items, it would seem to me that the 9800 GT
would be the better card, but since the salesclerk said the 9600 GSO was the
better one, I'm confused on what basis. If I compare the GSO to the 9600
GT, I get even more confused. Thanks for all your help. I know you put a
lot of time and effort into responding to me.
"Jinx Minx" <jinxminx2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:gq6ntf$41b$1@news.motzarella.org...
> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play
> a fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's.
> Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost
> around $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional deal. I
> know a little bit about GeForce cards but absolutely nothing about
> Radeon cards. I've also read that the minimum card to consider for
> gaming purposes would be the GeForce 9600. A salesclerk at the
> compter store recommended the XFX GeForce 9600 GSO over the GeForce
> 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I didn't ask). Any thoughts or
> recommendations? The card I'm replacing is an EVGA GeForce 7600GT,
> 256MB DDR3 which served me well until the capacitors started blowing
> on it recently.
>
Completely pointless spending money on a 9600 as the CPU holds it back.
Far better just getting what you had.
--
Conor
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams
Jinx Minx wrote:
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
> news:gq770i$sv9$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> Jinx Minx wrote:
>>> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
>>> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
>>> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play a
>>> fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's.
>>> Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost around
>>> $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional deal. I know a little
>>> bit about GeForce cards but absolutely nothing about Radeon cards. I've
>>> also read that the minimum card to consider for gaming purposes would be
>>> the GeForce 9600. A salesclerk at the compter store recommended the XFX
>>> GeForce 9600 GSO over the GeForce 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I
>>> didn't ask). Any thoughts or recommendations? The card I'm replacing is
>>> an EVGA GeForce 7600GT, 256MB DDR3 which served me well until the
>>> capacitors started blowing on it recently.
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>> Jinx
>
>> There is a 7600GT on the charts here, and you can see how much higher a
>> 9600 family card is by comparison.
>>
>> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...hmarks,30.html
>>
>
> Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it.
>
>> Are you absolutely sure you have a PCI Express slot ? Or is that a PCI
>> slot ?
>> You say you're using a S462 AthlonXP mobile processor, and for that
>> generation,
>> the slots are AGP and vanilla PCI. If you'd mentioned the motherboard
>> name,
>> that might have been more apparent.
>>
>> *******
>> Picture of AGP and two PCI slots.
>> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-AGP_slot.jpg
>>
>> Top to bottom - PCI Express x16, x1, x1, x16, PCI slot, PCI Express x4
>> (yellow), PCI slot (orange)
>> http://www.hothardware.com/articleim...830/big_12.jpg
>>
>> *******
>> I'll assume your highest performance slot is AGP, until you can post
>> back a name for the motherboard.
>
> It absolutely is a PCI Express x16 slot. My motherboard is a PC Chips A31G
> (v 1.1). Besides, AFAIK, the 7600 GT is a PCI Express x16 card, not vanilla
> PCI. That should have been clue enough. Perhaps you didn't mean to sound
> patronizing, but that's absolutely how you came across.
>
>> (List of AGP cards on Newegg)
>>
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...d&Pagesize=100
>>
>> I see an HD3650 AGP for $77.99 and an HD3850 AGP for $99 (rebated). If I
>> use this chart.
>>
>> "Call of Duty 4 v1.6 Fraps/Shock and Awe (1280x1024, 4xAA, 8xAF,
>> max. Quality)"
>> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...-v1.6,744.html
>>
>> 7600GT 17 FPS
>> HD3650 26.6 FPS
>> HD3850 55.5 FPS
>>
>> First thing to check, is read the customer reviews on the Newegg adverts
>> carefully.
>> They'll mention driver issues - as in, there is typically limited support
>> for
>> AGP drivers now. The card manufacturer web site may have the original
>> driver
>> they provide, plus a "hot fix" driver intended to fix really bad bugs. The
>> AMD/ATI site may not show a driver for the card, if you go looking for an
>> AGP
>> one. So research the driver issue carefully (i.e. pretend you need a
>> driver, and
>> see if you can find one). It may turn out, you'd be better
>> off looking for a used 7600GT on Ebay, rather than take a chance on some
>> of these current day orphan cards. It depends on how much time you want to
>> waste, chasing down a driver that works. Also verify your game runs well
>> on the card in question.
>>
>
> Not interested in an AGP card nor another 7600GT, but thanks for the tips on
> how to research driver issues.
>
>> The 7600GT power consumption is 35.8W
>> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...x_5.html#sect0
>>
>> The HD3650 is 41.7W.
>> The HD3850 is 63.1W.
>> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...0_4.html#sect0
>>
>> It looks like the HD3650 has a floppy connector in the upper right hand
>> corner.
>> That might tap into +12V for example.
>>
>> http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/14-161-237-S01?$S640W$
>
> Do you recommend choosing a card that has the +12V power connector vs. one
> that doesn't? Advantages and disadvantages? My power supply is 500W with a
> 12V connector.
>
>> This HD3850 appears to be using a PCI Express 2x3 connector, even though
>> the card is AGP. The back of the card shows the Rialto bridge chip, which
>> converts the PCI Express GPU to using AGP protocol for older motherboards.
>> (I wanted to verify I was looking at an AGP card.)
>>
>> http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...131-141-06.jpg
>> (front)
>> http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...131-141-07.jpg
>> (Rialto - orange square)
>>
>> That HD 3850 comes with a Molex to 2x3 adapter cable, so you
>> can use a hard drive power cable to power the 3850.
>>
>> Have fun,
>> Paul
>
> How much weight should I place on core clock speed, memory clock speed,
> amount of memory and memory type? Out of the two cards I looked at in the
> store, the 9600 GSO has a memory clock speed of 500MHz, a core clock speed
> of 580MHz and 768MB of DDR2 memory while the 9800 GT has a memory clock
> speed of 900 MHz, a core clock speed of 600 MHz and 512 MB of DDR3 memory.
> So, if I judge based on these items, it would seem to me that the 9800 GT
> would be the better card, but since the salesclerk said the 9600 GSO was the
> better one, I'm confused on what basis. If I compare the GSO to the 9600
> GT, I get even more confused. Thanks for all your help. I know you put a
> lot of time and effort into responding to me.
>
> Jinx
>
>
It also means your video card change makes more sense, as the socket 754
processor is going to work a bit better than a S462 one would. (No lousy
FSB to hold it back.)
*******
Use the Tomshardware charts, and pick a PCI Express one. You'll have more choices.
According to this, a 9600 GSO, is a rebranded 8800 GS, which is why there may
be fewer benchmarks listed for it. (Some review sites don't like to benchmark
cards, if they're a simple rebranding.)
My guess would be the 9600 GSO is a better card, so you should be OK.
Some customers gripe about Nvidia making the second version of the
card weaker, but who knows, maybe the underfill is fixed on these,
and the card will last longer as a result.
Paul wrote:
> Jinx Minx wrote:
>> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
>> news:gq770i$sv9$1@news.motzarella.org...
>>> Jinx Minx wrote:
>>>> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
>>>> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
>>>> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I
>>>> play a fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other
>>>> MMORPG's. Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep
>>>> the cost around $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional
>>>> deal. I know a little bit about GeForce cards but absolutely
>>>> nothing about Radeon cards. I've also read that the minimum card to
>>>> consider for gaming purposes would be the GeForce 9600. A
>>>> salesclerk at the compter store recommended the XFX GeForce 9600 GSO
>>>> over the GeForce 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I didn't ask).
>>>> Any thoughts or recommendations? The card I'm replacing is an EVGA
>>>> GeForce 7600GT, 256MB DDR3 which served me well until the capacitors
>>>> started blowing on it recently.
>>>>
>>>> TIA,
>>>> Jinx
>>
If you can handle the pricing on a 9600GT, it might be a better option
in terms of raw performance.
The thing is, pricing varies a lot from country to country. For
example, I can't get any bargains from Canadian suppliers when it
comes to video cards. The markup is way over the exchange rate.
And I don't expect to see any of the recent price drop come my way.
Note also, that some video card makers don't deliver the promised rebate.
The Newegg reviews will tell you which companies cheat.
The cooler on the card makes a difference to customer satisfaction.
If a cheap card had a small cooler, then chances are the fan would
be screaming all the time. So that is another aspect to consider.
A 9600 GT measurement on Xbitlabs, shows 60.8W power consumption.
This Asus card review, shows decent temps (40C nominal, 52C overclock)
and a quiet fan. It has a rebate, to meet your $100 target.
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:05:59 -0000, "Conor"
<conor_turton@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>"Jinx Minx" <jinxminx2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:gq6ntf$41b$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
>> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
>> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play
>> a fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's.
>> Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost
>> around $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional deal. I
>> know a little bit about GeForce cards but absolutely nothing about
>> Radeon cards. I've also read that the minimum card to consider for
>> gaming purposes would be the GeForce 9600. A salesclerk at the
>> compter store recommended the XFX GeForce 9600 GSO over the GeForce
>> 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I didn't ask). Any thoughts or
>> recommendations? The card I'm replacing is an EVGA GeForce 7600GT,
>> 256MB DDR3 which served me well until the capacitors started blowing
>> on it recently.
>>
>Completely pointless spending money on a 9600 as the CPU holds it back.
>Far better just getting what you had.
I'd expect a fair performance increase moving from 7600GT to
9600GSO even with that CPU, but I'd agree it's not worth the
cost. What would be more worthwhile is soldering
replacement capacitors on the 7600GT or finding a deal on a
used one, $100 would make more sense put towards a newer CPU
and motherboard before the video card.
However, to more directly answer the OP's questions...
Go with PCIe, not AGP. The AGP may be half crippled anyway
and PCIe cards are not only less expensive per performance
level, offer models higher in performance, but also grant
you the ability to reuse the card later in a different
motherboard.
You will get a better deal on a card if you buy it online
instead of at a computer store, 9 times out of 10 although
you did not mention where you are located as this can effect
pricing and discounts. For example here's a 9600GSO for $50
after rebate in the US, http://www.frys.com/product/5837943
or for not much more than $100 a better target would be a
9800GTX+ (or it's renamed current version is GTS 250), or a
Radeon 4850. The 4850 is probably the best value if you
don't prefer nVidia cards.
If your 7600GT had enough performance you don't really need
to spend anywhere near $100, a modern equivalent nVidia card
(perhaps 15 to 30% faster) would be a 9500GT, which can be
had for about $40 after a rebate in the US. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125257
It's not as good a value as the 9600GSO for $50, but is
shorter to fit in small cases with limited clearance, uses
less power to be kinder to marginal PSU, produces less heat.
"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:gq89f3$htd$1@news.motzarella.org...
> Jinx Minx wrote:
>> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
>> news:gq770i$sv9$1@news.motzarella.org...
>>> Jinx Minx wrote:
>>>> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
>>>> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
>>>> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play
>>>> a fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's.
>>>> Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost around
>>>> $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional deal. I know a
>>>> little bit about GeForce cards but absolutely nothing about Radeon
>>>> cards. I've also read that the minimum card to consider for gaming
>>>> purposes would be the GeForce 9600. A salesclerk at the compter store
>>>> recommended the XFX GeForce 9600 GSO over the GeForce 9800GT but he
>>>> didn't say why (and I didn't ask). Any thoughts or recommendations?
>>>> The card I'm replacing is an EVGA GeForce 7600GT, 256MB DDR3 which
>>>> served me well until the capacitors started blowing on it recently.
>>>>
>>>> TIA,
>>>> Jinx
>>
>>> There is a 7600GT on the charts here, and you can see how much higher a
>>> 9600 family card is by comparison.
>>>
>>> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...hmarks,30.html
>>>
>>
>> Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it.
>>
>>> Are you absolutely sure you have a PCI Express slot ? Or is that a PCI
>>> slot ?
>>> You say you're using a S462 AthlonXP mobile processor, and for that
>>> generation,
>>> the slots are AGP and vanilla PCI. If you'd mentioned the motherboard
>>> name,
>>> that might have been more apparent.
>>>
>>> *******
>>> Picture of AGP and two PCI slots.
>>> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-AGP_slot.jpg
>>>
>>> Top to bottom - PCI Express x16, x1, x1, x16, PCI slot, PCI Express x4
>>> (yellow), PCI slot (orange)
>>> http://www.hothardware.com/articleim...830/big_12.jpg
>>>
>>> *******
>>> I'll assume your highest performance slot is AGP, until you can post
>>> back a name for the motherboard.
>>
>> It absolutely is a PCI Express x16 slot. My motherboard is a PC Chips
>> A31G (v 1.1). Besides, AFAIK, the 7600 GT is a PCI Express x16 card, not
>> vanilla PCI. That should have been clue enough. Perhaps you didn't mean
>> to sound patronizing, but that's absolutely how you came across.
>>
>>> (List of AGP cards on Newegg)
>>>
>>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...d&Pagesize=100
>>>
>>> I see an HD3650 AGP for $77.99 and an HD3850 AGP for $99 (rebated). If I
>>> use this chart.
>>>
>>> "Call of Duty 4 v1.6 Fraps/Shock and Awe (1280x1024, 4xAA, 8xAF,
>>> max. Quality)"
>>> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...-v1.6,744.html
>>>
>>> 7600GT 17 FPS
>>> HD3650 26.6 FPS
>>> HD3850 55.5 FPS
>>>
>>> First thing to check, is read the customer reviews on the Newegg adverts
>>> carefully.
>>> They'll mention driver issues - as in, there is typically limited
>>> support for
>>> AGP drivers now. The card manufacturer web site may have the original
>>> driver
>>> they provide, plus a "hot fix" driver intended to fix really bad bugs.
>>> The
>>> AMD/ATI site may not show a driver for the card, if you go looking for
>>> an AGP
>>> one. So research the driver issue carefully (i.e. pretend you need a
>>> driver, and
>>> see if you can find one). It may turn out, you'd be better
>>> off looking for a used 7600GT on Ebay, rather than take a chance on some
>>> of these current day orphan cards. It depends on how much time you want
>>> to
>>> waste, chasing down a driver that works. Also verify your game runs well
>>> on the card in question.
>>>
>>
>> Not interested in an AGP card nor another 7600GT, but thanks for the tips
>> on how to research driver issues.
>>
>>> The 7600GT power consumption is 35.8W
>>> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...x_5.html#sect0
>>>
>>> The HD3650 is 41.7W.
>>> The HD3850 is 63.1W.
>>> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...0_4.html#sect0
>>>
>>> It looks like the HD3650 has a floppy connector in the upper right hand
>>> corner.
>>> That might tap into +12V for example.
>>>
>>> http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/14-161-237-S01?$S640W$
>>
>> Do you recommend choosing a card that has the +12V power connector vs.
>> one that doesn't? Advantages and disadvantages? My power supply is 500W
>> with a 12V connector.
>>
>>> This HD3850 appears to be using a PCI Express 2x3 connector, even though
>>> the card is AGP. The back of the card shows the Rialto bridge chip,
>>> which
>>> converts the PCI Express GPU to using AGP protocol for older
>>> motherboards.
>>> (I wanted to verify I was looking at an AGP card.)
>>>
>>> http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...131-141-06.jpg
>>> (front)
>>> http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...131-141-07.jpg
>>> (Rialto - orange square)
>>>
>>> That HD 3850 comes with a Molex to 2x3 adapter cable, so you
>>> can use a hard drive power cable to power the 3850.
>>>
>>> Have fun,
>>> Paul
>>
>> How much weight should I place on core clock speed, memory clock speed,
>> amount of memory and memory type? Out of the two cards I looked at in
>> the store, the 9600 GSO has a memory clock speed of 500MHz, a core clock
>> speed of 580MHz and 768MB of DDR2 memory while the 9800 GT has a memory
>> clock speed of 900 MHz, a core clock speed of 600 MHz and 512 MB of DDR3
>> memory. So, if I judge based on these items, it would seem to me that the
>> 9800 GT would be the better card, but since the salesclerk said the 9600
>> GSO was the better one, I'm confused on what basis. If I compare the GSO
>> to the 9600 GT, I get even more confused. Thanks for all your help. I
>> know you put a lot of time and effort into responding to me.
>>
>> Jinx
>>
>>
>
> A31G - it's S754!
> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...73771&CatId=13
Thanks for this link, too. I'm glad to see that this mobo got some good
reviews. I picked it out rather hastily.
>
> OK, I see the problem. Our friends at AMD used the same name (Athlon XP-M)
> for two processors. Very clever.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...icroprocessors
>
> Socket A (S462)
> Athlon XP-M 2800+ 2133 MHz 512 KiB 266 MT/s 16x 1.55
> AXMJ2800FHQ4C
>
> Athlon XP-M "Dublin" (K8-based, Socket 754)
> Athlon XP-M 2800+ 1600 MHz 128 KiB 800 MHz 8x 0,95 ~ 1,40V
> 13-62W AHN2800BIX2AX
>
> So that is why I got confused. I have an AthlonXP-M here, and it is S462
> (with AGP).
>
> The 7600GT is made in both an AGP and a PCI Express version. Thus either
> was possible.
>
> http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=498&card2=435
Weird. I've only ever seen it listed as PCI Express. Well you know what
they say about assuming...
>
> It also means your video card change makes more sense, as the socket 754
> processor is going to work a bit better than a S462 one would. (No lousy
> FSB to hold it back.)
>
> *******
> Use the Tomshardware charts, and pick a PCI Express one. You'll have more
> choices.
>
> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts
>
> According to this, a 9600 GSO, is a rebranded 8800 GS, which is why there
> may
> be fewer benchmarks listed for it. (Some review sites don't like to
> benchmark
> cards, if they're a simple rebranding.)
>
> http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/d...ics_Cards.html
>
> There is also more than one 9600 GSO. One based on G94 and one on G92.
> Very complicated. Like buying an avocado and getting a water melon.
>
> http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=601&card2=563
>
> You can compare the G94 one (the newest one) to your 7600GT here.
> Check out the picture of the 9600 GSO, as it is a longer card than
> your 7600GT.
>
> http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=601&card2=385
>
> As an example, the reviews here mention the 9600 GSO is 8.4" long.
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150340
>
> My guess would be the 9600 GSO is a better card, so you should be OK.
8.4" is as long as the mobo and nothing else is in the way so I don't think
the massive size will be an issue. This might be the first time I'm
thankful I've got a huge case LOL.
> Some customers gripe about Nvidia making the second version of the
> card weaker, but who knows, maybe the underfill is fixed on these,
> and the card will last longer as a result.
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130437
>
> Paul
What about Conor's post that my system would limit the 9600? Any truth to
that?
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:43:32 -0400, kony <spam@spam.com>
wrote:
>If your 7600GT had enough performance you don't really need
>to spend anywhere near $100, a modern equivalent nVidia card
>(perhaps 15 to 30% faster) would be a 9500GT, which can be
>had for about $40 after a rebate in the US.
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125257
>It's not as good a value as the 9600GSO for $50, but is
>shorter to fit in small cases with limited clearance, uses
>less power to be kinder to marginal PSU, produces less heat.
A couple of lower cost ATI cards that should suffice would
be 3850 or 4830. What you pick depends a bit on where
you're buying.
"Conor" <conor_turton@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:72pc9gFqr39nU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Jinx Minx" <jinxminx2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:gq6ntf$41b$1@news.motzarella.org...
>> I need to replace the graphics card in my computer and I some
>> recommendations and advice. My computer is a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
>> 2800+ with 2GB of RAM with both a PCI express and an AGP slot. I play a
>> fair amount (ok, a lot) of Everquest II but no other MMORPG's.
>> Unfortunately, my budget is limited so I'd like to keep the cost around
>> $100, maybe a little more for a really exceptional deal. I know a little
>> bit about GeForce cards but absolutely nothing about Radeon cards. I've
>> also read that the minimum card to consider for gaming purposes would be
>> the GeForce 9600. A salesclerk at the compter store recommended the XFX
>> GeForce 9600 GSO over the GeForce 9800GT but he didn't say why (and I
>> didn't ask). Any thoughts or recommendations? The card I'm replacing is
>> an EVGA GeForce 7600GT, 256MB DDR3 which served me well until the
>> capacitors started blowing on it recently.
>>
> Completely pointless spending money on a 9600 as the CPU holds it back.
> Far better just getting what you had.
>
>
> --
> Conor
>
Need graphics card advice 
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