I agree it won't be a massive hit in performance, but to note the PCI-E versions of AGP cards always tend to be faster cards. The 7800GS is a spit image of a 7800GT, the GT is about 5-10% faster overall. Not that it would be noticeable if you are not a hardcore gamer like myself, but there is a performance loss.
If it would be me, I would wait for the X1650Pro, since it is supposed to be coming in stock in a week or less. It's a little newer tech than the X1600Pro with a smaller process type used, which means less heat and a little better overclocking prowness. And it's only £5 more too.
EDIT: The X1650Pro also uses a faster type of ram also, even though it's only half of what the X1600Pro has onboard. The extra ram will only help in limited situations whereas the faster ram should help more overall.
Rumour has it that eVGA is going to release an AGP version of the ATi X1950 Pro! That'd be great news for you AGP owners.
Looks like the rumor might be true, but the company doing it is wrong. I just found this at The Inquirer that says that the Powercolor X1950 Pro AGP will be available in about 4 weeks. Here's a quote of the article:
POWER COLOR might be one of the first companies to launch a RV570 based AGP card. We wrote about ATI reference AGP design based on this chip a while back, but it is time to see them on the market, powered by Rialto.
The Radeon X1950 PRO 256MB AGP is clocked at 600MHz core speed and 1400MHz GDDR3, 256 bit memory. It has dual DVI ports and a HDTV interface. The card uses an AGP 8X bus and has 36 Shader units. Just like its PCIe brother it uses Arctic cooling massive fan and as a matter of fact it is clocked the same.
--snip--
It will sell for around $249 and be available in retail and etail in four weeks.
Once you go past a certain amount of money an AGP graphics card just isnt worth it. What games are you hoping to play and how long before your next big upgrade?
I found it cheaper to upgrade to a mobo with PCI-E but still keeping all of my other parts. Also means I have much better performance and a graphics card thats going to last longer.
I guess it all depends on how modern your AGP equipped system is. If you have a late model AGP board such as my NF3 Ultra based Epox running with an Opty 170, it might be worth spending the $250 for the X1950Pro so that you could stretch another year or 2 or good gaming service out of it. After all, the socket it's using is EOL now, so there isn't any reason to buy a PCI-e equipped socket 939 board along with a PCI-e vid card. Especially if you aren't planning to go the SLI/Crossfire route anyways.
That looks to be a good card, djshowdown. And I was wrong in a good way about the X1650 Pro series too as it's quite a bit better gpu than the X1600 series, with more pixel shaders.:headbange
It should be the difference between night and day. I have a couple of Radeon 7000 cards myself that I bought for folding rigs and while they are adequate for 2D stuff, they totally suck for gaming. I think you should be pretty happy with the new vid card.
I would really appreciate if someone could help me out on a related issue. I also have no PCI-Express slots on my motherboard. I am trying to buy a SATA drive now, so that if I upgrade my PC, I can just transfer the harddrive.
I downloaded PCI Sniffer, which gave me a report showing every bus device with the following: Cacheline: 0 * 32 bit.
There were no 64bits.
I believe v2.1, 5V Conventional PCI is 32bits, whereas v2.2, 3.3V Conventional PCI is 64bits.
Question: Am I correct in assuming that all my PCI slots are therefore v2.1
Question: Am I correct in assuming any PCI cards I buy must be v2.1 compliant
Question: Finally, can anyone please identify the slot in the attached picture, and what it would be used for. It doesn't look like any I'm familiar with.
Is this on a server board by chance? I'm not sure all the uses for these slots, mainly I've seen them used for scsi controllers. (my experience is very limited. I've got the slot on an old board, but right now it's a dust catcher.:) )
It's just a regular Dell Optiplex P4. Hard to say if it's a PCI-X or not. That would make my life a lot easier if it was. Although aren't those being phased out for the PCI-Express?
Some people on these threads crack me up. "Thread jacking". You make it sound like something illegal.
Instead of being a wise guy, why don't you tell me how to post a new thread.
I really want to know. I looked everywhere on this site, and could not find a link.
And in response to RWB, sorry, yes I posted on two threads cos I figured I'd have more chance of getting my question answered, especially since I couldn't figure out how to do a new thread.
As yet, no-one has been able to identify for certain the odd looking connection I have.
reason for the stop thread jacking approach is because this is the second thread you have done it too
you honestly telling me you cant see the 'new thread' button at the top of each forum
tell you what
after you read this post, click at the very top of the screen where it says 'GRAPHICS' then a page should come up
then click the box that says 'NEW THREAD' it looks like the box that says 'NEW REPLY', you know like the one that you clicked before you posted in this topic
i can understand that youre new to the forum, but rather then jack someones topic (which, whilst being perfectly legal is just bad manners) you could have checked the rules or asked someone 'how do i post a new topic'
When you view the threads, in the upper left corner of your screen there is a box marked "new thread"
If you give us the model numbers, specs of your machine it would make life a lot easier. Over the years I think Dell has put every slot into the Optiplex.
Comments
Yeah, it's just bus latency.
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=318040
or should i wait for the one that was posted before
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=325504
EDIT: The X1650Pro also uses a faster type of ram also, even though it's only half of what the X1600Pro has onboard. The extra ram will only help in limited situations whereas the faster ram should help more overall.
checkmate, dry your eyes
Looks like the rumor might be true, but the company doing it is wrong. I just found this at The Inquirer that says that the Powercolor X1950 Pro AGP will be available in about 4 weeks. Here's a quote of the article:
Link directly to the card at Powercolor's site.
I found it cheaper to upgrade to a mobo with PCI-E but still keeping all of my other parts. Also means I have much better performance and a graphics card thats going to last longer.
thanks alot for your help
i ended up getting this one
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=325504
i would tell you all how i'm getting on with it but its a xmas pressie from my parents
i'll let you know what its like once santa has been
thanks again:thumbup
i just needed something better than my radeon 7000
its pretty dire and i keep getting glitches like little dots occasionally when i play games and stuff
hopefully this card will perform better
MUCH better than my old card (and i should think so that other one was crap!)
thanks alot for the advice guys
now i have one more component in the pile towards my second folding unit
gonna be my first PC build as well, wish me luck!
I would really appreciate if someone could help me out on a related issue. I also have no PCI-Express slots on my motherboard. I am trying to buy a SATA drive now, so that if I upgrade my PC, I can just transfer the harddrive.
I downloaded PCI Sniffer, which gave me a report showing every bus device with the following: Cacheline: 0 * 32 bit.
There were no 64bits.
I believe v2.1, 5V Conventional PCI is 32bits, whereas v2.2, 3.3V Conventional PCI is 64bits.
Question: Am I correct in assuming that all my PCI slots are therefore v2.1
Question: Am I correct in assuming any PCI cards I buy must be v2.1 compliant
Question: Finally, can anyone please identify the slot in the attached picture, and what it would be used for. It doesn't look like any I'm familiar with.
Thanks
Javis
Is this on a server board by chance? I'm not sure all the uses for these slots, mainly I've seen them used for scsi controllers. (my experience is very limited. I've got the slot on an old board, but right now it's a dust catcher.:) )
Didn't you post this question in another thread? I nearly went nuts because I thought I already posted here.
start your own
Instead of being a wise guy, why don't you tell me how to post a new thread.
I really want to know. I looked everywhere on this site, and could not find a link.
And in response to RWB, sorry, yes I posted on two threads cos I figured I'd have more chance of getting my question answered, especially since I couldn't figure out how to do a new thread.
As yet, no-one has been able to identify for certain the odd looking connection I have.
Thanks
you honestly telling me you cant see the 'new thread' button at the top of each forum
tell you what
after you read this post, click at the very top of the screen where it says 'GRAPHICS' then a page should come up
then click the box that says 'NEW THREAD' it looks like the box that says 'NEW REPLY', you know like the one that you clicked before you posted in this topic
i can understand that youre new to the forum, but rather then jack someones topic (which, whilst being perfectly legal is just bad manners) you could have checked the rules or asked someone 'how do i post a new topic'
If you give us the model numbers, specs of your machine it would make life a lot easier. Over the years I think Dell has put every slot into the Optiplex.
Oops, I type to slow.