AGP motherboards

Dilbert-FirestormDilbert-Firestorm Nuclear Wasteland, Gretna, LA New
edited November 2008 in Hardware
I wasn't aware that AMD had progressed that far on the CPU line. They're now up to Phenom X3 & X4, and from the looks of it, are AM2 & AM2+ socket cpu.

I did notice that there are intel 775 mobos with agp.

I noticed that there are I-775/A-939 combo mobos with AGP8X & PCI-X. I assume that only one of the graphics sockets can be used, correct?

Asrock 775 & AM2 mobos seem to be one avenue for me to check out.

AM2 mobos
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=ALiveDual-eSATA2&s=AM2
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=AM2NF3-VSTA (this ones has an interesting configuration, was surprised to see this one without PCI-X)

775 mobos
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=4CoreDual-VSTA&s=775
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=775V88%2b&s=775

comments anyone.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Asrock specializes in low-performance, eccentric designs that are intended to bridge the gap between a defunct solution and the new generation of equipment.

    As you've noticed, some come with AGP and PCI Express, while others come with DDR2 and DDR3 slots on the same board. In these cases, only one technology will work at a time. AGP or PCIe, DDR2 or DDR3, etc.

    I generally don't recommend Asrock because they're just one step above another dead-end hardware buy. Yet if someone wants to buy an Asrock board knowing that they'll be replacing it and the piece of legacy hardware that necessitated an Asrock board, I guess it's okay.

    However, I prefer to suggest people simply wait and build up a bigger financial reserve to go with a complete and modern solution.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Thrax is correct. ASRock makes some funky solutions to try and pair legacy hardware with modern processors and RAM. They're budget friendly and stable but almost always notably slower than more modern, inexpensive products.

    What kind of system are you looking to build, and what is your budget? It sounds like you want to upgrade while keeping an old video card. If that's the case, consider ditching your AGP card and getting a newer video card. Even the sub-$100 offerings these days are sweet.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    I went with an Asrock 939 board because I had a fairly recent AGP card at the time. It let me buy just a mobo and processor at once, instead of mobo+proc+DDR2+GPU.

    I'm happy with my decision, and I'll be upgrading to a PCIe graphics card when I can scrape together some more pennies. Whether or not it's a smart decision for you depends on the money you want to spend and what you really want out of your rig. If you can afford everything from the current generation, skip the Asrock board. If you can't, and you're okay with having a system that's not top-of-the-line, then consider getting one. I haven't had any experiences that indicate that the boards are "slower" or "low-performance."
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    I'll be upgrading to a PCIe graphics card when I can scrape together some more pennies
    Where have you been, my friend!? For the past year there have been bargains followed by bargains of decent PCI-e cards in our own Deal Depot and Trading Post - 6800s, 7800s, Quadros, I think even a couple 3870s. You may be saving for something higher powered, but when you can get a very competent card for around $45 shipped, why not. You can always turn around and sell it for close to what you paid. Most of the depreciation happens to a video card the first year after it's introduced. After that first year, the cars lose value of course, but slowly.

    OK, I feel better. As I am the Trading Post moderator, I was compelled to launch that lecture. :D

    It's still true, though!
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    It's all true, but I have indeed been holding out. My 7600GT actually plays all of my games pretty well (of course, I don't play anything like Crysis), so I've had the luxury of waiting for a deal that's too good to pass up. See how I'm making poverty sound like a good thing, here? ;)

    I'll probably get an 8800GT or 9800 GT once I make sure I've got enough money for food left over. At around $100, they're awfully tempting. Even if I don't need one for games as much as I need it for throwing down the Folding gauntlet :fold:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    My 7600GT actually plays all of my games pretty well... an 8800GT or 9800 GT
    Oh, OK. Yeah the 7600GTs are decent. I can see hanging on to that until you are ready to strike. Good news for you - don't know if you've been looking - but slightly used 8800GTs are plentiful for less than $100 used on trading forums. Also, 9800GTs can be had for around $115 after MIR at several vendors. Price-performance in the mid-range right now is excellent. (And 'mid-range' performance is pretty, pretty high!) I don't think it's ever been this good. I'm working a possible Craigslist 9800GX2 this weekend. (nothing against ATI, but I'm looking for GPU folding firepower) We'll see. The seller is down the road from me in Sarah Palin's town, Wasilla.
  • Dilbert-FirestormDilbert-Firestorm Nuclear Wasteland, Gretna, LA New
    edited November 2008
    what other AGP mobos would you guys recommend other than Asrock?

    Ditching AGP may not be possible. :)

    I recently bought an BFG Geforce 7300GT graphics cards for one of my PC's, the P2. an AT based machine. (don't think they even make mobos for that format anymore so, a new micro case is in order).

    I have 2 AGP Intel based PCs. Intel P3-1G & Intel P2-350, both of them need upgrading. Actually, i've been dragging my feet on upgrading them for 2 years. :(

    However the main one (P3-1G) is down due to a hard drive failure and am dragging my feet on getting data recovery on it done.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2008
    To be brutally honest with you, anything that old really needs to be gutted and the guts thrown away. You can build a quality AMD or Intel machine for not a whole lot of money and anything you have in the old machines really isn't worth trying to use in the upgrade. A 7300GT is pretty darn low end and like Leo said, you can find good deals for $30-$40 for a video card that will run rings around that 7300GT. I just recently helped a friend of mine upgrade his old Opty 170 system because the mobo was dying and we ordered an Asus P5Q Pro mobo, E5200 processor and a 4 gig kit of OCZ DDR2 ram for around $270 and all of this was new from Newegg. If you look in forum Trading Posts/Classifieds you can save even more on mobo's and such. Go to some of the boards that have a bunch of people that are into overclocking and benching because they tend to upgrade pretty often and you can get some good deals on still current equipment. I've recently seen P35 Gigabyte and Asus boards going for around $50 and E7200 processors for under $100 and ram kits for just dirt cheap. Not to mention great deals on video cards and psu's too.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    I think that's just it DF, we don't recommend any AGP motherboards. AGP died in 2004. At this time, it'd be a waste of money to buy new hardware for the purpose of upgrading outdated tech. Your platform is 10 years old. In tech time, it's an antique. Nothing wrong with antiques. You just have to realize that they're not modern machines.

    So much time has passed that your best options now are to keep what you've got and accept that it's old, or bite the bullet and get something new that'll last another 10 years. I recommend doing the later.

    Check out the Deal Depot:
    $200 - http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79306
    $350 - http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79221

    Either of these rigs will be major steps up.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Dilbert, I just reread your first post and most of the thread again.
    what other AGP mobos would you guys recommend other than Asrock?
    I wouldn't recommend any, unless you can find one for free or pay $15 or less used. If you are dead set on keeping your obsolete system going, scour trading forums for something really cheap. Don't buy new parts for your system. It's time to start thinking about the next system. Or if you just have to upgrade right now, just just get a whole new-to-you AMD 64 or Pentium 4 system off of Craigslist for cheap. Craigslist of full of outdated computers going cheap.

    No offense, but you are trying to upgrade an 85 Dodge Caravan to an 87 Dodge Caravan.

    What operating system are you running on your computers? Also, do have the Windows installation CD(s)?
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    I'll change my vote: if it's a 7300GT you're trying to preserve, I'd just sell it and start anew. You can get integrated video on a motherboard that won't be far off from that, and then buy a better video card to switch to when you have the money.
  • Dilbert-FirestormDilbert-Firestorm Nuclear Wasteland, Gretna, LA New
    edited November 2008
    Leonardo wrote:
    Dilbert, I just reread your first post and most of the thread again. I wouldn't recommend any, unless you can find one for free or pay $15 or less used. If you are dead set on keeping your obsolete system going, scour trading forums for something really cheap. Don't buy new parts for your system. It's time to start thinking about the next system. Or if you just have to upgrade right now, just just get a whole new-to-you AMD 64 or Pentium 4 system off of Craigslist for cheap. Craigslist of full of outdated computers going cheap.

    No offense, but you are trying to upgrade an 85 Dodge Caravan to an 87 Dodge Caravan.

    What operating system are you running on your computers? Also, do have the Windows installation CD(s)?

    the os on the mini-tower that I'm currently on uses windows 98se. the full tower machine (the one with the dead drive) uses IBM OS/2 Warp 4.5.

    well, that being said. I prolly will only upgrade one of the AGP based machine as a good enough to use system, maybe as data storage depot for 2 networked machines. That will be the mini-tower which has an AT form factor, so that one needs to be replaced. I could prolly use the AT machine as data storage depot instead... hmm.. something to ponder.

    The OS/2 full tower will most likely be upgraded to whatever the latest is on CPU (most likely AMD), mobos, & GC, at best an upper-middle to high end system.

    I may build another machine that is intel & windows based dedicated for gaming.
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