Right now I'm running an ATI Radeon 9600XT and I am wanting to upgrade it...

Pretty much the best one I can get under $150 if it would even be worth upgrading at that budget...I am looking at this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102654

Seems to be a good one, I haven't been following this stuff for quite some time, I am very knowledgable in computers I just don't know whats the best one out there.

I have both AGP and PCI slots available so thats not a big deal, any other recommendations would be awesome.

It's an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ running on an MSI mobo with 1GB DDR if that makes a diff.

Thanks!

Fink

 

Well, the PCI slots are not going to do you any good, AGP is better.
Now the newer mobos with PCI Express, that is a different story.

Most AGP cards are being phased out now, as PCI Express is the way to go, but you need a new mobo for that.

The card you listed here will not work in your PC, as it is PCI Express, and you only have PCI and AGP slots.

What is you current power supply?
If you want to stick with ATI like I do, I would suggest the ATI X800 XL card.
It is AGP, will fit your PC, you just need at least a 400 watt PS to push it.

I am running a 300 watt one now, and my next two upgrades are a 500 watt PS, and the X800 XL video card.

You can also go with an NVIDIA based card, and the 6600 to 6800 series are a good choice.
Either of the three cards I mention are a big improvement over the 9600 series.

 

Here I am running my GEForce 4 MX 460

It still does a decent job at GTA San Andreas, that's all I occasionally play.

 

Corey, what would be a good mobo with the PCI Express? I can't find an X800XL card on NewEgg that is still AGP and it sounds like it might be better to just upgrade the mobo at the same time, I believe my PS is a 480 but I'm not positive, I can check.

So what would be a good mobo to upgrade to as well as a video card to go with it? I'm assuming that one that I linked to is an OK one now I just need to find a good mobo to handle it.

Thanks guys,

Fink

 

Lets see, you have the AMD 3200.
Do you know if it is the socket 939, or the smaller numbered one that starts with a 7?
The 939 socket is the more popular and the best based one to start.

If so, I would go with an Asus A8N SLI Premo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131540

It is the one I will probably get around summer time when I build my next gaming rig with an AMD 4800 X2 duel core CPU.
It will also allow you to run two NVIDIA 6600, 6800, or 7800 series vid cards together in SLI mode.

Do note though that the NVIDIA 7800 series one card is as fast as two of the 6800 series in SLI mode.

Also that card you linked is for the new ATI mobos that support Crossfire, ATIs duel answer to NVIDIAs SLI which means you run two vid cards.

That is not the right card for you, even if you go with a new PCI Express mobo.
I would still look for an ATI X800 XL.
Newegg may not have it, but www.zipzoomfly.com might, or a local shop by you.

 

I can't remember which socket it is...

But it sounds like no matter what I do I need to find an X800 XL and then go from there. Let me see if I can find one and I'll post up and we can go from there.

Thanks Corey!

Fink

 

ZipZoomFly carries them but they are out of stock...I found one at Circuit City online for $249.99. Is that a good price or should I keep looking?

Thanks Corey!

 

Well turns out...my two local stores don't have it in-stock, however they stock the PCI Express version of it, lol.

So...maybe somebody near a Circuit City store who has it in stock would be willing to get it for me and ship it to me?? LoL, I'll keep looking.

Fink

 

Well Circuit City can't get a hold of one anywhere so thats out of the question, Pricegrabber.com found one at this place http://www.computersdirtcheap.com/co...SA10X800XL%2DV

And then I found an X800 Pro at Amazon that is also AGP here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...Fencoding=UTF8

What do you think about the one from Amazon? I emailed that Computers Dirt Cheap place about Pricing and availability so we'll see what they say.

Thanks,

Fink

 

The Pro is good too, that is what my friend Andy (Drew on the forum here) runs in his AMD FX 57 based gaming system.

The XL is a newer and better card though, but you can not go wrong with the Pro.

You will SEE A HUGE difference in game play with it over the 9600 XT you have now.

Did you also try www.ati.com ?
They have a store as well, and also refurbished stuff.

Yeah, the PS & X800 XL will be my last upgrades to this Intel based gaming rig.
It will be super fast and handle any game out right now.

But once I am done with it, it will retire to the spare bedroom so junior does not have to lug over his PC when he comes over to stay.

Then it is the new build up I will do.
That will be good for several years.

 

OK...did some more searching.

Found an X800 XL AGP by Diamond on www.buy.com, seems a little pricey though based on what I've seen:

http://www.buy.com/prod/ATI_RADEON_X.../10404950.html

Found an X850 XT, not sure how this relates to the X800 XL but its on ATI.com for $399 and buy.com for $367:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...=0&dcaid=15890

That's all I've got for now...let me know what you guys think, depending on what I find out I may just wait a few months until I can completely redo my whole system and then do it all at the same time.

Thanks again,

Fink