Legit Reviews

Hello, i have a question that i think some constructive criticism may help...
My spec's;
Dell Dimension 4600 2.66 p4, 2gb pc3200 ram ,geforce 4600ti graphics card, 250 gb hd, 865pe chipset.
I bought this system in 2003, for more than id like to say... and for that same reason id like to keep it alive.

Wich brings me to upgradation.
i just got a 520 wat psu for a better agp 8x card and im at a loss as to wich path i should take.
here are my choices as i see it; ATI: the ati x1550 512mb, the x1650 512, the x1950 pro/xt, the ati hd2600 or the hd3850
GEFORCE: 5k series 6k series and the 7k series of agp 8x versions 7600gs or the 7900gt, 7950gt
Its all so confusing to me,....
I would preferably like to have the x1950pro, hd2600, hd3850, geforce 7950gt as i here they are the top dogs in the agp 8x.


So i guess my question is wich agp card best fits my computer. and at what point will the graphics cards become overkill for my motherboard/processor?

I appreciate any info,... Thanks,.... Brian

how much ram do you have? 1GB, 2GB, less?

Pugs250 wrote:

So i guess my question is wich agp card best fits my computer. and at what point will the graphics cards become overkill for my motherboard/processor?

I appreciate any info,... Thanks,.... Brian

2005

JK!

personally i wouldnt sink too much on a card for that system, but maybe someone on the forum with more AGP card experience can advise....

skierkid450 wrote:how much ram do you have? 1GB, 2GB, less?

I actually have 3gb installed 2x 1gb pc3200 and 2x 512 pc3200

It might be hard to find the high end (especially at a reasonable price) cards in the AGP version, but looking through Newegg, i think something like this would be a big improvement.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130076

Pugs250 wrote:
I actually have 3gb installed 2x 1gb pc3200 and 2x 512 pc3200

as long as its not like 512 mb total, AGP is dying fast, so i would just get something that meets your current needs, you WILL NOT be able to transfer the card over to a new system

that 7600 seems like plenty(btw, a x1650 is not the way to go- TRUST ME)

might look at the 2600XT supports HDMI and DX10, same price as the 7600. The hard part is finding a comparison of the cards, no one benches AGP cards anymore really.

Well since you did ask for constructive criticism, I recommend you do what I did a few months back.

I had a few older Dells and instead of sinking more money into obsolete technology, I decided to sell them locally and invest that money into a new Intel system.

You will never recoup money invested into computers, so you are better off just accepting that fact and moving on.

You will be much happier with a new, self-built PC. I used to buy Dell exclusively, but since I began building my own, I have never been happier.

BTW, I did upgrade one of the Dells with a PNY 7600GS ($130) and I consider it one of the worst decisions I ever made. It was not much of an improvement over the FX 5200 that it replaced, and it still wont play any of the current games.

If you're into playing some of the recent and current games with an AGP card, don't go lower than a nVidia 6600 with 128Mb of RAM. Or if ATI, don't go lower than the 1800 series.

Like skierkid mentioned, the 512Mb would be nice, but it's too pricey. The 256Mb cards will work really well with the other hardware in that system.

My current system is a notch better than yours, but not by too much. This is the year I'll be building a system without being so far behind.