Good AGP Video Cards?

Alright. I have quite an old computer, and I need a new video card. I was browsing around when I found a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT, which I was getting ready to purchase. Much to my dismay, my computer does not have a PCI slot. So my question is, does anyone know of a card that is AGP compatible, and can produce the same amount (if not more) of power?



Thanks a bunch!|||Joe-



I am actually building a machine for a friend that wants an entry level gaming machine.



You can get the parts you need at:



www.newegg.com



I just picked up a ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP card for about 145.00.



But I do not know what you base system is.



The system that I am rebuilding is from some other parts I had here is the config. You may have to obtain some of the parts from ebay, though you need to be careful about some of the things you get from there.



Intel Pentium-4 3.0E with the 800Mhz FSB, (Socket 478)

Asus P4P800-SE Motherboard, (Intel 865PE Chipset)

4Gb Patriot PC-3200 LL RAM

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 5.1

ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP 4x/8x, (Sapphire Technologies)

250Gb Hitachi Deskstar HDD, (U-ATA 133)

HEC Zephyr 750 Watt PSU

Lite-On Optical Drive, (CD/DVD RW RAM Drive

Cooler Master CAC-5 Centurion Case

Rosewill Heatsink/Fan, (Main Processor, Socket 478)



I am going to give you a sound piece of advice. Do not overclock the CPU or the VPU. There is no need to do this. The perfromance you may gain, does not warrant the shortened lifespan of the parts. This merely cooks them, and causes them to fail sooner.



If you are currently running CPU's under 3.0 Ghz you are just going to keep fighting to keep up with the newer games that are hitting the market now.



Basically the Video Card I suggested, will place you into a position where you probably will not have to upgrade your machine for another year or two, (at max.). But what I would definately have you keep away from is upgrading to Vista with this type of machine.



Here is my personal system, only as refrence, (even mine is about a year beind the curve).



AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo Processor, (Socket 939)

Asus A8V-E SE Motherboard

nVidia 8800 GTS PCI-Express 16, (PNY Technologies)

Creative Sound Blaster XF-I Gamer Series 7.1

4.0 Gb A-Data PC-3200 LL RAM

Cool Max CUG-700B PSU, (700 Watt)

160 Gb Hitachi Deskstar, (U-ATA 133)

300 Gb Hitachi Deskstar, (U-ATA 133)

Ageia Phys-x Card

Thermaltake CL-P0075 Heatsink/Fan

Lite-On CD/DVD RW RAM Drive, (IDE)

XClio BK230 Turbine Case



My wife's machine is not very far behind this, basically the only difference is the Video Card and Sound Card, because she does not play the FPS games that I do, and her machine does not have the demand being placed on it like mine.



Basically, what I did was build the base platform right at the curve a year ago. I wanted to step into the PCI-Express 16 market, but did not want to go to heck in a handbasket with the wallet, so I backed off with the Video card for a year, and settled with a PCI Express Version of the Radeon X850-XT Platnum series card until I could step into the nVidia, and give them a try.



What I have found is this.



The marriage between the Motherboard and the Video Card is very critical. Though both of my current high-end mahcines are using VIA K8T890 Chipsets, the nVidia cards perform very well, but not at the absolute top of their game. That is not the reason for the Phys-x Card. I just purchased that on a whim to see if the performance was what they claim. There is a marginal increase, but nothing to go crazy about. It does seem to give some games a little more overhead but nothing that is really noticeable.



However, I did build a complete ATI System for my brother. His Motherboard is an ECS Product with the X400 Series Chipset on the board. With his ATI Radeon HD 3850 this machine does extremely well.



For the record, I have had equally good luck with both ATI and nVidia, so either choice is going to be a good one. But in either event, its a really good idea to do your homework, on the build you intend on creating, and working with those parts the manufacturers of the Motherboard, Processor and Video Cards recommend. Her is another secret. Download the Video Driver Packs directly from ATI or nVidia's websites after you have installed their initial CD. This will ensure that you are indeed running the most up-to-date drivers for the cards.



As for Motherboards, I have had the best results with ECS and Asus, with Asus being the better of the two. I am not a big fan of Biostar, MSI, DFI or Foxconn products. I have normally had to Flash the BIOS directly out of the boxes, RMA the boards or download driver software directly from the chip manufacturers to get their boards to function properly. With the DFI and Foxconn Motherboards, I have had very horrible experience with their onboard Eithernet Controllers Failing. Every one of those systems, I have had to install a US Robotics 7900A Network Card. So just a heads up there.



Lastly, all of my systems are on Windows XP Professional SP-3. I am not making the change to Vista, until I hear and read better performance with their OS. So far, I have not been impressed.



I know this was a long answer, but building Gaming Systems is what I do for a hobby, friends and family. Just check out the website I gave you and be prepared to be amazed.



Good Luck!|||brad j does not know what he is talking about.



http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ATI-Radeon-HD385…



this is a pretty hot card and will kill an 8600gt.



also



http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/grap…|||AGP is now obsolete. All of the newer, more powerful cards are PCI x16.