AGP Video Cards

GWC Community GWC Hive Mind
#1

Ok, so I need a new AGP video card for my PC. I have done some research but have not been completely satisfied any of the cards I have seen so far. My requirement list is:

AGP card
Has Pixel Shader Model 3.0 or better
Will run with 400 watt power supply

My PC specs are:
Dell Dimension 4600
Pentium 4 3.2Ghz (Single Core)
1 GB Ram
400 Watt Power Supply
Windows XP Home edition with SP3

Not sure if this makes a difference as far as power requirments go, but the load on the PC (not including a video card) is 2 CD drives, 2 hard drives, and a PCI sound card.

Basically I’m looking for the best APG card I can get. I don’t imagine too many of them are over $200 so price shouldn’t be a problem.

#2

Hey Fenatic,

This is the best I could find in my search.

Sapphire Radeon HD3850 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI-I / TVO AGP Graphics Card

What I found is that it recommended a 450w Power Supply so you may be pushing it for heavy gaming. At the price you could also get a new power supply, you just got to make sure it has all the correct connections. There is also another model, the HD3650 is a step down and harder to find (some on ebay)but has a 400w recommendation. As a last resort you could go with the GeForce 6200. It has the specs you want and a low price point but the difference will be much less noticeable than the other two. Several companies make this model so you can check them out to see what you might like.

AGP is all but dead so this will probably be as good as it will ever get. I would just add that if you think you will have to upgrade in the next year or two holding off to get a new system might be worth it since the new motherboards are using PCI-Express.

Circuit City might have some deals now they are closing and I always see good deals at Dell’s Outlet store.

#3

I probably will upgrade in the next couple of years, but my old card died, so I need a new one. The old card was a Radeon 9800 PRO which I had since I got the computer. This is sort of a forced upgrade.

I did look at both of those models that you mentioned. Based on the reviews, many people had problems with the Radeon HD3850 with a power supplies less then 500 Watts. The HD3650 I saw had a recomended wattage of 500 for the power supply, but in the reviews I read most people did not have a problem with power supplies as low as 300 Watts.

HD3850

HD3650

#4

I ended up getting the HD3650. I installed it today. So far the results are mixed. Some games look sharper and run more smoothly, but all the problems I used to have with certain games crashing (that I fixed with my old card) have now returned. Grrrrr…