What is the best AGP on the market? (lolish)

[Pikarya]

We have an extra PC laying around with the following specs

AMD Athlon XP 3200+
2GB/PC3200/Corsair XMS
128MB 6800GT Nvidia GeForce
320GB WD Caviar 7200 RPM
Corsair 500W Power Supply

I was wondering, is the ATi 1950XT AGP/8x the best card out there for this rig to run at its maximum capacity?

Thanks, coulden't find anything worthy on google for info.

[Olo401]

If you're looking for the absolute best cards you can get for that machine, there are AGP versions of the Radeon HD 2400, 2600, 3650, 3850 and GeForce 6 & 7 Series available. The X1950 is one step under the HD 2400 and it handles DirectX 9.0 so you should be just fine with that, but if you NEED DirectX 10 compatibility get the 3850.

[Pikarya]

Word, I'll definately probably go with the x1950xt then. Upgrading the motherboard on this other computer we have is kinda out of reach so that should work.

Thanks!

[Resin]

Yeah, AGP topped out with the 3850. I recently did pretty much the same as you with a P4 3.0 box.

[Pikarya]

At least with a P4 you could change out the motherboard and go PCI-E. I think Socket-A (462?) motherboards never had PCI-E ever since it wasen't out yet.

[Shuemue]

Wouldn't spend a penny on a machine like that personally, the money would be far better saved towards a new PC, but you probably already know that.

[Pikarya]

^ 100% agree, but I'd like to give this PC as a gift to someone who plays WoW/FFXI alot so I decided just to upgrade the card to the best one out as a bonus before tossing it to them. 6800GT in itself is like 9800PRO timez.

[Shuemue]

well, money aside, the x1950 pro is a pretty decent card, my gf has the AGP version in her PC and it's not bad. I had to use omega drivers on her machine for a while, but the latest Catalysts are stable for the last week or so since a reformat.

oh and it's a thirsty little fucker too, but that corsair PSU should be fine

[Olo401]

At least with a P4 you could change out the motherboard and go PCI-E. I think Socket-A (462?) motherboards never had PCI-E ever since it wasen't out yet.

Yep - Socket 462 P4s were only in production for about a month or two (Sept-Nov. 2001?) before they realized the voltage limitations and had to change to LGA775. PCI-E didn't come out until 2004.

[Akucaen]

The P4 came on Socket 423 and 478. You meant the 90nm P4's on 478 didn't last long due to switching to LGA775 for heat purposes among other things.

[Olo401]

Oh wait yer right.. 462 is the old AMD socket. I always get those mixed up.