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AGP Video Card: Worth Upgrading?

ege02ege02 __BANNED USERS regular
edited November 2006 in Help / Advice Forum
Okay, looks like my 6800GT died on me, so I'm in need of a new video card. My motherboard doesn't have PCI-Express, and I have an otherwise pretty good setup and don't feel like changing everything just for PCI-e (especially before Vista comes out).

My question is, is it worth upgrading my AGP video card to get a final bit of juice out of my AGP system? Currently I have:

3ghz
1.5gig ram (all slots full)

Which is more than enough for gaming. I'm thinking if I get a Geforce 7800GS, the system should last me at least another year.

Also, the 7800GS says on the specs that it requires a +12V current of 20A or more. My current PSU offers 17A. I've heard that it runs fine with 18A, but wondering what kind of problems I can run into. It's pretty difficult to find a PSU that offers the voltage the card asks.

Thanks.

ege02 on

Posts

  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    yeah, if you have to buy now, don't bother upgrading. if you can swap out a 512mb stick for a 1gb, that would add some shelf-life too. i'm not getting vista until i can have a cost-effective 4GB of RAM, y'know?

    kaliyama on
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  • MuridenMuriden Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Do you need to buy a latest and greatest new card?
    Were you happy with the performance of the 6800GT?
    If you were happy with it, I would just buy a replacement 6800GT which would be much cheaper than the 7800GS. Then after a while upgrade to a new system with PCI-E when you're ready to get a whole new package.

    Muriden on
    MrGulio.332 - Lover of fine Cheeses. Replays
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  • NovaNova Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    I say go with the higher-performance upgrade. AGP is at the end of its life, so when Vista upgrade time does come, you'll have an AGP card that is sought-after by people who are still trying to max out their AGP hardware, so you'll be able to recoup a lot of what you spent.

    The top of the line hardware at the end of a generation usually holds more of its value than the second-tier stuff. 3+ GHz socket-478 P4s are still commanding a premium over faster and more modern CPUs because they're sought after by people trying to max out their old 478 mobo. Same idea.

    Nova on
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  • Salvation122Salvation122 Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Find a cheap AGP card, or overhaul your whole system.

    Salvation122 on
  • ege02ege02 __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2006
    Well I don't have the money to overhaul the entire system, and I can't do with a cheap AGP card because the games I play are pretty demanding.

    ege02 on
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