Upgrade video card of old desktop PC.

Computer Forum Video Cards, Displays and TV Tuners
1

Hello,

I need to upgrade video card of old desktop PC.
I tried “PNY NVIDIA GeForce 6200 256MB DDR2 AGP” graphics card.

I’m looking for a new or used card [COLOR=“Red”]better than above “GeForce 6200 256MB” which is :

  1. AGP
  2. Economical - below $50 (I understand it means that card might not be of current generation)
  3. Should have 3D Accelerated Video with 256Mb (512MB preferred) dedicated video memory & Pixel Shader 3.0 support.

Is “PNY NVIDIA GeForce 6200 256MB” card BETTER than ATI Radeon 9600 and NVidia Geforce Ti4200 ? By how much ?

I saw this card “Visiontek Radeon X1300 XGE 512MB AGP DDR2 Video Card” at: Visiontek Radeon X1300 XGE 512MB AGP DDR2 DirectX 9 Video Card - 900102 - Buy.com.
Please compare it with “PNY NVIDIA GeForce 6200 256MB” ?

Please also suggest new/used video cards, meeting 3 criteria.

Thank You.

2

Please compare performance 3450 with others :

ASUS AH3450/HTP/256M Radeon HD 3450 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 – $44
POWERCOLOR HD2600XT 512M AGP Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 – $62
SAPPHIRE 100175L Radeon X1650PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 – $34
VisionTek 900165 Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 – $49.99
Visiontek HD 2400 PRO OC 256MB AGP DDR2 64-bit – $44

3

Advice please !

4

Hi ,I’d go for any with a 128bit not 64bit memory.

Sorry couldn’t be any more helpful.

Mainly due to me no liking RADEON cards lol

5

Which is nVidia card comparable to “Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP” ?

6

i’d guess at maybe a 8600

7

Thanks.

Should I buy video card with FAN or [COLOR=“Red”]FAN-LESS (less power requirement) ?

8

that depends, do you want a quite system or have some plans to overclock. with no fan the graphics card will get very hot (and if you have hot summers, it probably isn’t a good thing)

9

Thanks.
I was considering this FANLESS card Newegg.com - ASUS AH3650 SILENT/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards (no Fan to go bad, less power requirement)
No plan to overclock.

How often does fan go bad ? creaky noise ?

10

I’ve actually not had fan go bad on me, they do get a little noisy over time but that’s because fans tend to collect dust, as a result it has to work harder to cool the chipset, leading to the excess noise.

11

Thank you guys for your help!

Between “X1650PRO 512MB [COLOR=“Red”]128-bit” AND “ASUS Radeon HD 3450 256MB [COLOR=“Red”]64-bit”, which is better for old titles (only pixel shader 3, no HD video) ?

How much difference extra 256Mb makes in X1650PRO ?

Can either play old titles, at acceptable quality, at higher than 1024 x 768 resolution ?

12

Yes, the extra 256mb will make difference, will it be noticeable, hard to say. As for playing older games, any modern card will do really.

have look at this chart Charts, benchmarks Gaming Graphics Charts Q1/2008, 3DMark06 (v1.0.2) HDR/SM3.0 Score should help to make your decision.