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Replacement AGP cards and suggestions for a new PCI-E system

Associate
Joined
29 Dec 2005
Posts
82
Hi,

Its been several years since i last looked into gpu's and pc systems in general. Sadly it looks like my 128mb GeForce6800 NU (ASUS V9999TD) is on its way out with either memory or pixel units failing and producing graphic errors. Although i've spent a fair amount of time online i'm finding it difficult to narrow down on a suitable replacement, so I was hoping to get some opinions here.

On a side note, I feel it may be some issue in the shader unit and was wondering if it was at all worth trying to disable some of the pathways? I remember reading that you could unlock additional shader units on some 6800's so was wondering if its possible or even recommended to try this?


The are a few requirements for a replacement

1. Must be 8xAGP
2. Must work with a Dell Dimension 8300 and PUS of either 205w or 250w.
- I'm trying to muster the courage to open up the box and see exactly which i have, though everytime I have in the past something has broken ;)
It does seem to have worked fine with the current 6800 (which needs additional power) for the last 3 years, though I would love to find something less power hungry if possible just to remove some load of an ageing PSU.
3. I'd prefer Nvidia, but could be swayed to ATI.
4. Needs a minimum of 256mb and PS3.0
5. No longer needed for gaming, but must be close to 6800 performance for development of 3D apps. So it can't be too crippled.

On the Nvidia side I think I could go with 6200, 6600, 6800 or maybe a 7600GS? However i'm rather in the dark about ATI so not sure what my options are there.

My ideal would be something comparable to the 6800 I have now, but willing to sacrifice performance for less power consumption and maybe even silent (fanless). Cost ideally less than £40 (which would be easy if i had PCI-E ;( )

I was looking at the 6200 and 6600 but worried they may be considerably less powerful? The 7600 looks nice and I'm positive I've read somewhere of versions that don't need the extra molex power supply, but seem to have a hard time tracking any down.

So can anyone give any recommendations? Advice, especially about power consumption as this is one of my main concerns. This is the second gpu thats died in 5-6 years (originally had a Radeon 9800Pro) in the Dell

On a related note, i'm not too worried about performance of the replacement as I should be getting a brand new sytsem within the next few weeks (once i've gotten back up to speed with the latest tech, cpu etc). So that will be an oppertunity to get a nice modern card.

Due to work commitments it will have to be nvida (which I admit is my prefered choice), but from what i've been reading it doesn't look like they've produced a 'killer' card since 8800 series. I'm sure I remember the first 200 series were a bit of a disappointment, the newer ones don't seem to have a great cost/performance ration and those just released haven't set the world on fire.

So any recommendations as to which model/series of Nvidia to focus on?
I imagine anything I get is going to blow my old 6800 out of the water and as I no longer play many games on the PC it doesn't have to be the best performer. Just something solid with a good cost/performance ratio.

thx
 
Associate
Joined
14 Mar 2009
Posts
785
Hi,

So any recommendations as to which model/series of Nvidia to focus on?
I imagine anything I get is going to blow my old 6800 out of the water and as I no longer play many games on the PC it doesn't have to be the best performer. Just something solid with a good cost/performance ratio.

thx

You basicly have to pay a premium for AGP card now adays just like DDR ram.
Just try to find something that isn't a complete rip off.
 
Associate
Joined
23 Mar 2009
Posts
2,014
Location
Peterborough
best ati agp is a 3850 i believe, you may have to look around for one however. It may require extra power too. There will be lower ati models as well but they'll be just as hard to find but will probably be better on the power front.
 
Associate
Joined
26 Jan 2010
Posts
291
either the 3850 or 7800GS+ by gainward where th last decently powerful AGP cards released

Finding them how ever is difficult especially the 7800GS+
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2009
Posts
1,431
Location
Stockport
I got my uncle a 3850 AGP card for this p4 2.8 @ 3.2Ghz and surpisingly enough he can play new games at semi decent frame rates and rez.

Really tho in the idle world you might as well get a budget gaming system built - depends on money i guess.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
29 Dec 2005
Posts
82
Thanks for the replies so far.

My main concern isn't so much sourcing one of these (though i know its not easy) its making sure it has low power consumption (wattage) to ensure it works with my Dell PSU. I was hoping someone might have had a similar experience and could recommended one based on that. A number of suggestions so far I think are ruled out due to needing at least 350 - 400 watts, though i've looked at so many cards that need different power that its all getting jumbled up in my head now ;)

However with no strong opinions yet I might go for the 6200 for cheapness, just to have a working card, or if I can stomach the price maybe another 6800 since I know it works - though a little concerned that if the PSU is over-taxed that could have led to my current one failing?
 
Associate
Joined
27 Nov 2008
Posts
669
Location
UK
the highest current card thats not EOL is the 4650 1GB AGP, although certain auction sites you may find some higher AGP cards. The ATI 3850 was officially the fastest AGP card available and i dont belive anything else has come out since which touches it. they use around 75W and need a 6 pin power connector...well the Sapphire one did anyway.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 May 2009
Posts
3,541
Location
London
Dunno if the 4670 AGP is EOL, but 4650 will certainly be the best option for power consumption. I'm bit worried by the idea of putting any card above super-low end modern on a 250W power supply though..:(
 
Associate
OP
Joined
29 Dec 2005
Posts
82
Just to give an update, it looks like over-heating was the major issue.

Last night I re-installed ASUS smartDoctor and found the idling temp was 80 degrees:eek: So this morning I opened up the machine, externally the card didn't look too bad, the fan was a bit gunged up, but working fine. However upon removing the fan I dsicovered the heat sink fins were completely clogged with thick black dust. Honestly I don't think the fan was pulling any air through the heat sink at all.

After 30 minutes of cleaning it now runs a cool 50 degrees when idling. Yay ;)

In related note the Dell PSU is 250w with 16a on +12v and 22a on +5v. Must be pretty good psu since 16a must be pretty borderline for a 6800.
 
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