ATI 9800pro AGP, keep or shelf? Whats a good replacement in PCI-E? [Archive]

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Tomsawyer

01-19-07, 12:52 PM

Hello all, been a while since I posted heh.

My main machine is cranking along fine under phase (-41C) and the opty 165 is a happy camper.

My second machine however is one I rebuilt for my son. It is, err was, an AMD 939 socket agp board. The main board, a low end gigabyte board has gone belly up after 5 months. Now Newegg was kind and refunded my money but I find myself at a crossroads. 939 agp boards are going the way of the dinosaur and I have had very little luck in finding one.

With PCI-E the latest rage even the agp boards that I have found are nearly if not more expensive. SO if I do shelf the 9800pro 128mb agp card what is a good equivalent card?

My son likes to play RailRoads and Railroad Tycoon 3, veggie tales, and online games from Disney and PBS (He is 5 years old)

I do not want to spend a fortune and he has no need for a 8800GS or XT1 Billion so think around if not under 100 bucks. To me the replacement motherboard is going to be free (refund money) and I really can not afford to blow a ton of money on a high end card.

Any sound advice welcome!

dfonda

01-19-07, 03:20 PM

5 years old? Keep the 9800 and take the family out to dinner.:)

Bashar

01-19-07, 03:50 PM

To bad, that 9800pro still runs most things (lower settings), I just replaced my 9800pro and was in the same boat as you. I just wanted to replace my v-card, then I replaced my CPU and started looking for a mobo for my 939 and 9800pro to upgrade my wifes computer. Newegg only had 3 mobo and 2 where out of stock. The one I did buy was a pile a crap and I ended up returning it then getting a new mobo pci-e card ect for myself. I know my 5 year old plays the same kinda game on his p4 2.0g ATI 9250 system with no troubles. So I guess its up to you on how much trouble you want to spend finding a 939 agp mobo. If you find a used one for cheap I would just stick with the 9800pro combo. If your anything thing like me your son will have your hand-me down parts anyways when you upgrade :)

grumperfish

01-19-07, 04:24 PM

If you decide to go PCI-E with that you could probably look into a 1600pro or 7600-series card. They'd both be fairly-decent upgrades to the 9800 and should cost close to the same via newegg. Or you could look through the classifieds for a used 6800-series nvidia card since they tend to show up there often.

Linux_Box

01-19-07, 07:48 PM

Get a 7600GT for $100 or less (after rebate).

If you want to save some money and future proofing isn't a big deal then get some thing like the 7600GS or 7300GT if it is around $50. I would suggest the 7600 GT but this is a less expensive option with the others.

downer

01-19-07, 07:53 PM

I replaced my 9800pro a few months ago with a 6800GS, which was unlockable and clocks well. The difference was noticeable as I'm running @ 1680x1050. I still think the 9800pro is a good card as long as you aren't using super high resolutions.

mepis

01-19-07, 08:07 PM

I miight get crucified for mentioning this but the x1300 or x1300 pro is a good cheap alternative. I boguht an x1300 pro for myself, attached a athlon heatsink to it and oced the beggesus out of it. It chugs along ans plays FEAR managable at 1024x768 at almost full settings and 2xAA at around 35-45 FPS depending on where Im at in the game.

You would have no need to OC it and it would play all those games for your son just fine, and be dirt ass cheap.

mepis

01-19-07, 08:11 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121551

No where near the geratest and a few steps under mine but only $50

Linux_Box

01-19-07, 08:58 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121551

No where near the geratest and a few steps under mine but only $50

Definitely would be a good buy for the money. If price is the primary factor, go for something like this.

grumperfish

01-20-07, 12:52 AM