Best matched ATI card for P4 2.66ghz?

[Brando]

I'm looking to get my sister a better video card that won't go to waste on a stock speed 2.66ghz P4 cpu. It has to be ATI so they won't have to reformat.
Thanks yall!

 

[mista ting]

AGP?

 

[Brando]

Sorry, yes. It's AGP. I'm not sure if it's 8x or 4x.

 

[Randyman...]

Even if you get the same ATI that is in there now - there is no guarantee you will not be forced to "Re-Activate" (What I assumed you meant when you said "Re-Format" ). XP's Activation looks at the MAC Address of the card.

Anyway - look for a used 9800 Pro or something along those lines . I still have a 9200 and a 9800 running fine in 2 AGP/478 systems! You could always buy a newer AGP Card, too - but it is all up to you and what you want out of it... Either way, you *might* have to re-activate (no biggie - just a phone call and some digits if you are "Legit" ).

 

[Brando]

I meant reformat. When I switched from a 7800gt to an x1900xt in my own system I had all kinds of strange problems. I figured the Catalyst drivers were so different from Forceware drivers that the leftover bits of the old drivers were conflicting with the new ones. I ended up having to reformat to get things working right again and I don't want that to happen to my sister and her husband. Since they have catalyst installed already I assume the transition will be smooth. By the way, do 9800's support new features in the latest games? It might not matter but maybe SM3 support would be a safer bet IDK. I realize this setup will never run Oblivion but she's mostly into RPG's so framerates aren't critical. I just need it to passably run Neverwinter nights 2 and similar. Even if it's sort of choppy it'll be light years beyond what they have now as long as newish games will run.

 

[Randyman...]

Ah - I see. As far as what card can play what game - I'm clued out. I use my PC's for Audio Production (Where low-power video cards are PREFERRED!!! )

 

[grumperfish]

I meant reformat. When I switched from a 7800gt to an x1900xt in my own system I had all kinds of strange problems. I figured the Catalyst drivers were so different from Forceware drivers that the leftover bits of the old drivers were conflicting with the new ones.

After you uninstall the ATI/nvidia stuff in add/remove programs you can run Driver Cleaner Pro and it'll get the remaining drivers. I've replaced ATI cards with nvidia cards without issue that way. No need to reformat.

By the way, do 9800's support new features in the latest games? It might not matter but maybe SM3 support would be a safer bet IDK.

9800's are fully directx9 capable, so they'll handle most anything, but they do not have SM3. You'd need something like a 1600pro/xt for that. That's probably what you should look into actually. They run from ~$70-130 on newegg.

 

[Brando]

I think I had to reformat because I got all excited about my new card and rushed the installation without thinking it out. I'll still probably go with ATI just to make it as easy as possible and minimize chances of something going wrong. I'm gonna check out those x1600's and see what I come up with. Thanks for all the advice everyone

 

[Brando]

The sapphire x1650pro looks pretty good. $130 is a little steep but maybe I'll find a sale. Thanks again!

 

[||Console||]

Remember to check the classies there is prob a good deal on agp's in that section