Buying a new graphics card

Hephaestus · Aug 2, 2006, 04:21 AM

First off, my system is pretty old and only supports AGP 4x so that really limits my choices. The only card presently available is a Radeon 9600 256 MB card. What is the corresponding card in the Nvidia series? I could get a 6200 but it is only 64 bit and 128 mb, though it is atleast a thousand bucks cheaper. Which one would you guys recommend.
I have a Via 8668 board, which according to some has some compatibility issues with particular cards. Besides the MX series, I don't know which though.

Also, according to Newegg, the X800 supports both 4x and 8x AGP, whereas according to various dealers in my city, it only supports 8x. I don't know which one to believe. I suppose the X800 would be ideal, but I don't know whether it would work.

I don't mind going for an Nvidia though I prefer ATI. Plus, I'm only an occasional gamer so overclocking or gaming performance isn't that important.I'd appreciate any advice. Thanx.

Dyre Straits · Aug 2, 2006, 04:26 AM

You really should post the exact motherboard you do have presently. The limitation of 4x can have a huge bearing on whether you actually can upgrade to an 8x AGP card or not. Someone posted some excellent information to help someone else determine whether their motherboard could handle a newer card or not. Let me see if I can get the link.....

Here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Graphics_Port

The main concern is that the older AGP slots had different voltage than the newer ones. So, not all AGP slots are the same.

Hephaestus · Aug 2, 2006, 04:54 AM

These are the specs from the VIA site:

Feature VIA P4M266A
North Bridge
Processor Support
Intel� Pentium� 4
Integrate Graphics S3 Graphics ProSavage8™
Front Side Bus 400/533MHz
Memory Support 200/266 MHz
AGP Support AGP 4X
Memory Type
DDR 200/266

PC100/133 SDRAM
Max. Memory 4.0GB
South Bridge VT8233/8233A/8233C
North/South Bridge Link VIA V-Link (266MB/s)
Audio
AC'97 integrated 2-channel Audio
Network
VIA 10/100 Ethernet MAC

3Com� (VT8233C)
Modem MC'97
PCI Devices/Slots
5 slots
IDE
ATA 33/66/100

ATA-133 with VT8233A South Bridge
USB 6 ports
I/O Protocols I/O APIC / LPC Super I/0
Power Management ACPI/APM/PCI/PM

This is from Everest:

Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 08/12/2002-P4M266-8233A-6A6LW00GC-00
Motherboard Name VIARAMA U8668 (Pro)

Front Side Bus Properties
Bandwidth 3200 MB/s
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Effective Clock 400 MHz
Real Clock 100 MHz (QDR)

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type VIA V-Link
Bus Width 8-bit

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR
Form Factor Micro ATX
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Motherboard Chipset P4M266
RAM Slots 2 SDR DIMM, 2 DDR DIMM

I read that article a few months ago, but forgot about the different voltages. How do I know whether my board will support a new card? I currently use a Radeon 7000 VE.

Dyre Straits · Aug 2, 2006, 05:49 AM

If you review that link again, pay close attention to the diagram that shows the 'keys' for the AGP card and the slot.

Then, the best way to determine for sure is to shutdown your computer, turn off the switch at the PSU (if there is one) and pull out the current video card. Compare the slot that is on the board with the diagram in the link.

I tried finding more detailed info online for your motherboard, but nothing shows up readily. So, this is the fastest and best way to find out for sure.

EDIT: Here's some more information:

http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_AGP.html

According to further research, that motherboard has an AGP 2.0 slot. That means that it should support BOTH 1.5V and 3.3V video cards. Just be sure to check it visually to make sure.