I want to upgrade my Dell Dimension 4600 to a newer graphics card. It has AGP 4x/8x support. I have a 250W Power Supply. What are some good graphics cards to play games like Age of Empires III and Civilization 4?
2007-08-23 07:02:21 · 10 answers · asked by JDH1820 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
First, you must know how much you are willing to spend on this new graphics card because the price range for AGP cards are very broad.
Under $50 USD:
1) Geforce FX series
2) Radeon 9000 series
These cards are sufficient to play your 2005 games, but make sure they have enough RAM. I would suggest at least 128MB with a 128-bit memory bus. Also, you may experience some slowdown and may be necessary to tone down some detail settings. 250W PSU should be good enough.
From $50-$100 USD:
1) Geforce 6 series (recommend 6600GT)
2) Geforce 7 series (lower specs: 7300's)
3) Radeon X1000 series (X1300, X1600, X1650)
4) If lucky, then Geforce 7600GT
These cards usually come with at least 256MB, and 128-bit memory bus, so performance is no problem for your situation.
However, they often require at least 300W PSU. Although it would seem hopeless, I think a 250W should be just OK, so you might want to give it a try.
Over $100 USD:
1) Geforce 7800/7900/7950
2) Radeon X1950
These cards require much more power, and usually are overclocked and come with 512 RAM. In your case, you do not need to consider these cards, for they are made strictly for pure performance. If you buy these, you got to upgrade your PSU, cooling fan, RAM, and perhaps even your entire system!
Hope this helps!
2007-08-23 09:00:48 · answer #1 · answered by Mr.Perfect 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well the 250w power supply MIGHT need to be upgraded in order to use accomodate a better graphics card.
The GeForce 7600GT is a very nice AGP card for about $125. The Radeon X1950XT is the best AGP card on the market but it's twice as expensive and really, it's overkill for games like AoE and Civ4.
2007-08-23 07:10:17 · answer #2 · answered by Proto 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hello, I just wanted to mention that you should NOT consider the ATI 1950 Pro card unless you plan to upgrade that 250W PSU. The 1950 Pro requires something like a minimum of 20 amps on the 12v rails which is pretty rare for a 250W if not non-existent. The amps matter more than the watts for many of the newer cards. Just something to watch out for. Good luck!
2007-08-23 08:07:15 · answer #3 · answered by Aerixx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've said it before and I will say it again and again. The best and relatively inexpensive card to get is the NVIDIA 7800 GS AGP. It is only $119 after a $30 Mail in Rebate and it is the fastest NVIDIA AGP card out there!
DO NOT GET THE 7600 GT! IT IS ONLY 128 BIT BUS SPEED! The 7800 gs is 256 bit which essentially doubles the processing power! You can compare them on this website: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=4 Look at the Last column which is the end number when comparing Video cards 7600 gt = 22.4 gb/sec compared to 40gb/sec for the 7800 gs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130274
2007-08-23 07:21:44 · answer #4 · answered by jsygrovehpi 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
an NVIDIA GeForce 6200 is a good card and its pretty cheap at like $50 i have an NVIDIA GeForce GO 6150 and im satisfid with it plays every game i have except the demo of DiRT :( but plays games that require shaders like shader 3.0 the best in DirectX 9 any how so i will be able to play almost any game u have at fairly high graphics :) and make sure you get the AGP version of the card if u get it
2007-08-23 07:07:50 · answer #5 · answered by dust180 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dont do it! hear me out a good video card like a 7800gs agp cost about 120$ well a Computer on ebay or Bestbuy cost like 300$and with christmas around the corner thats another 300$ for you then buy a pc with Pci express 16X simple as that!........
2007-08-23 08:10:50 · answer #6 · answered by Mi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay.
A 512mb Graphics Card would allow you to play for quite some time, without it getting out of date. A 256mb Graphics Card is cheaper and is still pretty powerful.
512mb Graphics Card - X1950 PRO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 - $179.99
256mb Graphics Card - GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 - $144.99
2007-08-23 07:14:20 · answer #7 · answered by Thomas H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cheap option= 9600 Pro (18 watts) or 7300GS AGP (<20W)
Better= 7300GT AGP (<30W) or 7600GS AGP (30W).
You need to upgrade power supply for the better options.
2007-08-23 14:57:08 · answer #8 · answered by Karz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You won't find anything great that consumes less than 250W... You can change your power supply, i bought my 600W for 53 bucks.
2007-08-23 07:10:52 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-05-10 10:10:58 · answer #10 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋