PC upgrade question re: video card

[fewtch]

I plan on a motherboard/CPU/RAM in a couple months, and have an ATI Radeon 7500 video card I don't want to replace (at least not right away) -- I'm not a gamer, and it seems plenty fast for what I do with my PC.

The specs for this card state AGP 2x/4x... will this be backward compatible with any AGP 8x motherboard, or should I check voltages and etc.?

 

[uzziah]

i think any mobo you get will be 8x or 4x. anyone think this is incorrect?

ps: if you need help with deciding what you want, ask away. what exactly DO you need more speed for? what are you upgrading FROM?

 

[Clown12]

Can't say if it will be compatible, I would suspect you'll have no troubles. But I do know that AGP slots have gaps so you shouldn't be able to plug one in with the wrong voltage requirements (except for a few broken cards circa AGP 1x)

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah ps: if you need help with deciding what you want, ask away. what exactly DO you need more speed for? what are you upgrading FROM?

Naah thanks, that part I don't need help with. But anyway, I'm upgrading from an Athlon Thunderbird 1.2GHz and plan on an Athlon 64 of one sort or another. If the Socket 939 boards lack too much in backwards compatibility, I'll get an A64 with one of the older cores (I'm not too big on buying on the cutting edge anyway).

 

[ajt976]

I'm pretty sure the AGP card will be backwards compatible, at least I've done on my rig with no problems. And even so, it's not like you couldn't get a new 8x AGP card for <$50 easily. If it doesn't work just go to newegg.com and pick up a Radeon 9200 or a MX440 for like $35 shipped. If you're not a gamer it really won't matter much.

And as far as upgrades go, are you waiting a couple months to upgrade to wait for the new multi-core procs from AMD? That's what I would do if I wanted A64, prices will probably drop some upon their release.

Good luck,
Andrew

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajt976 I'm pretty sure the AGP card will be backwards compatible, at least I've done on my rig with no problems. And even so, it's not like you couldn't get a new 8x AGP card for <$50 easily. If it doesn't work just go to newegg.com and pick up a Radeon 9200 or a MX440 for like $35 shipped. If you're not a gamer it really won't matter much. And as far as upgrades go, are you waiting a couple months to upgrade to wait for the new multi-core procs from AMD? That's what I would do if I wanted A64, prices will probably drop some upon their release. Good luck, Andrew

Thanks for the info. I'm more just waiting while I save up some funds, that's the primary reason

. I want to get everything at the same time, including a nice new case (probably one of the Antec solutions series... nice & QUIET this time).

 

[GokieKS]

It should work in any A64 mobo with an AGP slot - AGP8x slots are backwards compatible with AGP4x. For a S939 system, if top-flight performance isn't a concern, and you don't need overwhelming OC-ing capabilities, you'll probably be very well served by a VIA K8T890-based board. The nForce 4 is probably the best chipset for the A64, but it's PCI-Express... and the NF3 Ultra boards seem pretty fickle (and I can personally recommend against the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum in particular... I'm on my 3rd board).

If you're going S754, then the nForce 3 250Gb is the way to go, but your future upgrade possibilities are very limited.

~KS

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GokieKS If you're going S754, then the nForce 3 250Gb is the way to go, but your future upgrade possibilities are very limited. ~KS

That's cool... when I upgrade, it's almost always in "bunches" (i.e. new MB/CPU along with everything else) so that wouldn't be a problem. Don't think I've ever actually upgraded a CPU or (type of) RAM without upgrading the MB at the same time.

I'll probably go with a board that offers the features I need, rather than limiting myself to a specific chipset. I'm not an overclocker, gamer or any of that stuff -- in particular, I have zero use for integrated extras on the MB... the less, the better. I'm more looking for as many PCI slots as possible, and want to stick with AGP for now. Also, as much jumperless/ease-of-use and monitoring features as possible. Name brands with better quality electrolytic caps are also a big plus.

P.S. now you guys know why I didn't ask for general recommendations... I already have specific needs/goals in mind, and a certain way that I prefer doing things.

Anyway, thanks for the thumbs up on the vid card thing... if you can get Radeon 9200s for $35 or whatever, I won't even worry about it.

 

[Gonz]

I recently went with an AMD 64bit chip, socket 939 in an Nforce4 mobo.

the thing with the video card, is that PCI-Express is here, and AGP is on the way out, so i went with the PCI-E board to insure my next upgrade is compatible (i.e. not needing a new mobo just to upgrade vid)

fwiw, i found the Nvidia 6600GT to be the best bang for the buck.
Overall the system is quite solid. This has been the first rig without driver complications of any sort. Nvidia has come a long way since Nforce2, and i'm glad to be done with VIA.