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[mrfindlay]

I noticed from other threads that quite a few people here seem to know about PC's, so I hope you can use your knowledge help me.
I used to be into play PC game up until about 2000 and more or less went console exclusive. I'm trying to get back into PC gaming but half the demos I've download either need me to turn off most of the graphics options to get it to run or they won't load because they need some shader thing. Since I need a new graphics card I've been looking at the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, since it's not too expensive.

I was just curious about a few things: -
1. Is this card good or are the newer, more expensive cards worth it?
2. This is my main question. Do I need to upgrade everything to get a new graphics card to work? I'm not sure if my motherboard would work with these graphic cards and if I did get a new motherboard would I have to get a new processor (currently an AMD Athlon XP 2000+) and RAM.

In the past I would have just checked the Internet for the answers but now-a-days every website seems to be trying to sell you something, so forums like this seem to be the only place to get a straight answer.

 

[Neo_ZX]

If you have an XP 2000+ then your board should be able to handle the modern video cards. It'd be best to list the make and model to be 100% sure.

You won't have to upgrade anything really but certain games may not run as well if you don't have enough CPU power or RAM. A mid range CPU would probably be 2.8GHz P4 or 3200+ XP with 512-1024MB RAM.

9800pro should be good enough for the next year at least. It won't run a game like Doom 3 gloriously, but then again no hardware can run it in super high quality with all options (so they say).

 

[Sander]

The 9800pro is great value. The newer cards are obviously a lot faster, but much more expensive as well. Something like a Nvidia 6800GT is a great buy as well, especially when you overclock it. It's all about how much you want to spend on a videocard.

If you do buy one of the newer cards however, you really have to upgrade the rest of your system as well. If not a lot of their power will go to waste. So, with your current system a 9800pro is probably the best.

This article is great to show what I mean: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/x800_pro_athlon_xp/page14.asp >> an Athlon 2100+ with either an X800pro or 9800XT will have the exact same performance (unlees you run on high resolutions and with AF/AA), even though the X800 is a lot more powerful!

Hope this helps.

 

[teh_pwn]

You'll need AGPX4 interface to get a 9800 Pro to work.

AGPX8 also works, obviously, but it's not that important to have it. The difference in performance with a 9800 Pro is neglible.

The new cards will need AGPX8.

I don't think the new cards are worth the money right now. They're about 1.5-2 times faster than the 9800 Pro, but cose 3 times as much.


As for the rest of your hardware, it depends. Games with intesive AI and other things that'll load your CPU will lag regardless of how fast your video card is.

 

[Slo]

Excellent article Sander, I've been wondering exactly how much my 9800 Pro would benefit from upgrading my 2100+ CPU.

 

[mrfindlay]

Thanks for your help. I think I'll just get the 9800 Pro and see how it works from there.