New Video card

[Metspitzer]

I have a mobo similar to this one.
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/supermicro-super-p4sct-ii/4505-3049_7-30870632.html
I still have the box the mobo came in and I googled the number on the
box. My mobo looks almost exactly the same only I don't have a green
colored expansion slot. It has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCIx slots and an AGP
slot.

I had a Nvidia 6800 AGP video card in it. I guess the card died. I
was watching a movie and the HDTV screen and the desk monitor both
displayed a green fuzz screen. Also, an alarm sounded. It was a
steady squeal.

I shut the computer down. I tried turning it on again and got the
alarm again. So I shut it off and pulled the card out.

Should I get another AGP card or a PCIx. Would either one carry over
to a new mobo upgrade in the future?

 

[Mike Easter]

I have a mobo similar to this one.
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/supermicro-super-p4sct-ii/4505-3049_7-30870632.html
I still have the box the mobo came in and I googled the number on the
box. My mobo looks almost exactly the same only I don't have a green
colored expansion slot. It has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCIx slots and an AGP
slot.

I had a Nvidia 6800 AGP video card in it. I guess the card died. I
was watching a movie and the HDTV screen and the desk monitor both
displayed a green fuzz screen. Also, an alarm sounded. It was a
steady squeal.

I shut the computer down. I tried turning it on again and got the
alarm again. So I shut it off and pulled the card out.

Should I get another AGP card or a PCIx. Would either one carry over
to a new mobo upgrade in the future?

Your report doesn't say whether or not you reconfigured to use the
onboard VGA to see if your mobo is OK. That is, you report lost video
and alarm and you report removing the AGP video card, but you don't
report reconfiguring the jumper to use the onboard VGA and demonstrating
that your system is operational without the AGP card video.

 

[Metspitzer]

Your report doesn't say whether or not you reconfigured to use the
onboard VGA to see if your mobo is OK. That is, you report lost video
and alarm and you report removing the AGP video card, but you don't
report reconfiguring the jumper to use the onboard VGA and demonstrating
that your system is operational without the AGP card video.

Yeah it works. I can be very vague sometimes. I am using the onboard
video, but I want to hook an HDMI cable to the TV so I have to get
another card for this.

 

[Paul]

Yeah it works. I can be very vague sometimes. I am using the onboard
video, but I want to hook an HDMI cable to the TV so I have to get
another card for this.

I'd use an AGP card. PCI-X video cards are expensive, and Matrox
may be the only company making them. I'm much sooner have an AGP
one, because AGP 8X has 2100MB/sec bandwidth for texture transfer.
ATI is the only company actively making AGP bridged designs (and may be
getting near to stopping that).

Before buying an AGP card, read the reviews and make
sure that working drivers are available for it. Some
AGP cards now, have only one working set of drivers.
The driver situation is what makes purchasing one a
dicey proposition.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814125281

"Cons: hdmi audio driver took me a while to find but still had it
up and running in about an hour."

The latest ATI cards can do audio over HDMI, without an SPDIF cable.
It's just a matter of figuring out what driver to use. At least
one card, didn't seem to be listed in the driver package I downloaded,
so, yes, there is still room for nasty surprises.

Paul

 

[Benedict]

I'd use an AGP card. PCI-X video cards are expensive, and Matrox
may be the only company making them. I'm much sooner have an AGP
one, because AGP 8X has 2100MB/sec bandwidth for texture transfer.
ATI is the only company actively making AGP bridged designs (and may be
getting near to stopping that).

Before buying an AGP card, read the reviews and make
sure that working drivers are available for it. Some
AGP cards now, have only one working set of drivers.
The driver situation is what makes purchasing one a
dicey proposition.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814125281

"Cons: hdmi audio driver took me a while to find but still had it
up and running in about an hour."

The latest ATI cards can do audio over HDMI, without an SPDIF cable.
It's just a matter of figuring out what driver to use. At least
one card, didn't seem to be listed in the driver package I downloaded,
so, yes, there is still room for nasty surprises.

Paul

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174678

 

[Mike Easter]

Should I get another AGP card or a PCIx. Would either one carry over
to a new mobo upgrade in the future?

Most new mobo/s are not going to come with an AGP slot, much less a
pci-x which is even older. That is, whatever kind of agp video card you
decide to spend some money on probably isn't going to be coming with you
to your next mobo, unless you do some kind of funky pci-e to agp trick.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agp As of 2009[update], few new
motherboards feature AGP slots. No new motherboard chipsets are equipped
with AGP support, but motherboards continue to be produced with older
chipsets that have AGP support. PCI Express allows for higher data
transfer rates, has more robust full-duplex support, and also supports
other devices.

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Metspitzer:

I have a mobo similar to this one.
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/supermicro-super-p4sct-ii/4505-3049_7-30870632.html
I still have the box the mobo came in and I googled the number on the
box. My mobo looks almost exactly the same only I don't have a green
colored expansion slot. It has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCIx slots and an AGP
slot.

So no PCIe (PCI Express)

btw: it's "PCI-X", not "PCIx"

Should I get another AGP card or a PCIx. Would either one carry over
to a new mobo upgrade in the future?

There are no PCI-X graphics cards, so the answer is quite simple: AGP.
However, since AGP is dead for almost half a decade now nothing you buy
for this old board will carry over to a new mainboard.

Benjamin

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Metspitzer:

I have a mobo similar to this one.
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/supermicro-super-p4sct-ii/4505-3049_7-30870632.html
I still have the box the mobo came in and I googled the number on the
box. My mobo looks almost exactly the same only I don't have a green
colored expansion slot. It has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCIx slots and an AGP
slot.

So no PCIe (PCI Express)

Btw: it's "PCI-X", not "PCIx"

Should I get another AGP card or a PCIx. Would either one carry over
to a new mobo upgrade in the future?

There are no PCI-X graphics cards except for some really ancient, slow
and expensive Matrox thingie which performs worse than your old Geforce
6600), so the answer is quite simple: AGP. However, since AGP is dead
for almost half a decade now nothing you buy for this old board will
carry over to a new mainboard.

I would not sink much money into this. Get a cheap second hand card
(i.e. a Geforce 7 or Radeon X1900 for a few quids).

Benjamin

 

[Metspitzer]

I'd use an AGP card. PCI-X video cards are expensive, and Matrox
may be the only company making them. I'm much sooner have an AGP
one, because AGP 8X has 2100MB/sec bandwidth for texture transfer.
ATI is the only company actively making AGP bridged designs (and may be
getting near to stopping that).

Before buying an AGP card, read the reviews and make
sure that working drivers are available for it. Some
AGP cards now, have only one working set of drivers.
The driver situation is what makes purchasing one a
dicey proposition.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814125281

"Cons: hdmi audio driver took me a while to find but still had it
up and running in about an hour."

The latest ATI cards can do audio over HDMI, without an SPDIF cable.
It's just a matter of figuring out what driver to use. At least
one card, didn't seem to be listed in the driver package I downloaded,
so, yes, there is still room for nasty surprises.

Paul

Thanks Paul

AGP it is then.

 

[Metspitzer]

* Metspitzer:

So no PCIe (PCI Express)

Btw: it's "PCI-X", not "PCIx"


There are no PCI-X graphics cards except for some really ancient, slow
and expensive Matrox thingie which performs worse than your old Geforce
6600), so the answer is quite simple: AGP. However, since AGP is dead
for almost half a decade now nothing you buy for this old board will
carry over to a new mainboard.

I would not sink much money into this. Get a cheap second hand card
(i.e. a Geforce 7 or Radeon X1900 for a few quids).

Benjamin

Well, that was going to be my next question. After you guys cut my
choices in half, I still have too many to pick from.

I don't really keep up with computer technology, but when I upgrade, I
do try to buy near the top. The card that was in it was a 6800GT so
the Geforce 7 seems right.

Thanks

 

[Metspitzer]

I have a mobo similar to this one.
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/supermicro-super-p4sct-ii/4505-3049_7-30870632.html
I still have the box the mobo came in and I googled the number on the
box. My mobo looks almost exactly the same only I don't have a green
colored expansion slot. It has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCIx slots and an AGP
slot.

I had a Nvidia 6800 AGP video card in it. I guess the card died. I
was watching a movie and the HDTV screen and the desk monitor both
displayed a green fuzz screen. Also, an alarm sounded. It was a
steady squeal.

I shut the computer down. I tried turning it on again and got the
alarm again. So I shut it off and pulled the card out.

Should I get another AGP card or a PCIx. Would either one carry over
to a new mobo upgrade in the future?

Ok. Here is my pick.
http://www.amazon.com/Axle3D-Nvidia...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265419240&sr=1-19

My specs are
3.2 GHz
1 Gig ram
800 MHz FSB
Dual-DDR 400

My old card was a FXF GeForce GF 6800GT 256MB DDDR3 Dual DVI TV.

Is the new card better? I paid at least 300 for the old card. The
new card is 120.

 

[Paul]

Ok.

Axle3D Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT 512MB DDR3 256-Bit DVI + VGA + HDTV / S-Video AGP 8x Video Card
http://www.amazon.com/Axle3D-Nvidia...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265419240&sr=1-19

My specs are
3.2 GHz
1 Gig ram
800 MHz FSB
Dual-DDR 400

My old card was a FXF GeForce GF 6800GT 256MB DDDR3 Dual DVI TV.

Is the new card better? I paid at least 300 for the old card. The
new card is 120.

If you pick the right year of the Tomshardware charts, you may be
able to compare them that way.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Call-of-Duty-4-v1.6,741.html

6800 GT 14.6
7950 GT 33.1

I've never heard of "Axle3D" before. Do you get a warranty ?

Paul

 

[Metspitzer]

If you pick the right year of the Tomshardware charts, you may be
able to compare them that way.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Call-of-Duty-4-v1.6,741.html

6800 GT 14.6
7950 GT 33.1

I've never heard of "Axle3D" before. Do you get a warranty ?

Paul

Sadly it was out of stock.

I am having a time finding one except ebay. I want a replacement bad
enough I might join. Never done ebay before. I guess if I want to
keep these older machines running, I should.

I have my eye on this one.
http://compare.ebay.com/like/370296474612?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes

 

[Metspitzer]

If you pick the right year of the Tomshardware charts, you may be
able to compare them that way.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Call-of-Duty-4-v1.6,741.html

6800 GT 14.6
7950 GT 33.1

I've never heard of "Axle3D" before. Do you get a warranty ?

Paul

I just called Microcenter. They have a bfg 7600GS 512 for 80 bucks.
It is over an hours drive to get there, but they have some pretty good
places to eat around, so I will probably get this one.

It has a years warranty.

I really value your advice.

Thanks

 

[John Doe]

7950 GT

I have that (512 MB), apparently still going strong.

 

[Paul]

I just called Microcenter. They have a bfg 7600GS 512 for 80 bucks.
It is over an hours drive to get there, but they have some pretty good
places to eat around, so I will probably get this one.

It has a years warranty.

I really value your advice.

Thanks

7600 GS is in that chart as well. On the benchmark I happened to select,
it rates 13.9, so it is a bit weaker than your 6800 GT.

If you have a sense of humor, check this out. Newegg still carries a 6800 GT
I'm beginning to wonder if that is a real item or not... It's a good
price.

BFG Tech BFGR68256GTOC GeForce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143019

It that item really isn't for sale any more, the 7600 GS is better than nothing.

It doesn't sound like you're a fan of ATI, but if you were, there are
ATI AGP cards still for sale. I listed them by rating, and this set
of comments is for an HD 3850. This isn't the newest ATI card you can
buy, but perhaps the driver situation will be a bit better with this
one. At least you can find enough comments here, to see what kind
of problems people have had with it. On the Tomshardware benchmark,
this one got about 83. So as long as your processor is not a limitation,
this would be faster than your old 6800 GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730

Paul

 

[Metspitzer]

7600 GS is in that chart as well. On the benchmark I happened to select,
it rates 13.9, so it is a bit weaker than your 6800 GT.

If you have a sense of humor, check this out. Newegg still carries a 6800 GT
I'm beginning to wonder if that is a real item or not... It's a good
price.

BFG Tech BFGR68256GTOC GeForce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143019

It that item really isn't for sale any more, the 7600 GS is better than nothing.

It doesn't sound like you're a fan of ATI, but if you were, there are
ATI AGP cards still for sale. I listed them by rating, and this set
of comments is for an HD 3850. This isn't the newest ATI card you can
buy, but perhaps the driver situation will be a bit better with this
one. At least you can find enough comments here, to see what kind
of problems people have had with it. On the Tomshardware benchmark,
this one got about 83. So as long as your processor is not a limitation,
this would be faster than your old 6800 GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730

Paul

That was what I was waiting to do. Make you put your finger on one.


I see all those numbers so close together, and it makes me want to
pass out.

Thanks

 

[Metspitzer]

7600 GS is in that chart as well. On the benchmark I happened to select,
it rates 13.9, so it is a bit weaker than your 6800 GT.

If you have a sense of humor, check this out. Newegg still carries a 6800 GT
I'm beginning to wonder if that is a real item or not... It's a good
price.

BFG Tech BFGR68256GTOC GeForce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143019

It that item really isn't for sale any more, the 7600 GS is better than nothing.

It doesn't sound like you're a fan of ATI, but if you were, there are
ATI AGP cards still for sale. I listed them by rating, and this set
of comments is for an HD 3850. This isn't the newest ATI card you can
buy, but perhaps the driver situation will be a bit better with this
one. At least you can find enough comments here, to see what kind
of problems people have had with it. On the Tomshardware benchmark,
this one got about 83. So as long as your processor is not a limitation,
this would be faster than your old 6800 GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730

Paul

BTW I have nothing against ATI, but I am clueless on how to compare a
3850 to a 6800.