Anyone know of a good AGP video card?

I have an old Dell Optiplex GX270 machine with 4 megs of ram and currently running an ATI Radeon 9200 series video card with 128 of memory. The game runs fine on it, except for creating AE arcs, where the preview characters all are displayed Ant Man size.

The Dell will take a 2.0 or 3.0 AGP card. No PCI-express capabiity.

I was shown an ATI Radeon 9550 card, and found that drivers were all current. (My 9200 series last driver update was nov. 2006)

Any experience with that card? Any thoughts about others? ATI or GeForce? Given that my machine is AGP, I figure my options are as limited as my budget for this.

Any and all advice appreciated (except buy a new machine). : )

4 MB RAM!?!? How are you even running Windows?! I'm assuming you mean 4 GB?

I have a machine with an ATI 9550 AGP card...CoH runs pretty good, but I can't run it at full settings. Check out Newegg.com. AGP cards are still being made with current chipsets, so you should be able to get something better than a 9550...

EDIT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102851

I think that's the best AGP card that Newegg is currently selling. It's $85, but it might give your system the bump it needs

LOL. yes, 4 gigs of ram. Thanks for the link. : )

Before ya pick out any card, Please check out this article.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...4870,2428.html
hope it helps

Bought this card not too long ago and have been super-extremely impressed and happy with the CPR it's given my aging AGP system.

Not sure about hard numbers but going by reviews on the site linked above, this is probably your best buy in terms of price v. performance.

I run most newer games (including Crysis, Fallout3, CoH, etc) at max settings on my old AMD 3500+ single-core system w/ 2Gb ram.

Can even run GTA4 at 1680x1050 with minimal chop.

Note to the OP; Make sure you have a powerful enough power supply to run that card. On the Newegg page it states at least a 450watt.

Wife made that mistake before we got married.

I got my 6800 Ultra off eBay for $65, best you can get most of the time is a 7800 GS for around $80 or so. Steer clear of ATI cards, I won't go into why but many more features are available to nVidia users.

Switching out a power supply is not much different then switching a surge protector power strip from your home tv/stereo system... just more cube shaped and the plugs are smaller... Have faith in yourself! Here is a simple video...
http://www.wikihow.com/video/wht/697...supply-on-a-pc

We dropped the Nvidia 6200 in my wifes machine which has 2 gigs of ram and an old norwood processor 3.06ghz and COH runs great, everything on high with no lag what so ever

(note that this is on a fresh install of windows and nothing else installed but the game and the drivers needed)

She has a 350watt power supply, but it should work fine with a 250 I would double check though

Just out of curiosity, what form factor GX270 do you have? The Small Form Factor and Small Desktop versions only accept half-height (low-profile) cards; whereas the Small Mini-tower accepts full height cards.

Dell Optiplex GX270 Images

-Wolf sends

I have the Nvidia 7900GS and LOVE it. It runs CoH without a hitch with the settings all high...rarely get lags and DCs. Also run Oblivion at full bore with the highest settings. I have always steered clear of ATI cards. Had one in my old puter long ago, and gave my nothing but frustration. Here is a sample of the detail I get in the game..it looks beautiful.

Saw one foe sale on Ebay for a ridiculous price, but you can get one here for around $100
http://www.epartsandmore.com/product...ack=googlebase

The 7900GS was produced in both flavors (AGP and PCI-E). The one Healix linked (below the image) is AGP. Unfortunately, I doubt it would run on a 250watt power supply. One thing to remember about older Dell systems is that they used proprietary motherboards and power supplies, so you can't just go to the store and pick a better one.

PC Power and Cooling does make Dell replacement power supplies and this one would suit your needs.

Concerning what to replace your graphics card with, I'd recommend going through BillzBubba's ATI Guide, stickied at the top of this forum before making a decision to go with an ATI card. That said, if you do want to go with an ATI card, then my recommendation would be this HIS ATI Radeon HD4670p (a bit better than the HD 4650 linked above).

Unfortunately, on the NVidia side, they stopped manufacturing AGP cards with the 7 generation of cards. Your best bet on the NVidia side would be to go with the 7900GS.

-Wolf sends

Well I think Wolf_Shadow remembers the really old first generation Dell P4 systems which did use a custom pin out and PSU for the main power connector. Eventually Dell adopted Intel's BTX motherboard layout which does use the standard 20 pin ATX main power connector.

But there was a time where plugging a standard ATX PSU into an older Dell P4 meant you were going to need a new motherboard.

Hey FatherX. Does that mean PC Power & Cooling's "Dell Replacement" power supplies are nothing more than marketing gimicks? If so, I'm really disappointed.

-Wolf queries

Ancient Spirit, I should have mentioned what Wolf did..it is better to have a more powerful ps than 250-watt. I upped mine from the standard 350-watt to 550. All runs well. My dear old dad used to say, "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." Especially in the case of ps for your puter, this is true. If you google 7900GS AGP, you will find sites that sell them. I provided a link in my first post (righ under the pic) that was for one that ran aboout $100.