7600 GS, 7600GT or 7950GT AGP

[PulsatingQuasar]

Hi,

I have an old system around I would like to utilize better. At the moment it has a Geforce 4200 with 128 MB of memory.

The system has an Asus A7N8X motherboard which supports AGP 8x, 2 GB DDR 400 Kingston HyperX memory and an FSB 400 AthlonXP 3200+ CPU.

Is there any point in getting an 7950 GT AGP card for this system. I have read about a lot of problems and I doubt the AthlonXP and indeed the whole system is able to push the card.

At the moment I'm thinking about a 7600GT with 512 MB of memory if I can find the card cheap enough otherwise I will choose a 256 MB one.

I would like to choose the GT version since I have an almost identical system with a 6800GT. The 7600GS would be slower then the 6800GT whilst the 7600GT should be faster.

[sushrukh]

Hello PulsatingQuasar welcome to our forums.Enjoy your stay here & do keep posting.I was using the Asus A7N8X Deluxe.It's the best board for the Athlon XP CPUs.Now, back on topic, i think, you have already made the right decision not to purchase the 7950GT AGP card.I'll say go for the 7600GT.If u don't play games more than 1280x1024 resolution,then go for the 7600GT 256MB version & if u play games @ 1600/1920 resolutions,then go for the 512MB version.I'll prefer the 256MB because it'll save you some money.

[Bio-Hazard]

The more power the better I say and you XT CPU should be able to push all but the top AGP cards.
My wife is using a 7800GS in her XP based system with great results playing Oblivion at 1280x1024 on her 19" lcd. Something along those lines would be a great pick for you for playing most of todays games a fairly good settings.

[PulsatingQuasar]

I was thinking of 1 more requirement that may tip towards a 512 MB card. I might run Linux with a 3D desktop on it. In that case my Cube desktop information will reside in the video memory and also the info for a game like Quake 4. This might get a little bit cramp.

I see that for some strange reason 7600GT with 512 MB are way more expensive then their 256 MB counterparts whilst this doesn't count for either the GS or 7950GT.

[PP Mguire]

Is there any point in getting an 7950 GT AGP card for this system. I have read about a lot of problems and I doubt the AthlonXP and indeed the whole system is able to push the card.Dont be foolish sir, your XP system should suffice for even the 7950GT and read the Bjorn3d review. If you are using Windows XP and have everything running right you wont have any problems.

I see that for some strange reason 7600GT with 512 MB are way more expensive then their 256 MB counterparts whilst this doesn't count for either the GS or 7950GT.Becasue midrange cards dont really use the extra ram and it kinda "bottlenecks" the card itself becasue of the slwoer DDR. Also, the 7950GT is already a 512m card so it wont be more exspensive. If that makes sense. You would be better off getting a 7800GS or 7950GT.
I would like to choose the GT version since I have an almost identical system with a 6800GT. The 7600GS would be slower then the 6800GT whilst the 7600GT should be faster.Where do you come off as a 6800GT being faster then a 7600GT? That dosent make any sense.

[westy87]

Where do you come off as a 6800GT being faster then a 7600GT? That dosent make any sense.

Well he said the 6800gt is faster than the 7600gs, not the gt, if that makes any difference

[Kougar]

One thing I wanted to clarify... due to the 7600GT having only a 128bit wide memory bus having a 512mb 7600GT is a bit of a waste as it can't help much with performance due to the 128bit memory bus bottlenecking the card. If you are interested in a 512mb AGP card then I would suggest the 79xx series, since your board supports AGP 8x you should be fine. :)

[PP Mguire]

Well he said the 6800gt is faster than the 7600gs, not the gt, if that makes any differenceThe 6800GT is a monster of a card yes, but i dont believe its faster than a 7600GS.

[PulsatingQuasar]

If you look at the VGA Charts tests at Toms Hardware and choose the lightest 6800GT and 7600GS than it is faster every time.

They also do a test there with a Barton 2500+ system with a 7600GT and an X1950. Depending on the game and the quality settings having an X1950 over a 7600GT is still worth it.

My AthlonXP is even faster then that so a 7950GT might still be worth it.

[PP Mguire]

We typicaly dont believe most of Toms stuff because they are heavily biased ect. And of course an X1950 would be faster. Its a monster of a card lol competing with even my 7950GT. I would suggest a 7950GT just because it is the latest on AGP and will go pretty far for DX9 games.

[jll544]

If you do go with a 7950GT, best of luck to you. Being an optimist myself, I bought one, even after reading the 20+ failed-card reviews on NewEgg. It was an awesome card for the five days it lasted, but after its first crash, it was never stable again. Not a temp issue either - I made sure to keep mine below 60c full load.

Heck, even Bjorn3D's first review card died after a day:
I had the same exact problem with the card I got for review. Mine lasted a day though. I RMA'd it and have a new one now. I will be trying it tonight. It would allow me into windows but I had boxes, letters, colored boxes everywhere on the screen.

There's definitely a bad run of boards out there, but who knows, you might just get lucky with a good one. FWIW, mine was manufactured 4/07.

[PP Mguire]

Heck, even Bjorn3D's first review card died after a dayLooked through the review, and its fine.

[jll544]

"forum" != "review"

I had the same exact problem with the card I got for review. Mine lasted a day though. I RMA'd it and have a new one now. I will be trying it tonight. It would allow me into windows but I had boxes, letters, colored boxes everywhere on the screen.I will post how it does tomorrow. Sorry about the problems, I know how you feel.

But I guess you can't blame them for leaving it out of the review. Got to keep your sponsors happy! :-D

[sushrukh]

I think 7950GT AGP has some manufacturing problems & there are really many cases where it dies.That's why i was saying to buy the 7600GT card.

[PP Mguire]

But I guess you can't blame them for leaving it out of the review. Got to keep your sponsors happy!Im talking about the one he got back and tested.
I think 7950GT AGP has some manufacturing problems & there are really many cases where it dies.That's why i was saying to buy the 7600GT card.Or instead go one step lower and get a 7800GS. Why does everybody forget about that card? Its 3x better than a 7600GT and almost as good as the 7950GT. In many cases it almost keeps up with my 7950GT PCI-E.

[sushrukh]

almost as good as the 7950GT
Is that so ? I'm just sayin' bcoz 7800GS has lesser Pixel & Vertex pipelines & only 375MHz core clock speed.Actually 7800GS & 7800GT aren't popular.

[westy87]

I know lots of people with 7800gt's, certainly more than who have 7900gt's and 7950gt's

[PP Mguire]

Is that so ? I'm just sayin' bcoz 7800GS has lesser Pixel & Vertex pipelines & only 375MHz core clock speed.Actually 7800GS & 7800GT aren't popular.Yea, but its still like 3x faster than a 7600GT so why recomend something slow? And my best friend has a BFG 7800GS and weve OCed it pretty high and it keeps up with my 7950GT in FPS.

[mrestine]

For what it's worth, I have an XFX 7950GT AGP on a system featuring a DFI LanParty UT nF3 250Gb and Mobile Athlon 3400+ (early Clawhammer) overclocked to 2.75ghz. I bought the card right after they first hit the market and it died in less than a month. It was never overclocked either. The replacement card from the vendor, ZipZoomFly, has been working fine for over a month now. Using the XFX 94.24 drivers with CoolBits registry hack. Card is overclocked to 600mhz core and 1400mhz memory. I got those numbers by letting the nVidia driver software determine the best overclocking configuration by pressing the "Find Optimal" button. It may be able to go higher, but I'm not going to push it any further. No problems so far and it was the version of the card with the 1200mhz memory stock. 3dMark06 overall score is 4524. Easily added another couple of good gaming years to an otherwise outdated configuration.

[PP Mguire]

How much ram do you have? You should be getting a better score than that.

[mrestine]

How much ram do you have? You should be getting a better score than that.

I have 2gb (2x1gb kit) OCZ Gold EL GXT PC4000 DDR. Timings are very loose due to the weak memory controller in the early model mobile Clawhammer CPU's. Base Memory/FSB ratio is 166/200 with 3-4-4-10 memory timings. Command Per Clock setting is 1T. I could probably tighten up the memory timings a little more, but I'm not sure it will really be worth the effort. I understand CPU mhz to be most important to performance with these kinds of older Athlon-64 based systems. My FSB is 225 in its current overclocked state. That is the most that I can seem to squeeze out of this particular motherboard/CPU combo. I'm sure the later model Venice core CPU's could go much higher.

I'm not all that disappointed with the 3dMark06 score. This is an extra system for guest use in my home. My primary box is a decently overclocked C2D system with Crossfire x1900's that scores over 10k in 3dMark06. I only ran the test once on this guest box mostly to ensure that there were no artifacts or video lockups/problems with the overclocked video card. I should have ran it 3 times consecutively and taken the best score. I might just do that and see what I get.

What score range do you think that I should be hitting?

Thanx,
Mike

[PP Mguire]

Where your timings are concernd you cant tighten them that much because your command per clock is 1T. Change that to 2 and you can prolly get 3-3-36 or 2-2-2-5. Im running 2x1gig G.Skill and 2x512mb Hynix PC3200 ram in dual channel with 2-2-2-5-2 timings. Your RAM is so much better, im sure thats it. Also, my best friend like mentioned before had a 3000+ Clawhammer and DFI 250gb setup as well and i had no problems running this G.Skill ram and his cpu OCed with tight timings. With his 7800GS he got about 5000 3dmarks. I would expect the same or more from your 7950GT. His CPU was at 2.51 BTW. I guess since its not your main setup it shouldnt matter that much then?

[westy87]

Just for comparisons sake, I get about 5200 with cpu + gpu at stock, and about 5650 with cpu at 3.33 and gpu OC'ed slightly. As I said, just in case you need something to compare with. Hardware in my sig

[PP Mguire]

Oh wow, i feel special lol. I got 5665 with my 3000+ at 2.56 and my 7950GT at stock.

[mrestine]

Duh. I just realized my typo from my first post. My system is running at 2.475ghz, NOT 2.75ghz. The 225mhz FSB should have been a clue. Think my score is still too low now? I could try to tighten up the memory timings as has already been suggested, but I suspect it might be a real challenge with that early model mobile Clawhammer memory controller. If I recall properly, the later Clawhammers were of a newer revision with a much improved memory controller and better overall overclockers. This model I have is one of the earliest made. Not sure it will be worth the hassle, but I might give it a try for curiosity sake. Thanx for all the imput from everybody just the same.

[westy87]

Ye I think theres sumdin a bit fishy with my results, but I havn't been able to find out what might be holding me back :(

[PP Mguire]

Hmm can you send me a PM with your results in a screeny? Maybe i can take a look at the scores and see whats holding you back.

[sushrukh]

I think 3 Gigs of ram is making the score diff for you PP.

[PP Mguire]

My 5665 was takin with only 2gig and my 3000+. The other gig was in my server at the time casue it was a LAN.