[Leaplist] AGP Video Cards ... per meeting discussions ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

Several people were hitting me up regarding video cards at the meeting.
I'll post this to LEAPLIST as well as PC_Support for now.

- Voltage issues with AGP

First off, understand there are always voltage concerns with newer video
cards on older mainboards:  
  http://www.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/2006-July/002277.html  

As far as video cards, I don't recommend the FX series because of
performance.  I recommend the 6[000] series or higher, or an old
GeForce4 Ti series if you have something older:  
  http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2006/02/geforce-6-and-7-series-variants-nuts.html  

The 6+ series (or even FX, which just stinks for the price) can be a
pain on AGP because of the voltage issues.  The GeForce4 Ti
4200/4400/4600 won't be (not sure about the 4800 or 4200-8x, depends).

As always, try to find a product where the vendor says its 1.5V
compatible.  But even then, you want to have at least an AGP 2.0 (4x)
mainboard.

- Dual-DVI options

In a nVidia product, you typically have to go with a 6600/7600 or higher
to get dual-DVI output.  All chipset integrated GPU 6100/6150 are pretty
much 1 DVI and 1 VGA at most.

Now for Intel 900 series, there are some vendors who have dual-DVI
break-out risers that go into the PCIe x16 slot.  I.e., if you buy a
LGA-775 mainboard with a newer Intel 900 series chipset and integrated
graphics, there are $25 dual-DVI break-out PCIe risers that work with
it.

I don't know if the risers work with ATI, nVidia or other solutions.
Electrically, they should.  But software-wise, that's always an issue --
especially for Linux (i.e., they might not work with Intel under Linux
either).

- Card options ...

For those that just want a GeForce4 Ti generation AGP, here's an OEM
pull for $29:  
  http://logicalplus.stores.yahoo.net/bfgasgeti648.html  

I know TigerDirect occasionally gets stock as well.

If you hit up NewEgg, they will let you put in details like "AGP" and "2
DVI" and get you exact matches.  Everything from older Radeon 9600 to
the newer Radeon X1600 Pro (which is really not any more than the 9600,
but a heck of a lot faster) to the GeForce 6800XT (which is basically a
crippled 6800GT/Ultra that has several pipes that didn't pass QA so they
were disabled).

Sometimes for AGP, the local superstore can be the best buy after
rebate.

For PCIe, your options are much better.  The entry-level for dual-DVI on
PCIe is the ATI X300 which is around the equivalent to the nVidia
GeForce 6200/7300.  Unfortunately, for nVidia, you have to go with a
6600/7600 series to get dual-DVI (they don't offer it on the 6200/7300),
although it's not that much more (sometimes $90 after rebate) for a
GeForce 7600GS PCIe these days (and it kicks the X300 and 7300's butt,
handily, by several times over).



-- 
Bryan J. Smith         Professional, Technical Annoyance
mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org   http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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        Fission Power:  An Inconvenient Solution