Best AGP graphics card?

[dario03]

Personally I would go with something like

Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops $73

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards $85

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4830 512MD3-H Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards $90-$15mir. I've never used a Powercolor but they seem alright and its cheap.

Newegg.com - OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory $52-$20mir.

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives $65.

That comes to a total of $365-$35mir. Then just reuse your current stuff. That leaves some room to work with. You could get a p45 board if you think you might want to Crossfire later (like a biostar tforce). If you want to overclock (I recommend it) grab a Sunbeam Core Contact.

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards $110

Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks $40-$10mir (note if you get this and the gigabyte mobo you'll want to attach the heatsink to the mounting bracket before attaching the bracket to the mobo because the motherboard heatsink gets in the way when trying to clamp the heatsink down)

I think this is a pretty good build but if you want some other thoughts you could probably get more suggestions if you make a new thread with a title like $400 core parts upgrade or something.

 

[zmatt]

That's a good list dario, except instead of going for ram quantity I would go for quality, get faster modules, that way he can still go 4 gig in the future, but he will already have fast memory.

Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1100 (PC2 8800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

 

[ThrowingChicken]

Hey, thanks for the help. I'm definitely going to look into this.

At the risk of sounding stupid, what is meant by "you could get a p45 board if you think you might want to Crossfire later (like a biostar tforce). If you want to overclock (I recommend it) grab a Sunbeam Core Contact."

I don't know what crossfiring is, or how to overclock.

 

[95BlackGA]

Hey, thanks for the help. I'm definitely going to look into this.

At the risk of sounding stupid, what is meant by "you could get a p45 board if you think you might want to Crossfire later (like a biostar tforce). If you want to overclock (I recommend it) grab a Sunbeam Core Contact."

I don't know what crossfiring is, or how to overclock.

Corssfire, is to use 2 or more ATI video cards that are 'crossfire compatible', which will result in faster game play.

Overclocking isn't the easiest thing, but after reading, it gets easier.

 

[zmatt]

Crossfire is ATI's multiple video card solution. Crossfire allows you to run 2 or more ATI video cards together to improve performance in video games. Not all cards support this, but all new cards from ATI do. Nvidia has a similar system known as SLI. SLI is better known, but more people by crossfire boards, and many don't even know it, this is mainly because almost all current intel chipsets support crossfire and ATI doesn't advertise as aggressively as Nvidia.