AGP options

[randmo]

Just bought 2 new sticks of ram and my graphics card fan is going out (won't run on low - very loud on high). I need to decide whether to buy a new fan like the Zalman VF700 (about $22 + shipping on NewEgg) or upgrade the system with a better AGP card. I will keep this system for a while. My specs:

Athlon 64 winchester 3200
Abit AV8-3rd eye BIOS ver 28
G-Skill DDR400 SDRAM 2gb
WD2500JS SATA drive (system drive)
WD1600JB EIDE for back-up
HIS Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb-256bit DDR
LITE-ON DVD Burner SOHW-1693S
StarLogic 600W PSU
XP Pro SP3

Looking at Radeon cards and it seems that a lot of them (under $100) have a 128 bit memory interface while the 9800 pro that I have is 256 bit. For a price range - the SAPPHIRE 100228L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 looks like the most I would spend ($129).

Any recommendations or thoughts appreciated.

[Midknyte]

The 3850 is the fastest AGP card out there. Your CPU would probably bottleneck it, so an overclock may be in order.

[randmo]

Thanks for the response - When you say bottleneck, would I have problems or would I just be wasting a lot of the video cards capabilities?
If I overclock, would I need to go to the max that it would run at and stay stable?

If I didn't overclock and just wanted to get a card that fits my system as is, what would be recommended? (even if that's just putting a new fan on the 9800 pro I have).

[Midknyte]

You'd just wouldn't get all you could out of the video card.

An ATI X1950 or Nvidia 7800GT would be be pretty decent also.

I'm not sure what the supply is like nowadays.

[Midknyte]

This should help:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2064-6.html

[randmo]

Midknyte, thanks for the Tom's hardware link - this link fron Tom's was also helpful -
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2064-7.html#

The writers rule of thumb that you should upgrade at least 3 levels up from what you have was good advice and my 9800 pro is listed.

It looks like the ATI X1950's are more expensive than the 3850 and can't find the 7800GT. I did find this for $79 - Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 (Sapphire or HIS). Considering my system limitations, would I see any difference between the 3650 for $79 and the 3850 for $129? (other than the $50)

[Midknyte]

You'd probably see a slight difference, but a 3650 is still a nice jump up from a 9800.

Since it's an older system, you could parlay that extra $50 towards your next machine.

[randmo]

3650 It is - Thanks again