Best AGP Card under $120?

[rihallix]

What's the best AGP card under $120? Definitely want pixel shading. (Don't have PCI Express).

If I spend $180 instead of $60 is the difference significant (otherwise I'd rather spend the $60 on a game or two).

I tend to play Battlefield 2 and Age of Empires 3. This is to go on a Pentium 4 3.06Ghz and replaces my Radeon 9700 which doesn't do pixel shading. (presume you can't you get pixel shading running on a Radeon 9700?)

Thanks, know there's got to be some experts on this board who can stop me wasting money on the wrong AGP card and tell me if the difference between $120 and $180 is worth it.

Rihallix

 

[Zaphod]

A Radeon 9700 does pixel shading just fine. Do you refer to PS version 3.0, which are needed for the best graphics settings in newer games (for example AOE III that you mention)?

A Radeon X1600 Pro would be a decent (but not mind-blowing) upgrade from a 9700. They can be had for ~$110 shipped. A second hand 6800GT may also be achievable in that price range. 7600GS AGP is rumoured to hit store shelves in July and might also come in at (not much more than) $120 for the cheapest options.

 

[rihallix]

You're correct. Pixel shader 3 is what I'm after. Does it make much difference to Battlefield 2?

 

[Blazkowicz]

there's 6600GT in your price range, would not be a bad buy.

 

[ANova]

Does it make much difference to Battlefield 2?

No.

 

[Anon Lamer]

You need massive texture ability for the battlefield series of games. That means high memory bandwidth and lots of TMUs. The reason is that the buildings in BF 1942/2 are massively multitextured (7-8 layers with 1 shader). I dont think an X1600 pro will be an upgrade because its too poor at texturing and bandwidth for BF series.

 

[rihallix]

Thanks to the excellent advice here I'm becoming less convinced I need to upgrade from my Radeon 9700 Pro at all. I was motivated because the grass from Age of Empires III looks so bad without pixel shader 3 , but I play AOE III less and less (playability is lacking) and perhaps the issue is limited to a handful of games using PS3 with no decent fallback for those without it.

Sounds like this drawback doesn't translate to other games. Does anyone know if Titans Quest makes significant use of PS3, the demo looks great on the Radeon 9700 Pro I already have.

Maybe I should save my money/spend it on games.

 

[ANova]

Maybe I should save my money/spend it on games.

That would be my recommendation.

 

[Davros]

possibly a standard 6800