I recently wanted to upgrade an old PC of mine for my gaming uses. I wanted to get new components and I started with the video card. After doing my research I learned that this PC was a little outdated and required a special type of card. This particular computer required an AGP video card. AGP is also known as: accelerated graphics port. This type of card is rated above the standard PCI card. The AGP slot is considered the second in line of higher graphic performance.
It was designed especially for the throughput demands of 3-D graphics. It offers up to 8x improvement over a PCI card, is 32 bits wide and runs at 66 MHz. It provides a direct connection between the card and memory, and only one AGP slot is on the motherboard. The motherboard must be equipped with an AGP bus slot for an AGP card to be compatible. (AGP 1x provided a data transfer rate of 264 Mbytes/sec. AGP 2x is 528 Mbytes/sec. AGP 4x is 1 Gbyte/sec. AGP 8x is 2 Gbytes/sec.)
Next I went online to find deals on AGP cards, and for my money the best card I could find was the XFX Radeon HD 4650 Video Card. This card boasts superior graphics output, and support for HD video and Blu-Ray disc playback. This card features a greatly improved resolution to the computer’s built in graphics processor. This card also features a built in cooling fan and heatsink. Before you decide if this card is right for you, lets go over the specifications, and a full list of features:
Specifications:
Chipset: ATI Radeon
GPU Series: ATI Radeon HD 4000
Lifestyle: Performance
GPU/VPU: RADEON HD 4650
Additional Features: HDCP Enabled
Game Physics Capable
ATI Avivo HD Technology
Video Memory: 1GB
Memory Type: DDR2
Memory Interface: 128-bit
Stream Processors: 320
Core Clock: 600 MHz
Memory Clock: 800 MHz
Interface Type: AGP
Interface Speed: 8x
Connector(s): Dual DVI
HDTV/S-Video
Multiple Monitors Support: Yes
Max. Monitors Supported: 2
Overclocked: No
APIs: DirectX 10.1
Shader Model 4.1
1080p Support: No
Video Output: DVI
S-Video
Low Profile: No
Cooling Type: Fan
Specification Notes:
[3] To provide the most accurate specifications, the specifications listed are based upon the manufacturer’s exact model specification as published on the manufacturer’s website.
Features:
Superscalar unified shader architecture
320 stream processing units
128-bit memory interface
DirectX® 10.1 / Shader Model 4.1 support
Use up to four GPUs with an AMD 790FX based motherboard
High-speed 128-bit HDR (High Dynamic Range) rendering
Up to 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing
55nm process technology
ATI Avivo™ HD video and display technology
Unified Video Decoder (UVD) for Blu-ray™ and HD DVD
ATI PowerPlay™ energy conserving technology
Dynamic geometry acceleration
Game physics processing capability
Professional customer service and technical support
Recommendation:
For anyone looking to upgrade an older PC for gaming, video playback, or photo editing, this card is a sure winner. These AGP cards are easy to install, in fact I installed the one I bought myself, at home. After installing the card into the PC, run the included disc to install the drivers and you’re done. This card is relatively inexpensive compared to upgrading to a new computer. In most places this card will cost less 100 dollars, and comes with everything you need to plug and play right out of the box. With a little love, and this card, it will breathe life back into your old worthless PC. I would recommend this card to anyone on a short budget, and a dead PC.:
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