[CKid]

Hi, I got a graphic card dilemma too. My current Graphic's card is: GeForce 6600 GT OC AGP 128mb
specs:
           Memory Interface: 128-bit
           Memory Bandwidth: 14.4 GB/sec
           Fill Rate (texels/sec.): 4.0 billion
           Vertices per Second: 375 million
           Memory Data Rate: 900 MHz
           Pixels per Clock (peak): 8
           RAMDACs: 400 MHz

This is the card I was thinking of getting: GeForce 7600 GS 512MB AGP
specs:
          400MHz Core Clock
          128-bit Memory Interface
          540MHz Memory Data Rate (effective)
          8.64 GB/Sec. Memory Bandwidth
          4.8 Billion Pixels/sec. Fill Rate
          500 Million Vertices/sec. Setup
          12 Pixels per clock (peak)
          Dual 400MHz RAMDACs

Now I see that some specs are greater on the 6600 than 7600. Would I be doing the right thing by getting the 7600 or am I better off sticking with my 6600. Another thing, when they say 512MB they are talking about the Graphics Core. Just like the 6600 graphics core is 128MB right?

[Bob-san]

They're talking about graphics memory. The 256MB version of the 7600GS and 128MB version of the 6600GT each card show approximately a 28% boost in FPS. A GeForce 7600GT (for $130) should be a better deal then the 7600GS 512 (for $150). Also, you can purchase a Radeon x1950GT (132% more FPS then your 6600GT) for as little as $140!

[CP5670]

Now I see that some specs are greater on the 6600 than 7600. Would I be doing the right thing by getting the 7600 or am I better off sticking with my 6600. Another thing, when they say 512MB they are talking about the Graphics Core. Just like the 6600 graphics core is 128MB right?

The 7600GS is not a worthwhile upgrade over your existing card. The 7600GT is the minimum you should consider. The amount of memory doesn't really matter on the low end cards, as they all have at least as much as they can effectively make use of. You can pretty much ignore the memory size specification until you get up to the 8800GTS level.

They're talking about graphics memory. The 256MB version of the 7600GS and 128MB version of the 6600GT each card show approximately a 28% boost in FPS. A GeForce 7600GT (for $130) should be a better deal then the 7600GS 512 (for $150). Also, you can purchase a Radeon x1950GT (132% more FPS then your 6600GT) for as little as $140!

Those prices seem quite high. A quick check on Newegg shows that you can get a 7600GT for $75 AR, X1950GT for $115, X1950XT for $167 (I especially like this one for overall price/performance ratio) and 8800GTS 320MB for $250 AR.

[CKid]

Well I am not purchasing a new card from online and I am looking for something $200 or less. Another card I have been looking at is a Radeon X1650Pro 512MB (AGP). Link: http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=162&grp=3
How would this one compare to my 6600 GT?

[castor]

Its about the same as a 7600GS (==not worth the upgrade from a 6600).

[Bob-san]

On the 7600GT--I was looking at the closest card to the 7600GS 512, not from the top (cheapest). Anyways--the x1950GT would be your absolute best upgrade for the money.

[Thor]

as the owner of a now firmly out of date ATI 9600XT (Bioshock just pushed it below minimum specs...) and looking at the options out there, its just not worth upgrading an AGP card.  you're better off saving your money, and getting a mostly new rig that supports PCI-E.  cause any rig thats AGP based is at a minimum a year old, spending $200 on an AGP card is just throwing good money away.

[Davros]

I dissagree if you are going to keep your agp board for a while.
an x1950 would be about 4 times as powerfull as a 9600

[Bob-san]

I'm actually gonna recommend something a little different: save your time on AGP and get a hybrid motherboard. Make sure it supports the same type of RAM and processor, and you should be able to get one with PCI Express instead. Most of the boards for the retired sockets (Intel 478, Intel 775 with DDR, AMD 754, AMD 939) will come for under $60. Also, you can pick up almost any PCI Express card for ~20% less then AGP.