Resolved Selection of AGP card

I can't resolve the video issue I posted about earlier, so I'm going for an AGP card. I checked that the AGP "purple" socket is empty.

What blows my mind is the choices of AGP card out there. On Amazon.com, I can find refurbished cards as cheap as $8.95 and new ones anywhere from $15 to $800.

I still have some documentation about an ealier computer that had an AGP card with 64MB of memory. My display requirements now aren't much different that that previous box. I don't run streaming video or play complicated games. The most complex games we regularly play are Scrabble and the Newsday on-line crossword!

My current Integrated video is an nVidia GeForce4, but there's no mention in any of the documentation how mcuh memory it has dedicated to it.

For an AGP, I'm looking at either an ATI Radeon 9000, with 64MB of memory retailing at $16.00 or an nVidia 5600 with 256 MB for $26 and change. The nVidia says its "AGP x 8 ". Does that just mean it runs faster than the older AGP configurations?

I haven't checked yet on power requirements and PSU capacity, but I'd appreciate any expert comments on the two cards.

Frank Damp

 

Thanks for that edit on the socket, Pete. I agree that the nVidia is probably worth the extra money. Order goes in to Amazon tomorrow morning.

I'll post this thread as "resolved ". Many thanks.