I don't really do much gaming, wouldn't mind leaving the door open for
some slightly moldy games as they pass through the bargain bin. With my
existing AGP 8x card, I can run Half-life 2 and Doom 3 at decent frame
rates and resolutions, so I'd be looking for at least that.
Neither of these games have a particular need for 8X AGP,
Half Life 2 even runs reasonably on an old o'c nForce2
integrated video system I have, at least up to 1024x768
res., as it can run in DX7 mode. Eyecandy and resolution
mean a lot when considering older cards, and that includes
whether you might upgrade the monitor to one having higher
native resolution in the future, through choice or monitor
failure.
It sounds as if I would be better off going for an AGP 8x card, as they
are pretty cheap, and with all else being equal, will outperform and
PCI-E card in my machine.
Thanks, Paul, for the input.
If you could get a deal on a used AGP card, maybe, but PCI
Express cards of equal performance cost less new and having
a PCI Express card it is viable for reuse in the future.
If your PCI Express slot is bandwidth limited, it would
still be offset by the potential advantage of a little
faster PCI Express card you might use.
I don't understand your question though, you're asking IF
you needed to replace it. Is there impending doom? Unless
it has a fan that fails and the card bakes itself to death,
the card might outlive the motherboard.
One last thought. Your current card plays aging titles like
HL2 and Doom3 ok, but that bargain bin will have games with
progressively more and more demand on the video card just as
each generation of games did before they aged. It means to
retain a similar usability in the future, the performance
would have to be higher.
We can't know if or how much you might watch HD video but
current generations of cards have more hardware decoding
which might come in handy, or certain models of cards might
have some features you might want like HDMI output or dual
DVI. I'm saying that only basing a card on performance at a
few years old games leaves a lot of latitude and there are
more details you might benefit from considering.
Given all the criteria I would think about a 8500GT, which
is sometimes discounted, with a rebate bringing it down to
around $30 to 40 after rebate. For example,
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=333037
but I don't know anything about how noisey the fan is and
believe there are some passively cooled (at higher price of
course unless you happened upon a rebate for one of those).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=8500GT&bop=And&Order=PRICE
On the other hand I feel a little higher performing card
would have better long term viability, but seldom are such
cards available for around $50. Rarely you may find deals
on a 8600GT for closer to $65-80 after a larger rebate. On
ATI's side, you might find a 2600Pro rebated down to about
$65-75 currently, or 2400Pro for a bit less but dropping too
low in price you aren't getting over that hump of covering
their basic manufacturing costs so there is much performance
to be gained in the $65 and up (after discounts) price range
over a sub-$50 card.
