I have done some research on graphics cards and have found these 2 which look like a good fit. Which do you think would be better? Radeon X1650 PRO AGP or GeForce 7800 GS?

And I'm pretty sure they are compatible with my computer but I want to make sure.

I have:

DELL Dimension 4600
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
2.25 GB RAM

Thanks!

7800 GS > X1650 PRO

The 7800 GS, X1650 XT, and 7600 GT are roughly equivalent.

There is also a 2600 XT available for AGP, $112 on Newegg the last time I checked, and a bit faster than the 7800 GS.

Well, I need an AGP card and that 7600 GT says it's an PCI Express. The 2600 XT says it's for laptops but I'm looking for one for a desktop.

So, out of the ones you suggested, and the ones I suggested, which one is the best that works with AGP?

the X1950 pro or even the XT are the best cards you can get. i'm personally planning on getting an XFX geforce 7600GT because it's cheaper.

the 7800gs is better, but you should look at getting a 1950pro instead.

For that kind of money you should get a hd2600xt-agp

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102711

The 2600xt is on par with the 7800gt both of which are far better than the cards you are looking at. The card I linked to is under $120usd.

Are all of these suggestions AGP? I'm loking at their webpages and some arn't AGP.

Also, the card needs to have a VGA output and compatible with a 480 Watt power supply. (I don't know how much my computer uses out of that so I don't know how much is left for the card.)

SAPPHIRE 100219L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

480 watts should be plenty. The hd 2600xt is new and die shrunk (65nm) so while it is as fast as the older 7800gt it uses less power. In fact my hd2600xt-PCIe does not even have an extra power connector, it gets all the power it needs from the mother board pcie slot. I'm not sure if the AGP version does this, checking......

OK the Sapphire 2600xt AGP does need extra power from a 6 pin connector but it includes an adapter to draw that power from the standard 4 pin PS connector. Anyhow this card is not a power hog and it is the best AGP card you can get for the money.

Don't take my word for it, Cleeve suggested it as well.....

7800GS is better

Better than what? Did you read anything except the original question?

BTW the hd 2600 xt comes with a DVI to VGA adapter so it looks like it can run dual VGA monitors, one directly and one using the adapter.

yes, they make AGP versions. Look at www.newegg.com they usually have them in stock.

SAPPHIRE 100219L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

That looks like it will work. I'm just concerned about the power. How much does it need? It says here 400W.

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon [...] specs.html

Also, does this need to be the same type of memory as the rest of my computer? I'm thinking not since it is on the card itself but I don't know.

It says: 128-bit DDR2/GDDR3/GDDR4 memory interface

My computer uses DDR I think.

OK the card itself does not need 400watts, I'll look up the power draw in a minute but you have 480 watts and ATI says you only need 400 so you are fine unless something else on your system is a power hog (I'm almost 100% sure you will be fine but I'll look in a minute anyways)

The memory is not an issue at all. Like you were thinking the video card has its own memory that is completely independent of system memory. It is very common for video card memory to be much better/faster then system memory.

Thanks. Now I'm shopping around to find the best price! Thanks for all your help!

Here it is:

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums [...] c=7&t=9354

The hd2600xt draws only 49 watts!!!

The big questions are:

Does your MB support AGP 4 or 8x? and is there room for the card?

I'm guessing you are going to be OK because the card is fairly small, (unlike say an 8800GTX), and your system seems new enough to have at least AGP 4x.

Heck I'm not doing anything important, I'll look that stuff up too.....

....OK I checked. The Dell 4600 seems to have 8x slot so you are good to go. Mini tower so plenty of room as well.