upgrade agp card ? (radeon 9800pro)

[grasshopperbe]

can anyone give me some info on these video cards? i have been looking around for reviews
but i don't find much. I am curious if any of these cards will make a decent upgrade over
my current vidcard, or should i keep my money for when i get a new pc.
My current system :
Abit nf7-s
Athlon 2200+
Sapphire Radeon 9800 pro R350 128mb
1 gb ddr400 (only runs at 266 because of the cpu and mobo bios version)
maxtor 80gb 8 mb cache
enermax 350w cpu
chieftec dragon case
lite on 16 dvdrw
hercules smartv2 pci

These are the agp cards i can still get around here :
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1600Pro - AGP - 256mb - DVI - TV-Out :€117
MSI NX7600GS-TD256 - AGP - 256MB DDR3 - DVI - TV-Out :€152
MSI NX7800GS-TD256 - AGP - 256MB DDR3 - DVI - TV-Out € 292 (this is a lot more than i am willing to spend)
Msi Nvidia AGP Geforce 6600 GT VTD 128Mb DVI Vivo :€165
Msi Nvidia AGP Geforce 7600 GS 256mb DVI VIVO: €165


from what i've read in a review the first one is mid range, and gets pretty hot
(70°). They didn't seem to be to pleased with it. Can't find much on the other cards.

on a side note, while browsing i found maxtor now makes 250GB hd's with 16mb cache,
is this any real improvement over my current hd (see above) performance wise?

[Alaron]

The only card that would be somewhat of an improvement would be the 7800GS, the most powerful AGP card on the market. To be honest, I would save the money for a whole new build.

As for the hard drive, the extra cache won't be noticable over what you have now. But if you need more storage space, it would definitely be a good pick.

[grasshopperbe]

thank you for the very swift reply (within 3 minutes :) ).
I noticed the price for that 7800gs, that's quite a bit too much for me. I guess my 9800 will
have to do for a while longer (i hope it can still keep up somewhat with the upcoming games this fall and winter)

about the hd, i was doubting between that one and an external usb hd (slower, but being able to take it with me is a big plus) If it's not any improvement on the performance i think i'm going for a smaller external hd.

[(51)]

How about an X800XT? I just picked one up for $180.00 at Newegg (maybe you have a comparable dealer in Belgium). The last AIW AGP ATI will make: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102492

I'm still on AGP for a couple more years.

[grasshopperbe]

thanks for the info, i've searched all the online shops that i trust around here, but they also only have the cards mentioned in my previous post(and hardly anything in stock anymore). everything seems to be pcie now. and since i don't own a credit card i can only take the shops that take cash payment on delivery