Very Best AGP Card available...price no object!

Question, why do you need to stay with an old motherboard? For the same price as your upgrade you can get a low-end PC that will probably be at least twice as fast as your upgraded PC.

That being said, I think the best graphics card that's still available for AGP is the HD 3850. The less capable HD 3450 and HD 3650 cards are also available in AGP. I think those cards will probably work for Blu-ray but I'm not sure since I don't really keep track of hardware acceleration using AGP. Last I checked, it was a 50-50 thing although I don't know if that's just for h.264 MKV's or if Blu-ray discs are also affected.

i agree, you could probably buy a new board and processor (with integrated graphics) and the cheaper ddr2 ram. for less than $200.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186141

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103255

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122

I'm running a P4 2.4 overclocked to 3.0 with 2GB ram on Vista x86 and Blu-Ray works perfectly. I'm running audio through an analog connection to my Onkyo 606. Video card is an ATI HD2600XT.
You can pick up the video card for under $50.00 at Newegg.
I would only add the memory and blu-ray drive. Don't worry about the proc. Going to Vista would be beneficial as well for the Media Center perks.
Why waste your money on a new rig when you can't pass HD Audio yet? Might as well wait until that is perfected before you upgrade.
I'm not concerend with all of the other video formats on this system. It is used for Blu-Ray and DVD primarrily.

Actually with hard acceleration on the 3650, you actually be able to watch BD movies. If you want streaming of BD HD codecs, wait for the ASUS Xonar slim card coming out (supposedly end of March) that has PCI

If he's only upgrading the graphics card, then yeah, sure. However, he's upgrading CPU, RAM and graphics card which can add up to quite a bit. Oh, yeah, he needs to check his power supply, too, to make sure it's powerful enough for the upgrade.

CPU: $60~100 (eBay)
RAM: $65~85 (Newegg, 2x1GB DDR-400)
GFX: $50 (HD3450) ~ $200 (HD3850, best)

Still, without the usage scenario, recommendations are pointless.

@Ridewithme38
You mentioned you won't be doing any gaming but you haven't told us what you will you be using the PC for. If you're not doing anything extremely strenous on it, the graphics card upgrade will probably suffice. Yes, 1GB RAM is small compared to today's standards, but depending on your usage, 1GB might do. My Vista Home Premium laptop only had 1GB out of the box, and it served me well enough until I was able to afford upgrading to 2GB (saved some money and RAM prices went down - a lot).

Not really. Others might be running stock overclock but you can do that yourself, too. Just check the reviews for noise and overheating issues.

If that's the case, drop the HD 3850. It really only makes sense if you're gaming. Also, what power supply do you have? I'm guessing you have an OEM system and those tend to come with low-wattage power supplies. If it's an OEM system (*cough* Dell *cough*), it might be expensive to get a replacement power supply, too, so take that into consideration.

The only fairly cost-effective upgrade you can make is the video card. That should give you much better picture quality than the onboard video on your PC. Even then, I'd go with the HD 3650 instead of the HD 3850. The HD 3850 doesn't give you that much better picture quality/video processing power (if any) to justify the increased noise, heat and power consumption.

I'd forego the RAM upgrade unless you can get it for free or really cheap. Same thing with the CPU.

i ungraded a 2.8 ghz pentium by adding
FANLESS 3650 AGP VID card
upgraded the memory,
and upgraded the power supply (see the fan requirements)

i've listed this multiple times before

$170 total (mem + power supply + video card)

runs blu-ray just fine...

Warning! That's for a Dell, and those sometimes have two of the wires crossed. Make sure you buy the correct power supply or else, you might end up replacing your computer anyway. Since Cisnet seems to be a small outfit, it's likely they just use regular parts. Again, do your research (maybe from manufacturer's website or something) before you buy.

That PC with a p4 will use way too much power. Best to go with a new cpu and motherboard, memory combo that will cost less and save you fifty bucks a year on your electric bill to boot. No point holding onto an old motherboard when you have to replace everything else in the chassis. The caps will probably blow soon after you change everything out anyway. Makes no sense whatsoever.

the 3850's will work for you... but if you're not gaming, and you want quiet, look into the 3650 by asus with the fanless cooler. I have one combined with a 2.8ghz p4 and it plays bluray and HD DVD fine.

I was in a similar situation, and I couldn't find a 3850 that didn't have a noisy fan.

For that kind of money, you could replace the mainboard, CPU, and RAM with something faster, more power efficient and future-proof.

Ridewithme38

There is a crossover motherboard that will come in handy down the road

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157115

it takes AGP and PCI X vid cards. Also lets you step up to DDR2

Not for $80... The power supply is re-usable in a future build. His current power supply is from an OEM build of unknown quality. Besides, this point has been brought up several times. The OP doesn't want to change his motherboard.

I am in the same boat. i have an older diy build using an AMD 3500+ chip with an ati x1050 video card that i am currently using as a htpc. i don't want to go the complete overhaul route right now because if i want to i can simply hook up my laptop (core 2 duo with nvidia 8600m gt x2 in sli) to my receiver via hdmi and play whatever i want. but for convenience sake i currently have the old diy box hooked up to the receiver which in turn goes out to my 47inch lcd.

my issue is that i can play downloaded 720p content fine but the box will choke on 1080p content. i haven't upgraded to a bluray drive yet but i plan to pick up that popular LG model in the immediate future.

so to make a long story short will an hd 3650/3850 help me out or not?

specs:

amd 3500+
gigabyte socket 939 mobo (don't remember model no. off hand)
3 gigs ddr 400
ati x1050
400 watt power supply

only used as a htpc for movies and internet.

Well, I wanted to say it anyways. $180 buys high-quality new innards that will have driver support for years to come. (Future AGP support is questionable.)

Also, if the 300-watt power supply isn't causing problems, why replace it? It should be more than adequate for a 45-watt CPU and non-gaming video card. My old Antec Minuet has a 300-watt supply, and it is rock stable in powering a four-year-old Radeon XPress 200 with 89-watt CPU and 8500GT PCI-e video card.

found my answer.....

and apparently it shouldn't be a big deal...

http://www.missingremote.com/index.p...=2959&Itemid=1