Low profile AGP graphics card, recommendations?

[AdMartin]

The thing is, even if the card itself is low profile, it still uses a high profile bracket to fit all the connectors. Get a low-profile card without a DVI connector, so that it also has LP bracket, like this one. It's also DX9 compliant, which the 9200 isn't.

[AdMartin]

I went to the product webpage of the card I recommended. It seems to come with a full-size bracket, but as it has no DVI connector you can easily fit a LP bracket for a quid or two.

[AdMartin]

The 9250 is better than 9200, 9250 SE is better than 9200 SE, but 9250 SE is worse than 9200.

The 9550 is worse than both 9500 and 9600, but better than 9600 SE. 9550 SE is worse than 9600 SE, but better than both 9250 and 9250 SE.

Does this clear things up or does it only make you more confused? :lol:

Anyway, if you have space for two brackets and on a tight budget I'd recommend this one, as it's about the same price as the 9200s and 9250s, but faster and DX9 compliant.

If you wanna spend more you could go for a 9600, but most (all?) low-profile 9600 are the SE version, which are only marginally better than the 9550 SEs that I've recommened and not worth the extra money. It sometimes/often says just '9600' on shops' websites even though they really are 9600 SEs.

Note: SE models have a 64-bit memory bus instead of a 128-bit bus, halving memory speed.

[AdMartin]

Cyberus wrote:
Thanks for the heads up, AdMartin.

The thing is, I'm finding it hard to tell what cards are low-profile and which are not. Like, where does it say that the card you mention is low profile?

Check out the product webpage that I linked too and look at the pictures!

[AdMartin]

;-)

Anyway, as I mentioned, this one is cheaper and you get a DVI output as well, but you'd need two low-profile brackets for it. Both are 9550 SEs, which is the best LP you can get in this price segment. So, it's basically up to how much space you have in the computer.

[AdMartin]

Well, I'm used to my 9500@9700, so to me the 9200 and 9250 are pathetic performers! :-P Plus they aren't DX9 compliant, so I'd take a 9550 SE any day, since it's faster, DX9 compliant and costs the same!

Edit: Doom 3 and Battlefield 2 flies on my card with high quality settings on 1024x768. I doubt a 9200/9250 would do very well in those games...

[AdMartin]

 :-o

[AdMartin]

Good luck!