god bless ati for releasing an agp version of its directx 10 GPUs hpoe nvidia will do the same

ATI is generous to AGP users . Damn this is simply great news :) .

it's supouse to be with GDDR31400mhz.

Lol... really?

what the fast....2600xt or 1950xt ???

I'd say the HD 2600 XT is roughly as fast as the XT if not slower . But it has DX10 , so if I were you , I'd go for the HD 2600 XT .

would this card support DX 9.0c as well?

Finally something done right Amd.

Yes it would also support DirectX 9. There are no directX 10 games out yet so the Nvidia Geforce 8 Series would work on no games if they didn't support DirectX9. But I'm buying myself this one! ATI FTW!!

direct x is always backward compatible so it will work so do yourself a favor and buy the latest videocard that support the latest direct x so you can play new and old games

The HD 2600 XT is fairly slower than the X1950 XT , but it does have DX10 , so if you're planning on playing DX10 games , get the HD 2600 XT , if you don't want to install windows vista , then get the X1950 XT .

Shame its only 128-bit. Why did AMD go from 512-bit to 128-bit and then 64-bit. They should have just scrapped 64 and gone 512, 256, 128.

I have a 500 watt power supply.
It's enough for a 2600 XT and my processor is a Pentium 4 3.0GHz.

Was looking forward to side-grading for the UVD and dual DVI/HDMI with HDCP but the AA performance is oddly only 2/3 that of the X1650XT and 7600GT in BF2 @ 1280, for example. Without AA the three cards perform roughly the same. I wonder if that is a driver problem or a limitation of the hardware?

any idea where to buy one of these?

They should have scrapped 64bit and 128bit , actually .
@2nd anonymous - driver problem , I'd say .

anyone know how well this compares to a Radeon X850xt pe agp card? yes i know is derived to DX 9.0 and this new one coming out is 10, but performance wise to battlefield 2142 what would you wager?

Damn... the only AGP HD 2600 XT cards I've seen were at 800/1400 GDDR3 . WHY??? I'd think if there was any gain , it would not be big . But who knows what will happen with new drivers .
Damn , the AGP GDDR3 version has about the same memory bandwidth as the 8600 GT .

So is this going to be released in my lifetime? What kind of ETA before 2600 agp cards start showing up at newegg?

I have not seen this card anywhere, I have been checking on newegg every day......

Same here. Nothing but crappy pci-e cards. You would think card makers don't want money. If I had a pci-e MB I'd get a 8600 or 8800 but since I'm not going to throw away a 2.8ghz dual xeon I need my agp.

Usually I'm a pretty avid Nvidia fan. However I need a DX10 AGP because I have 3.2 p4 that I'm just not ready to scrap yet. This card looks like my only option. I saw on the net that Nvidia might follow suit, has anything about those cards been placed here? And will this out preform a 6800 GT AGP? The review compare makes it look like it would, but I'm skeptical.

Seen several reviews and assuming this part comes out at all then it's game performance is similar to a 8600gt assuming no AA. Apply AA and it goes to pot. For HD video it's better though. Good luck ever getting a modern NVidia card on AGP. For DX9 games a 7900 or radeon 1950 would kick it's ass.

You won't see a new nvidia card for AGP. I still have not been able to find this card anywhere. I thought the release date was last month..............

It was. I wonder if Newegg is even going to carry them or if this is a paper release. I agree that nvidia isn't going to release anything and this is the last and only dx10 card for AGP assuming it ever comes out.

This is great. I hope there are benchmarks for it soon. I think it has the potential to be faster than the X1950XT once the drivers mature.

hay guys i was wondering the version Radeon HD 2600 XT AGP where would u go to, to buy one of these i WANT ONE FOR MYSELF :'( if anyone could help that would be great.

Circuit City has the VisionTek 2600 PRO AGP for 179.99. Not the XT version, sadly :( I'm waiting for the Sapphire 2600XT that is passively cooled!

Guess newegg looses my money. Bestbuy already sold out of their stock.

$15 off $100 coupon codes are avaiable from Circuit City to make the prices more reasonable :)

Still waiting for a 512mb version of this card. Anyone seen it anywhere? DDR3/GDDR3 or better.

"This is great. I hope there are benchmarks for it soon. I think it has the potential to be faster than the X1950XT once the drivers mature."
Not with 8 TMUs and 4 ROPs .

Only site even listing a 512mb card is computers4sure for $294. Looks like I will have to order there when it gets in stock unless someone stocks a 512 card cheaper.

"Not with 8 TMUs and 4 ROPs."

Darn.

I am going to go pick up the VisionTek 2600 PRO AGP this afternoon, I will let you all know how it is.

Further to CC coupons: there are also 10% off codes. Check your fave deal sites and get a 2600 Pro for $162 tax, apparently. Still seems high though but if you can't wait for more competition...

The drivers for this card are terrible the CAT drivers don't install got some custom drivers from VT that do install but fail the DD tests. I can only install them via windows with out the CAT control panel. I will prolly have to take it back :( I will wait for the XT.

Did you try the latest ati's catalist drivers?

computers4sure is listing the xt cards (OOS ATM) but at $365 for the 512mb visiontek. Hope someone gets it cheaper.

I tryed all the latest drivers, they said a new version will be released month I am going to return my card and wait for the saphire version.

Here is some sites...

Visiontek Radeon HD 2600 XT AGP 512MB GDDR3
http://www.visiontek.com/products/cards/retail/2600XT_AGP_512.html

Sapphire RADEON%u2122 HD 2600XT AGP 512MB GDDR3 Silent
http://www.sapphiretech.com/at/products/products_overview.php?gpid=179&grp=2

Waiting for it to be released :)
NVIDIA 6600 GT - ALMOST DEAD!!!
QUICK ATI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Sapphire RADEON HD 2600XT AGP 512MB GDDR3 Silent

Box picture :)
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/productfiles/179image6.jpg

The Visiontek Radeon HD 2600 XT AGP 512MB GDDR3

Box picture :)
http://www.visiontek.com/products/cards/images/hd2600XT_agp_box.jpg

VisionTek 2600XT 512MB AGP is $171.99 shipped @ buy.com but is "temporarily sold out". Initial prices are quite high compared to PCIe which have been out for awhile and even have rebates in some cases.

Well it's a seller's market for quality AGP cards so they can get more money for them. Looks like it's still about 2 weeks before any stock hits the stores for XT parts.

Looks like Pcconnection has the xt cards in stock. Too bad I have to wait for payday.

AGP versions of cards cost a shit ton more than their PCI-e counterparts . That's the usual case .

I bought the x1950Pro agp from best buy last week after talking to visiotek's tech.. He said the x1950pro agp woulk kick the Hd 2600XT's ass if you are using it for games...I bought the Hd 2600 pro and I could see no difference in graphics but the x1950Pro kicks graphics ass with a bigger power supply....

I wonder why ATI and Nvidia don't just make a final AGP card that maxes out the bus? That way they can get AGP over with.

agp is not going away,will be around a few more years.more than half the systems in the world are agp.consumer will decide when agp goes aways.

Are these HD 2600xt AGP cards actually available? I can't find a single distributer for any of these cards; is there a problem?

thanks,

John

I bought the Visiontek one and it was a total piece of garbage that would crash constantly, would only use drivers by Visiontek, not ATI. Tech support talked down to me like i was annoying them for calling. Please think twice before buying this card, worst experiece with a company ever. Luckily Ingram Micro took this back open box.

Has anyone actually installed the drivers for this card successfully? Several sites have the card in stock. I have the Visiontek 2600xt, problem is I haven't been able to load the drivers for it and have it work. So far I'm on my fourth reload of xp sp2 and no luck getting drivers to load. Works fine with an older NVidia card.

So far it appears to be a driver problem. The card ships with a beta driver. 7.9 doesn't even list 2600xt agp and the next beta 7.10 doesn't work and also doesn't list Visiontek's card only a generic 2600xt agp.

This is lame. With AA it is not signigicantly faster than an 800 series maxed out, and possibly slower in some ways. The only benefit would be more vram. And HD processing is totally moot if you're using DVI or HDMI, since the digital 1:1 pixel info is not converted to anything except scaled if you're sending something like 1360x768. And the scaling is not intensive. HD processing only matters if you're outputing to VGA or component. Now, if these boards had QAM and ATSC tuners on board along with DVR capability, then that would be worth it.

Reticuli,
I'm not disagreeing the card is kinda lame, especially for gamers. But the HD processing is not moot. It's actually about the only thing the card is good for. The card has a built in codec for processing HD video, and so far, it's been working really well for me. Previously I had a x1650pro and it just choked hard on 1920x1080 avc (h264) and vc1 video.
ymmv I guess.

sapphire's radeon hd 2600 xt is going to SUX with passive cooling (IF they decide to go ahead and use it--the pro version uses active cooling) and no dual-link dvi. fuk dat!

i highly doubt that ANY pc (with or WITHOUT discrete gfx) would choke on vc1 video (1080p or not)!

I have been waiting for over one month for a working driver for this card. I can say I will no longer buy Visiontek or ATI/AMD products again. Why hardware sites aren't covering the pathetic AGP support I don't know. Every driver from 7.6 - 7.10 doesn't work. Can't even get Windows to reboot after any driver. Works fine with an older Nvidia card.Now they are lumping both the AGP pro and XT AGP into one non-functional driver. Do not buy these cards or you will be sorry.

VC-1 @ 40 Mbps is actually quite demanding on most AGP systems (due to limited CPU) and AVC even more so. So, the UVD on these cards is significant. Even current systems with otherwise adequate CPU's can benefit since GPU decoding is much more efficient -using less power, generating less heat, and leaving the CPU for other tasks simultaneously.

Available in Canada @ Tigerdirect $213
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3299645&CatId=2234

bought one from Tigerdirect.ca two days ago! Hurry up UPS!

I have a 9800pro and upgraded to Ati's 7.10 drivers and some games (CS:source, HL2) and windows media center no longer worked. I went back to 7.5 and had no problems since.

$213 CAD? Yikes! They are selling for $170 USD ($166 CAD) elsewhere.

$166CAD elsewhere? link? maybe you're talking about the pro and not xt

show me a link for $166CAD for the XT

There are two SKU's for each VisionTek/Hartford model with the only apparent difference being the box itself: retail with specific printing vs generic black box with designating sticker.

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/video-cards/m/49775383/search=900184/sort_type=price

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/video-cards/m/49774499/sort_type=price

http://www.google.com/products?q=VISIONTEK 900184&btnG=Search&show=dd&scoring=p

FYI, the HD2600 Pro 512MB AGP is $105 USD after rebate (or Sapphire brand is simply $110 without rebate but only has one DVI-I). I opted for the 256MB when it was $95 AR.

none of those are in canada though... even though the canadian dollar is in good shape against the us dollar, the shipping and duties, will boost that deal to well over 200CAD anyway.

There is no no duty. Only the taxes are collected (if enough to be worthwhile). I understand it is best to use USPS though otherwise there may be broker fees. Most resellers do not offer that option though. Could try ebay.

Newegg has XT for $169.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814129090&ATT=14-129-090&CMP=AFC-C8Junction

Newegg does not ship to Canada

$155 USD @ circuitcity ($150 CAD even though they do not ship internationally). They must collect sales tax for states which have one and where they have a physical location but shipping is free so it is still at least $10 cheaper than elsewhere.

Note there are some VisionTek "Black Box Editions" which include certain games which is different than the generic black box mentioned previously.

Oh snap! If you don't mind rebates it's now $146 shipped from newegg.

Hi all,

I've got a Dell Dimension 8300 with a Power Supply of 305 watts, I'm planning to upgrade my Radeon 9800 with the X1950 Pro, can someone please tell me if this power supply is enough?

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-Silencer-Upgrade-S41D2/dp/B000MTABH6/ref=sr_1_8/104-5039729-0634336?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1194276101&sr=1-8

or any other advice would be helpful.

Thanks.

could you list your other specs please?

the x1950 can use all the way up to 30amps on a 12V rail, if your powersupply has that then you're good, I gotta real expensive 550W with only 18amps

where i can fiind a review for this card?

[quote]Hi all,

I've got a Dell Dimension 8300 with a Power Supply of 305 watts, I'm planning to upgrade my Radeon 9800 with the X1950 Pro, can someone please tell me if this power supply is enough?

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-Silencer-Upgrade-S41D2/dp/B000MTABH6/ref=sr_1_8/104-5039729-0634336?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1194276101&sr=1-8

or any other advice would be helpful.

Thanks.[/quote]

Yes it does. Got an 8300 myself and it works. Dell PSUs are known for it's high quality. A 250W Dell PSU "delivers" better power then a 500W OEM PSU.

Ps. Worse thing that can happen is that your system doesn't power, or shuts down. You can't damage any parts so it's worth trying anyway.

Wonderful Card I Buy It and Don't disapointed with perfomance :D

Hello everyone.

I just thought I'd add my experience with this card, which has not been overly positive. It appears that AMD/ATI have dropped support for the AGP format and as such, the drivers for this card are, at this time, immature, a stability problem. Some people have success with it, while many do not; it seems to depend also on your board and its configuration.

Also, this card ran very hot in my case and I have a Thermaltake X, which is the older style, which some seven fans. If I had kept the card, I would have installed a third party, extra slot cooler.

If you decide you still want one of these, check the manufacturer's web site and its corresponding forums to read any and all feedback regarding this particular card.

I was pleased with the performance, but stability takes precedence, in my case.

Hope this helps.

John