upgrading graphic card

manutd_2

im plannin to upgrade my graphic card from a geforce4 mx440-se 128mb to a new more gamer friendly card.

iv been lookin at some graphic cards and the minimum specs seems to be 250w power system, my pc has a 230V power. i dont have a clue if V and W are the same.

i know that my pc supports 8x agp. and reaches all other requirements apart from pci express, however i belive pci express is only for the gamer who wants the most powerful graphic card

also could anyone recomend me a good card which performs well for for the newest games, the card doesnt have to perform phenomaly but deliver half decent graphics.

all so confusing

Rex_Mundi

What sort of budget are you looking at? Graphics cards can go to over £400 so it would be handy to know how much you want to spend before giving any recommendations.

230V and 250W are completely different things. Have a look at the back of your PC at the power supply. You should find somewhere what the power is.

manutd_2

iv looked all over my pc and the only thing it says is 230V~
my budget is under £80.
i was thinking of getting the new geforce 6200 card, however i will settle for an fx 5200 if it does not reach min specs

blinky

The power rating are usually on the side of the power supply. You need to open the case to look.

The Geforce 5200 was not one of Nvidia's better cards. Also consider the ATI cards (9600 and Pro, 9800 and 9800Pro).

Rex_Mundi

It's a little bit higher than your budget, but have you considered the RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB DDR . This card seems a popular recommendation with PC gamers.

Check here for prices.
http://uk.nextag.com/SAPPHIRE_Radeon_9800se_Adv~68034399z0znzzz1zz128mb_9800_radeonzukz2-htm

manutd_2

i kinda wanted to get an nvidia card as they have been reliable and performed well. is it easy to switch over from an nvidia card to an ATi, will there be any driver problems.

also i notice that the radeon card was an SE version, i read that radeon SE versions are not really up to scratch. also i think the radeon 9800 will be a power consuming beast.

i was recently reading about the new 6200 cards from nvidia which are ment to be very powerful and come with a low price tag


http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_6200.html

Rex_Mundi

No matter what new graphics card you install, you will have to load new drivers for it. This should be the same process wether it is an ATI or Nvidia card. The only thing I would say with this is, before you load the driver from the disc that comes with the graphics card. Look at the manufacturers site for the latest version of the driver.

Try this page for advice on graphics cards.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041110/index.html

blinky

Had no problems when I changed from my GF3Ti200(@500) to a Radeon 9600Pro and then to a 9800Pro.

The 9800Pro is a v. nice card, although a bit out of our price range. It does require a Molex connector for power but it's not as much a power consuming beast as Geforce 58xx / 59xx / 68xx.

Radeon Catalyst drivers are pretty solid. I think Nvidia drivers are slightly better at OpenGL but not much uses OpenGL anymore. (Doom 3 I think but you can't see anything anyway as it's too dark).

manutd_2

iv checked inside my pc and it has no info about the power in W. however i am guessing it is fairly high as iv got 1024mb of ram and a 2600mhz processor.

24seven

I would not worry to much about the power supply issue, it's as much about quality as quantity I have seen quality 300w PSU's out perform cheapo 550w PSU's.

If you take a look Here you will at least get a feel for the comparison of performance.

How about a Radeon 9600 Pro for £50 + Del from Here I have never used this company so cannot comment on their service and note its

Condition - New Open Boxed
Includes a 30 day RTB warranty.

manutd_2

was looking at site and it seemed that the ati cards seemed to have driver problems with the game joint operations.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-11.html