Best graphic card i can get for my computer?

[mdanny]

here are my computer specs:
its an emachines t6520

CPU: AMD Athlon? 64 3400+ Processor (512KB L2 cache, 2.4GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Chipset: ATI RS480
Memory: 1024MB DDR (400MHz)
Expandable to 2GB
Hard Drive: 200GB
Media Reader: 8-in-1 digital media manager
Secure Digital? (SD), Smart Media, Compact Flash, Micro Drive, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO, Multimedia Card, USB 2.0
Video: ATI Radeon® Xpress 200 (PCI-Express® )
128MB DDR shared video memory
Sound: AC '97 audio, Dolby 5.1 (6-channel)
Network: 10/100Mbps Integrated Ethernet LAN
Modem: 56K ITU V.92-ready Fax/Modem
Peripherals: Premium plus multimedia keyboard, 2-button wheel mouse, amplified stereo speakers
Ports/Other: 7 USB 2.0 (2 in front; 4 in back; 1 in Media Reader), 1 IEEE 1394 port (in back), 1 Parallel, 2 PS/2 (keyboard and mouse)
Dimensions: 14.125"H x 7.25"W x 16"D

im planning on upgrading the power supply because it's only 300w right now and upgrading the ram to 2gb

i know my current onboard video card really sucks so if anyone can recommend me and good video card that i can get. it would be very much appreciated.

thanks.

 

[HeXploiT]

How much do you want to spend?

 

[mdanny]

possibly up to 300$.. and i also have another question i was told my motherboard doesnt support geforce video cards is that true?

 

[Noema]

For your CPU, I'd recommend this X1950Pro, which sells for a meager $137

I don't really see the point of getting anything faster unless you upgrade your whole rig. You CPU is old and will get in the way of a faster video card.

It will offer great performance for the buck and will be able to play any current game well, as long as you don't go overboard with the resolution and AA.

Be sure to get a beefier PSU and an extra GB of RAM as well, though.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: mdanny
i was told my motherboard doesnt support geforce video cards is that true?

I seriously doubt that's true.

 

[HeXploiT]

No that is not so. In fact i would recommend a Geforce.
This card would be great and would chew up most games.
Would probably need a better psu though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130082

I wouldn't even bother upgrading the cpu at this point. Just the video & psu.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Perry404
No that is not so. In fact i would recommend a Geforce.
This card would be great and would chew up most games.
Would probably need a better psu though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130082

I wouldn't even bother upgrading the cpu at this point. Just the video & psu.

While the 8800GTS is a great card (heck, I own one myself), don't you think it'd be wasted on his 3400+?

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Perry404
No that is not so. In fact i would recommend a Geforce.
This card would be great and would chew up most games.
Would probably need a better psu though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130082

I wouldn't even bother upgrading the cpu at this point. Just the video & psu.

While the 8800GTS is a great card (heck, I own one myself), don't you think it'd be wasted on his 3400+?

I couldn't disagree more. I have a secondary rig running a 1.4 pentium IV but with fast memory & and a decent videocard and i run everything on decent resolutions. Cpu's are the least of your worries. A 3400+ is plenty powerful for anything currently on the market. The cpu is far less important than the video & bus.

 

[Raider1284]

I swear a saw a review a few months ago that tested games using an 8800 on a new c2d and a crappy old cpu. The results were alot closer then many suspected. Yes the faster cpu gave better fps, but not by much. I think at high resolutions almost all games are gpu limited, not cpu.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Perry404
No that is not so. In fact i would recommend a Geforce.
This card would be great and would chew up most games.
Would probably need a better psu though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130082

I wouldn't even bother upgrading the cpu at this point. Just the video & psu.

While the 8800GTS is a great card (heck, I own one myself), don't you think it'd be wasted on his 3400+?

There would definitely be situations where the 8800GTS would be Cpu-limited, but the benefits would still be there. Personally I'd recommend the X1950XT (provided the PSU has enough +12v amps), but the 8800GTS would be faster (higher minimum FPS, more features on the GPU, etc)

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: Raider1284
I swear a saw a review a few months ago that tested games using an 8800 on a new c2d and a crappy old cpu. The results were alot closer then many suspected. Yes the faster cpu gave better fps, but not by much. I think at high resolutions almost all games are gpu limited, not cpu.

I'm surprised more people aren't aware of this actually. I've discovered over the past couple of years just how important cpu's aren't in games.
Even 3d apps like 3dmark tend to overemphasize the importance of cpu's today in games.

 

[Laminator]

It's kind of disgusting how much the CPU-limitation myth has propagated. As long as your CPU is powerful enough to run the game smoothly at the lowest settings, then it is powerful enough to run the game smoothly at the highest settings and thus you will benefit from any better video card.

 

[MarcVenice]

Some games are cpu limited, like Supreme Commander for example, and Stalker will show better framerates with a better CPU, but with a decent cpu, like the 3400+ and a 8800gts you will still get very good framerates, even if you get 60 vs the 70fps you'd get with a better cpu the difference would be irrelevant. So yes, the 8800gts is NOT wasted on a 3400+. It would mean my 8800gts is wasted on my x2 3800+ @ 2.6ghz or so, which is just bullshit

If you would start hyperpolating, you would almost have to say that a e6850 is not fast enough for a 8800gtx. Huh you're mixing up single and dualcore cpu's, no I'm not, most games only run on 1 core, newsflash for you

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Laminator
It's kind of disgusting how much the CPU-limitation myth has propagated. As long as your CPU is powerful enough to run the game smoothly at the lowest settings, then it is powerful enough to run the game smoothly at the highest settings and thus you will benefit from any better video card.

I think you're right for the most part. I do note, however, that in some games (Titan Quest, Supreme Commander, BF2142) I see a lot higher minimum FPS with a better proc (say Single-core A64 compared to a 3Ghz C2D), and generally smoother gameplay.

Some of this also has to do with the background junk in Windows, depending on your configuration. If you have a AV/Firewall suite running, a messenger app, etc, your system will be less taxed with a modern dual-core than with an older single-core, even with the same amount of memory and same video card.

But yeah, the first and best upgrade for gaming is always a better video card, memory is a close 2nd, and cpu is a distant 3rd.

Optimizing your system is free, and a good idea. Check msconfig and disable anything that you don't need to have booting every time you load your system. Make sure your disk is defragged, make sure you have the latest (or in older cards, the fastest) video drivers loaded (this may take some research), and you can also tune your memory latency, overclock your cpu/gpu/video memory a little bit, etc, etc.

 

[Laminator]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
I think you're right for the most part. I do note, however, that in some games (Titan Quest, Supreme Commander, BF2142) I see a lot higher minimum FPS with a better proc (say Single-core A64 compared to a 3Ghz C2D), and generally smoother gameplay.

Yeah, some games, especially RTS's and games with a lot of bots, are heavily CPU-dependent. Still, as long as the FPS of the card is lower than the FPS of the CPU, you will see an improvement. Your FPS might be CPU-limited but you may be able to turn on quality settings that would otherwise have made your FPS GPU-limited. It's simple logic.

Anyways, yeah, a lot of people I know, even gamers, have unnecessary background programs running. If you are using Windows XP and you clean out the registry and the startup programs/services using "msconfig" and "services.msc" and have only AVG Free and ATITool running in the background (along with all the other necessary Microsoft services), you can get your paging file usage down to 160MB or lower.

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: Noema
For your CPU, I'd recommend this X1950Pro, which sells for a meager $137

I don't really see the point of getting anything faster unless you upgrade your whole rig. You CPU is old and will get in the way of a faster video card.

No it won't. Besides, as he has PCI-E he can carry his card over to the next build instead of having every part outdated at the same time.

If you can afford the 8800GTS, get it.