I Need A New Graphics Card!

Hello everyone. I have decided that it is time to upgrade my pc. I am very sick of not being able to play good games with my current graphics card. Here are my specs:
Windows XP Home Edition SP2
Motherboard:
Gateway D865GLC Motherboard
Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 2.6 ghz
Memory:
512 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Videocard:
Intel 82865G Graphics Controller(96MB)
(3 PCI slots and 1 AGP)
Soundcard:
Intel 82801EB ICH5 - AC'97 Audio Controller [A-2/A-3]
Power Supply:
AC Input 115/230 V ~,10/5A 60/50 Hz
DC Output:250 W
Hard Drive:
80GB

I am willing to spend around $200 on a new graphics card. I am also planning on buying 1gb of RAM. With a new card, i would like to play games like Counter-Strike:Source, Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 2, and Guild Wars on at least medium settings. And i live in the USA.

Thanks for the help in advance! If anything else is needed to suggest a card, please let me know!

For $200, you might be able to get an X1950PRO AGP, which would allow you to play all those games on max settings as long as you also got that 1GB RAM. Or you could go lower and save a bit of money by getting the significantly worse 7600GT, although a 7600GT would still allow you to play all those games on nearly max settings.

This?: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814241041

So I have the correct AGP slot for this card? I read the reviews that this is big, will it fit in my pc? And my power supply is high enough for it?

This is a better choice since it comes with a better cooler and is cheaper than the GeCube version as well. Also, I think it should fit in your case properly.
As for your PSU, your current one will definitely not be enough. I'd recommend this one since it has 22A on each +12V rail and will be enough for the card and any future upgrades as well.

Time to retire that comp soon... AGP cards are really overpriced, and getting something as powerful as the 1950Pro running on a 2.6Ghz P4 and 512mb of RAM... you'd have problems figuring out where the bottleneck is.

The consolation is that you'd know that your graphics card isn't the culprit for sure.

If those are the games you're going to play for awhile, maybe you might want to look for something a little lower end, save you the money, since it'll perform pretty equally given the bottlenecks in the computer.

Just to compare:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16814102071,N82E16814150174&page=2&bop=And

My choice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150174

Different choices and opinions are always a good thing. lol
You do need to scope out what your psu can handle. Nvidia is less power hungry than Ati.

My opinion is to try to build something a little more new, you could get a mobo cpu and ram pretty dang on cheap right now, and you could use the hd you already have. Would probably perform twice as well as the current set up.

So I would have to upgrade my power supply for all the cards listed? Is there a card that I could use without upgrading the power supply and still play the games on at least medium settings? Thanks for the help so far

There's no card that'll give you that much headroom. Even an old card like the 6200 requires a 300W minimum PSU. The best you could get is probably a GeForce FX series card.

So something like this?: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130197

So with this card and 1gb of RAM, could i even play CSS or HL2?

edit: And is it absolutely necessary to get a more powerful power supply? what would happen if i didnt and got a better card?

Prices on all graphics cards have dropped. I have seen 8800 GTS go for around $270 and 8600's go for about $220. But you would want something that can run at least CS:Source at full which would be a 7600.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143069
I would go with this than a 5500. True it would be an upgrade but when you upgrade you would want to do some good not a baby step forward.

The problem with that is i would have to upgrade my power supply, right? I didnt really want to do that. :/

Edit for looking at power supplies:
I looked at the one Rage_3K_Moiz suggested, at this point I want to go the cheapest way while still being able the play the games a listed at max settings. So buying
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194003 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143069 is what I am leaning towards. Is there any requirements for changing power supplies? Like something on the motherboard, I dont really know much about it. Is it hard to change power supplies? Thank you to everyone so far

Hello and welcome to TechSpot :wave: !

For changing power supplies, typically that entails rewiring your computer (although it's not as hard as it may seem ). May I suggest jumping to the GeForce 7800GS? It's around the same price and still packs a punch . Good luck !

Wow, this has helped me so much! Here is my plan of action:
Graphics Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130274
Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194003
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145480 (this will work in my PC right?)

I wont be ordering until Tuesday, so if there are any problems with these purchases compatibility, please let me know

Thank you so much for the help!

Everything looks fine. They should work, but I'm just wondering about the price of that Enermax...

Didn't expect 500W PSU to cost 100 bux....

Well I'm afraid of psu's that cost less than 100 bux, aren't you? I mean, we arent running celerons and integrated graphics here.

It costs that much because it has two +12V rails with 22A on each, which I haven't seen on any similarly priced models. Add in the fact that Enermax is an excellent PSU manufacturer and you've got your answer.

Well, I didn't buy a PSU that cost less than $100 I tell you that, but its just scary that a 500W PSU reached 3 digits.

I did realise that you could've saved 10bux on some other equally reliable PSUs, but they don't look as fancy.

also, you mentioned 2x22A 12V outputs. That doesn't add up, if they both supply 22A, that alone would equal 528W. On a 500W PSU, that shouldn't be possible.

Why not? 528W would be the maximum wattage, while it probably provides a steady 500W under normal conditions. It's SLI certified after all.

uhm... if you added all the Watts produced by every single connector, it'll easily go above 700W.

SLI certified 500W PSU? Probably certified to run GeForce 6200LE on SLI....