Looking to buy a new graphics/video card

[Flash19]

Hi, I'm looking to buy a new graphics card because the one I have right now is rubbish. First off, I should say that I know very little about the subject and even less about motherboards, PSU's, expansion slots and the like and so I am looking for a bit of guidance. Mainly, I'm pretty much clueless about what cards are compatible with my system since I'm unsure whether my current card (which PC Wizard tells me is a video card - any difference?) is built-in or stand-alone. Anyway, I've harvested a fair bit of information on my system which hopefully somebody can make more sense of than I can.

My Gaming Limits

- The main reason I want a new card is to play games with richer graphic detail. The kind of games I play at the moment are: World In Conflict, COD 4, COD: World At War (soon anyway). I'm not a gaming fanatic and so I'm not too bothered about being able to play on the very highest settings, just better than what I'm at now, which is low/very low.

Budget

I don't want to spend over £100 (~ $150 I think)

Power Supply

18A Max

DC power supply:
Wattage 305 W
Heat dissipation 560.5 BTU/hr
Voltage
90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz
Backup battery 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell

My Specs

My other specs are in my drop-down. One more thing though, my UM also says this:

Video

Type Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (GMA950)

Does this mean my PC doesn't support stand alone cards?

And I'm from England, by the way. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help, let me know if you need more information.

 

[kimsland]

Hi Flash19

Excellent post, but one small part left out
I believe you have a Dell Dimension 5100, but that motherboard (0j8885) also can come in E510 or 5150. So it is just a good guess

If you do actually have a Dell Dimension 5100, can you please change the Mobo field in your Profile to state this.
You can also go to this thread, and fully confirm all Specifications, hardware (including Video ports) about your computer

I believe that would be your best starting point

 

[Flash19]

Hi, thanks for replying. You're right, I do have a 5100. As it happens my friend gave me a graphics card of his which he doesn't use anymore, saving me from buying a new one. An Nvidia Geforce 9500GT 512MB - he says it's not exactly top of the range, but it is far better than the one I did have. Plus it was free!