Want to upgrade my graphics card..

[metalronin]

hello i have a an HP a1213w desktop pc. i increased the ram to 1536 mb added a second hard drive and currently have a nvidia geforce fx 5500 card. any ideas on an upgrade for my card? thanks for the replys in advance

 

[Rik]

What do you want it to be capable of doing that it cant do now?

 

[metalronin]

well it can play world of warcraft kind of fine but i like to play a lot of games i cant run a lot of the newer ones and the ones i can are only at the low to medium in there graphics lvl setting

 

[Cinders]

Radeon X1950Pro sets the price/performance mark.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102071

I'd shop around a bit and see if you can find a lower price. This card will play just about any game out there with high settings and good frame rates.

 

[Brendannaidoo]

Not to sure on your budget but i would recommend the following cards.

1. Geforce 6600
2. Geforce 6800
3. Geforce 7300LE

Your range is going to be limited reason being you have an AGP slot. All the new cards coming out now days have PCIX.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The choice you make will depend on how much power your PSU (Power Supply Unit) will provide. Open up your case and look for a sticker that looks something like this and either take a picture of it and post it here, or post all the information on it, including the wattage. Based on that, we'll be able to tell you whether or not you can upgrade to a better card without upgrading your PSU. Also, how much would you be willing to spend in total and where are you located?

 

[metalronin]

my price range will be around 200$ and i live in Florida

 

[metalronin]

Heres my PSU

 

[LinkedKube]

I would upgrade the psu as well 450watts. That's enough power to run ehhh, a new midranged video card. You should get a psu as well while you're shopping. At least 400watts. Then go pick up a geforce 6800 or 7300 since both of those are still available in agp.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Antec earthwatts EA430 ATX12V v2.0 430W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Retail - $29.99 after $30 rebate
XFX GEFORCE 7900 GS 256MB AGP 1.32GHZ DDR3 DUAL DVI (Retail - $140 after $30 rebate

Both the items above are within your budget, provided you take advantage of the rebates. They're also of excellent quality and will provide a big boost in performance compared to your old components.

 

[link590o]

disregard this entry

 

[link590o]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102094

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052

thats a radeon x1950 pro 512mb for 128 bucks, and a thermaltake 500 watt psu for 59.99. i'd say that would suit you nicely too.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

He needs an AGP card, not a PCI Express one. Also, that Thermaltake PSU wouldn't power an X1950PRO at all, since it has 27A on the +12V rail compared to the 30A required for an X1950PRO.

 

[metalronin]

wow thanks for all the help guys especially you Rage im going to see about getting ahold of what you suggested it looks to be a perfect pair. once i settle on a purchase ill let you all know thanks again you guys rock!

 

[metalronin]

which of these will work? i didn't notice a difference in the cards except price but i might not have read carefully enough

 

[metalronin]

the top one is the one recommended correct?...i have the power supply in the mail it should arrive thursday

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The top one has better reviews and is cheaper so it's better you get it instead of the other one.

 

[Gavin_Capacitor]

If you do nothing else wait until at least December - theres a bunch of cards just out/coming out, and you don't want to get burned. That said, the 8800GT is kicking **** at the time of the writing and wouldn't be bad choice in the least.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The 8800GT is PCI-E. He needs an AGP card.

 

[Rik]

He also needs a new psu. Bestec is the most unreliable make there is. And the bestec 250 watt is the worst of the worst.
It should be replaced as soon as possible before it has a chance to fail and damage other components as it goes.

I wouldn't recommend a bestec 250 to my worst enemy (i don't hate anyone enough to do that).


Looks like rage may be getting a little fed up saying agp so perhaps this will help.

 

[Cinders]

Hello, the video card I linked has 512MB of DDR3 and costs a bit less while performing about the same as the 7900GS.

But if you insist, this card would be the better of the two. Its memory is clocked at 1320MHz while the other ones memory is clocked at 1200 with everything else being the same.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Thanks for the help rik. I was getting a bit miffed there.
Anyways, I already recommended a PSU to him before, so that should do fine.
@Cinders, the X1950PRO needs at least 30A on the +12V rail, which is nigh-impossible to find in a good-quality, inexpensive PSU within the budget specified.

 

[Rik]

Want a nice big picture of his budget? lol

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

LMAO rik I think that should be enough...for now.

 

[metalronin]

well i havent posted in a long time but here goes i ended up getting the xfx 7900 gs and it burned out on me. after that happened i read up alot more on it like i should have and found alot of people have had this problem and that no after market cooling is possible without drilling! so now im at a loss i shipped it out to xfx but im not sure if i will reinstall it if they fix it because it will most likely do it again. what should i do almighty tech people!?