Trying to upgrade video card on a HP Pavilion a420n

[kstaar]

I'm not sure exactly how old my computer is but it runs pretty decent and i can't afford anything else right now. i installed the sims3 and i got an error message saying i need to upgrade my video card to something that supports Pixel 2 Shading. I've been looking on tiger direct for awhile and can't figure out how to know which cards support that or which cards would be compatible with my computer?

Also, while i have the computer open i figure it'd be a good idea to put more ram in there, which i hear is pretty simple. I've never upgraded a computer. i've only been inside a computer to remove hard drives. im just wondering if its going to be too difficult for me to install the video card myself?

the sims 3 system requierments:
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1 GB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
* Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
* At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of
additional space for custom content and saved games

my computer specs: hp pavilion a420n
*2.16 ghz 3000+ AMD Anthlon xp processor
* 512 mb PC2700 DDR SDRAM memory
* VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP video card in PCI bus 1
* XP service pack 3
*160GB hard drive with 53GB free space

Thanks for reading! hope u can help

 

[red1776]

if you have the version with the Asus motherboard A7V5X-LA, you are working with an AGP 4x/8x interface. They are getting scarce, but this is about as good as it gets unless you find one of the 3850's or the Geforce 9600 AGP. this one is SM3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=agp_video_card_ati-_-14-102-851-_-Product

 

[kstaar]

ram?

thanks thats very helpful. about the ram though, is there any brands that are particularly better?

 

[red1776]

thanks thats very helpful. about the ram though, is there any brands that are particularly better?

Any name brand will do. The vast majority of ram modules out there are manufactured by a handful of companies, and they are all good.
Just stay away from something called 'High Density Ram' ram. Its all over Ebay and the like. Its extremely inexpensive, and its junk.