Graphics Card for Dell Dimension E510

Hi, I have a year old Dell e510, its a pentium 4 3ghz, 2gb of ram, and a really cheapo ati pci express card. All I wanna do is upgrade my graphics card ONLY to get the best performance improvement I can hope for.

Some things are confusing me though as to what is gonna restrict my graphics card from working to its max, like:

1. My processor being old and not a being a newer generation pentium? (is that gonna restrict more powerful cards, if so what is the best card i can get for my system?)

2. Directx9 & 10? (can i even do dx10 with a p4?)

3. Bigger power supply? (If I got a newer more powerful card is it likely id need a power supply too? [p.s not sure what i have but i guess its the standard power supply that came with dell e510's if anyone knows what that is?])

I dont expect i would need to buy a really expensive card either seeing as that power on the nwer cards would be wasted with me, right? Anyway, I appriciate any feedback from more experienced individuals.

Thanks in advance guys.

What kind of performance improvement are you looking for? Games or movie playback/encoding?

Currently there aren't any dx10 games available, so if you are planning to upgrade or get a new computer in the near future (within 6 months - 1 year) i suggest you get a dx9 card as it would more than do.
Of course you can always get a solid dx10 card like the 8800gts and use it in your new build although the 8800 will be majorly held back by the processor.

As about powersupply, how much amps are there in the +12v rails? If you have less than 20 you might need to upgrade it.

I'm currently running a P4 641 (3.2 GHz), 2 GB of RAM, 2x 250 GB SATA HDDs, DVD writer and a 7800gt on a 270w FSP powersupply (+12v 20A) without any problem , but i seriously wouldn't suggest risking it.

And yes, these graphics cards might be what you could consider (dx9/dx10)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130075
dx9 with fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125028
dx9 silent

and yes there is the 8600 gt that xazax suggested.

All the best.

Call of Jaurez is a DX10 game.