How do I find out what type of graphics slot I have?

download CPU-Z

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

click on the motherboard tab and it will say it in there at the bottom under the graphics interface section. What are you currently running (video card wise) and whats your budget for a new card?

PCI Express 16:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe [...] ss-Bus.jpg

AGP (the brown slot):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe [...] P_slot.jpg

Look inside your case and see which one you see.

yes, "PCIE 16 1"

You'll definitely need to open the case to be sure. My guess is with only a 250W power supply, a Packard Bell mobo, and the fact that your graphics interface is greyed out in CPU-Z, there is a good chance that you are running onboard graphics right now. You may not even have ANY slot to upgrade your graphics. You won't know for sure until you open it up.

Same goes for the power supply. You will have to open the case to see how big the PSU is. There is a good chance it is a smaller mATX size.

-TyShoe

I opened the case, this is how I got the infos about the power supply. And there is a PCIE 16 slot.

In my previous post, I was referring to the type of case, I don't know whether it is mATX or ATX, I don't know how to recognize it. Sorry for I said it wrongly.

Also, how many watts do I need so I can have a decent graphics card?

I'm not too impressed with that video card.
This Powercolor ATI1650Pro 512MB @ $38 is a much better value.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131068

Can you get any details off the powersuppy?

Oh indeed, I said something stupid again.
Then yes it should be the same.

Ok so I'll get a new psu and then look for a graphics card. Thanks for your help guys.

Nuxly I think with the money you intend on spending you're going to be left grossly disappointed.

For instance, it seems you found the highest memory graphics card for $50 and presumed it'd be perfect for the job... When really you could spend $50 on a 256MB card that'd mostly likely offer double the 6600's performance.

Im not having a dig at you here or anything but I think you're expecting alot from a graphics card @ $50. If I were you I'd get some more money together and buy yourself a worthwhile 512MB Graphics card with ideally a 256bit bus from one of the following models:

X1950 Pro, 7900GS, 8800GS, HD2900 PRO, HD3850...

Or if you're seriously tight for the cash then 8600GT DDR3, HD2600XT DDR3/4 or HD3650 DDR3... all with 256MB Memory.

For your power supply.... Dont pay less than $60 for one... and ensure it's 450Watts or higher.

If there's a 600Watt and a 450Watt at the same price, go for the 450W as it'll no doubt be better quality.

Or, alternatively... spend the least amount possible and feel really pissed off at yourself when the only games you can play properly are 4 years old.

Ok thanks a lot for your message, I'll take a look at these models.

edit:
Well that was why I first chose a non-expansive model, I wasn't sure to be able to use 100% of its capacities.
Oh, and I'm from france.

Pentium 4 and 1Gb RAM.
But it's a 512Mb I need, it's for gaming and 256 wouldn't let me run certain games properly.

The OP needs to post his usage requirements. I'm not going to recommend anything for that system if he wants to play a new high end game. It's an old slow system that has almost no upgradeability besides a vid card. The CPU and mem will limit any vid card terribly.

I feel something bad coming here... Let me explain.

If your game requires 'insane' amounts of video RAM (512 Mb as you say), then it will probably be swapping textures from main to video memory all the time.

If, indeed, you have a P4, 1 Gb of RAM and a slow memory bus speed, your video performance will not be satisfactory.
- if you can get a compatibility sheet for your system, see about doubling installed RAM
- consider getting a 'cheap' Core2 in it too, and if your BIOS allows you, kick the FSB speed up a notch
- once you're there, then you can consider buying a graphics card.

<language shift>
Avant de faire mumuse avec une carte graphique qui va te coûter la peau des fesses, vérifie que ton système peut l'encaisser: un goulot d'étranglement réduira les performances de n'importe quelle carte de manière atroce.
Ensuite, une alim' de 500W est largement suffisante pour un système comme le tien, même avec une carte graphique indépendante ajoutée: les alims plus grosses valent le coup uniquement si tu as 4 disques durs, ou 2 cartes graphiques en SLI/Xfire, ou un vieux P4.
Maintenant, tu fais comme tu veux; mais à ta place, je vérifierais que le châssis et le moteur de ta boiboite peuvent encaisser le turbo que tu veux coller dessus.
</language shift>

Add to that, the CPU will be quite a bottle neck as well.
I would not spend any money on a PSU and try and fine a cheap card that will work in that system.

Looking at this chart the 8500GT (512MB) is one of the least power hungry cards. I would not even get a 512MB version. Your PC cant hanle any game very powerful. Look for a 256MB version which should be a little less for both cost and power requirements. If you can find a DDR3 version instead of a DDR2 version that would be best.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/0 [...] hics_cards

gpu-z will do the trick.

Depends....

What do you want to play?

Hitman will need a 7900gt/Core 2 Duo @ 2.0ghz to play with everything set to high...

Dont bother with the new power supply and get a 7600gt, should work fine with your power supply...

You will be able to play at medium settings with that card and the game will still look great..No point throwing more money into an old system - but that said, the 7600gt choices will increase your performance tenfold

You should be able to get a 7600gt ( which requires no external power) for €50 or €60 on ebay or similar...

http://cgi.ebay.fr/7600GT-XT-OC-ed [...] dZViewItem

here is a link to see various video cards power use
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums [...] c=7&t=9354

I ran a E6600 + X1900XT on a 18 amps psu.
My suggestion: 7600GT(DX 9 with SM3) low power, but should be good for you and will not get as bottlenecked by your cpu...

As said above, if you need 512 texture memory you need more main memory to avoid massive swapping(hard drive being used as ram, this can slow things down when it has to do it)

Also make sure you get the latest hitman patch
http://www.download.com/Hitman-Blo [...] 51827.html

get a Ati Radeon 3850 HD it uses only 55 watts of power and is good a good graphic card however it comes pretty expensive for your budget
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814241066

pretty decent gfx card if i say so myself.ATI always put out pretty decent graphics card for a decent price.

download this and install:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_everest_home/

this will give u all the spec of your machine.

PCI-E 2.0 is backwards compatible, so yes you should have no problems with it.