Choosing the right graphics card?

As long as you have a PCI-E motherboard then the Radeon HD 4850 is the best bet. It'll have no problem with COD4 on high settings if your CPU and memory is up to the task.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=E...

"any information from my computer"? How about anything other then what video card you have. I think the x300 was only a PCIe card, but I could be wrong about that. Details about your motherboard (graphics slot) and PSU would be great. Info about your CPU and ram would be nice also.

I'm just guessing here, I'm figuring you have an older system, P4 and PCIe. If so, you should probably spend your $200 as follows. First, get a PSU that can handle a new card. From the $125ish left over, See about getting a 3870, 9600GT, 8800GS, etc. This should provide a nice boost. If you still have 1GB of ram, you should probably get a new PSU for $75ish, another gig of ram for $40ish, leaving $85ish for a video card. If nothing else, you can get the 3650. Newegg currently has a 9600GSO and an 8800GT for less then $85 after rebate.

It would be helpful to list the following system specs:

CPU
PSU
Motherboard
RAM
CASE
Monitor size and gaming resolution


But, assuming your computer is somewhat decent, I agree with copasetic. A 4850 should cost you $150-170 with a rebate at the moment and will do anything COD4 could ask.

LOL. Well, I'm not a hardware guy, but here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro SP2
Pentium 4 3.00GHz (Device Manager lists two of these under processors - not sure if I have 2 processors.)
1GB RAM
Radeon X300 Series (PCI Express x16 lane native support <- according to AMD site)

What PSU (power supply - correct?), would I need to support a good GFX card. I might as well update other components while I'm at it.

EDIT - how would I get info about my PSU and Mobo?

I have a Dell Dimension 9100. I have a 20" Widescreen Dell Monitor. Current resolution running 1280x768.

CPUz should be able to tell you what motherboard and ram you have. I'd get another gig, a new PSU (yes, power supply unit) and with whatever money you have left over, a better video card.

That Dell uses 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM
And for sure memory needs upgrsde if you can find 2G of them
Best choice go for 2600XT

That's the info I pulled using CPUz. Let me know if you need anything.

What RAM name brand do you recommend for my 533 DDR2 SDRAM?

Assuming I read the tiny print right, this is your board.

http://www.centrix-intl.com/details.asp?productid=1096

I'm not 100% convinced you need the PSU. You need to look at your current one and see how much power is put out on the 12V rails. (if you have a Dell 305W PSU, you should get one. If you have a 375, your fine.)

Here is 4GBs of Corsair ram. Will run you $67 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Next is an Antec Earthwatts 430W. $30 after MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If you needed the PSU, this leaves you with $100 for a video card. Here is a nice Gigabyte 3870 that comes with a free copy of Never winter nights 2, for $100 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The only problem with all this is that there is $80 in rebates with all this stuff, so I'm not sure you'll be able to really get it all. With any luck, you won't need to buy the PSU, and that will save you a bunch of money.

PSU says:


I guess that means I won't be needing the PSU, since you said 375W is good enough. So what video card can I get with the saved money? I have no problem with mailing in the rebates at all.

Thanks for all the help! Made a good decision on asking here!

If $200 is a hard limit, get the parts that I already suggested, just don't get the PSU. Because all the parts I listed had MIR, you will actually need all $200 just to get the RAM and Video card.

Getting the ram and a 3870 should be a very nice bump in performance. If you like Nvidia, I saw several 9600s for about $100 on newegg, they should perform very close to the 3870. (they didn't ship with a free game however.) A word of warning, they also had an 8800GT, but you should avoid it. It was a 256MB model, and they don't compete quite as well as their 512MB brothers.

Before you buy, if you didn't notice it, make sure your PSU has the PCIe plug needed for video cards. I'm sure it does as the 305W one does, but it never hurts to double check.

If you can exceed $200 by just a bit, you can get the memory for $67 after rebate, then try to get an 8800GTS. This card is MUCH better then the 3870, and can be found for ~$155. Because it would also have a rebate, you'd need ~$260ish for both the ram and card, it should drop to just over $200 once/if you get them back. If you can, get the GTS, if not, learn to play NWN2. (I am of course referring to the 8800GTS 512MB cards, do not get the 640/320MB GTS.)

I'm going to go for the 8800GTS then, as $200 was just a rough limit. I don't mind spending couple extra bucks to get much better performance. I tried Googling the image for a PCIe port, but no cigar. Any specific pictures as to what I'm looking for?

Plug, not port.

http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/03/21/...

The older 6 pin is on the right side of that pic. Your PSU should have that plug if its the one I'm thinking of. I thought it might be worth double checking in case you have a different PSU then the one I'm thinking of.

Actually, my PSU has a 4-pin one. I didn't find a 6-pin at all. Will this still work with the 8800GTS?

The only thing you could do would be to buy a 4-pin molex to 6-pin PCI-E power adapter.

This is the only thing I need?

EDIT: I was looking around NewEgg, and it looks like most of the video cards come with the 4 pin connectors.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Only older cards. Newer cards should have the PCIe 6 pin plug.

The 375W dell PSU should have that 6 pin plug. Are you sure you checked all the wires? Whats the point of allowing 360W on the 12V rails if you don't have the plug to send all that power to?

Snapped a picture. I think I found the 6-pin you were talking about. I circled it in the red. Let me know if that's the six pin so I can have the green light and recommend me a 8800GTS Video Card. Price can now be aroud $250ish.

PS - I know, I know. I need to buy a dust remover to clean out my PC. Hasn't been opened in at least a year.

Thats it. I knew it should have been around there somewhere...

I need a recommendation for an 8800GTS graphics card under $250.

LOL...thanks for the help.

???

The 8800GTS 512MB should be more like $140. If you have $200 to spend on a video card, you should be getting the 4850 for $175.

I know its GeForece 8800GTS 512MB, but I found two for a good price.

I found a BFG Tech video card for $190 before rebate and an MSI card for $185 before rebate. BFG Tech looks like a better company than MSI, but which should I choose.

4850 hands down is your best choice. It beats the crap out of anything in competition with it.

Thing is, it's not that good. nor is anything in direct competition with it.
Won't last ya very long, and definitely useless with a big monitor if you want eye candy.
you got some incredible price-vs-performance this generation with the 4870, just splurge 100 more $ and get one

Not looking to spend to much on this PC. I plan to build a custom PC in a few months.

My final two choices are the 4850 or the 8800GTS. Which of these two is better?

4850 without a doubt. Even if you can't use it to its full potential right now, you will once you get your new machine built. You should be able to find one for ~$190-$200, with a rebate to bring it down to $170-$180.

4850.

So the 4850 will work with my PSU?

If it does, what namebrand do you recommend. I was looking at a VisionTek one, but not sure how good they are. Any suggestions?

The 4850 recommends a 450W PSU, 375 is really pushing it. IMO it won't be enough for a number of reasons. PSU's aren't 100% efficient (375W listed is more like 300W), the power they deliver can be unstable when they're pushed to the limit and they don't always deliver enough amps on the 12V rails to run a video card properly.

You can try it though, the worst that'll happen is the system will become unstable with the video card in there, especially in games. Worst case you'll have to spring for a new PSU. The 8800GT is probably about the same when it comes to power requirements, if you're wondering.

Visiontek is good, they offer a lifetime warranty on their cards.

I wouldn't mind getting a new PSU at all. Only problem would be swapping out the old one for the new one, and reconnecting stuff. Pretty sure I can manage. I'm going to go with the Earthwatts 500W PSU, 2x1GB Crucial 667MHz RAM, and VisionTek HD 4850.

If these sound good, I think I'm going to go for them. Thanks for all the awesome help!

The thing about the Dell 305 and 375 PSUs is that they work the other way. They are more like 350W and 450W PSUs, not 250W and 300W. The 305W has 22A on the 12V rails, and the 375W can output 30A on the 12V.

The 4850 SHOULD be fine on the 375W, but I'd keep an eye on things. If you get funny results or you check the rails and one is low, replace it with something beefier.

Alright. So what I'm going to do is purchase the RAM and video card first. Then, once I put them in, I'll see how it works. BTW - how would I check the rails on my PSU?

Ah ok, might be fine then. Like you said I'd keep an eye on it  

You can download a program like CPUID to keep an eye on the rails. It'll display the voltages on each rail, they should be within 5% of what the rail should deliver. So for example the 12v rail should be between 11.5-12.5v.

Downloaded the programs. Going to order the video card and RAM tomorrow night.

Thanks for all the help. Will update when I recieve it.