Hello, I'm just wanting advice on adding a graphics card into an old system and when I say old I mean old. It has a MSI MS-6524 motherboard and has had it's CPU upgraded to an Intel Pentium 4 Northwood 2.6GHz 400Mhz FSB. The RAM is stock at 512mb PC-133 SDRAM and the PSU is at 600w (don't laugh please at this computer). Now you guys are probably thinking "just buy a new computer or whatever" but I am already planning on purchasing a Macbook Pro 17" Unibody so this is where my money is going. The main reason I want to add a graphics card in is so that this old system doesn't go to waste and can atleast play games like Counter-Strike: Source and Battlefield 2.
The main options that I am looking at are the nVidia 7600 GT 512mb AGP and the ATI HD Radeon 3650 512mb AGP. I know the latter is a more recent card and supports dx10 but for dx10, that card is near useless as I can imagine. It also has HD support but I don't need this. I would first like some advice on whether these cards will run decently on this computer or not and if not, what are some other recommendations. I want to keep away from weak cards like the ATI Radeon 9200 even though they may be a good fit for this old system. If I HAVE to though then I may consider one of those older weaker cards.
I don't want to buy a new desktop as my main computer is a laptop which I will be upgrading instead. Seeing as these cards don't cost much, it shouldn't be a bad investment. I don't plan it to play games at the max settings but as long as it's playable, I'm happy. Also I'm not a hardcore gamer or anything, just casual, playing with friends and stuff.
Any advice would be great (apart from new computer although a "this will not work" will be accepted but give a recommendation if you can), thank you.
The main options that I am looking at are the nVidia 7600 GT 512mb AGP and the ATI HD Radeon 3650 512mb AGP. I know the latter is a more recent card and supports dx10 but for dx10, that card is near useless as I can imagine. It also has HD support but I don't need this. I would first like some advice on whether these cards will run decently on this computer or not and if not, what are some other recommendations. I want to keep away from weak cards like the ATI Radeon 9200 even though they may be a good fit for this old system. If I HAVE to though then I may consider one of those older weaker cards.
I don't want to buy a new desktop as my main computer is a laptop which I will be upgrading instead. Seeing as these cards don't cost much, it shouldn't be a bad investment. I don't plan it to play games at the max settings but as long as it's playable, I'm happy. Also I'm not a hardcore gamer or anything, just casual, playing with friends and stuff.
Any advice would be great (apart from new computer although a "this will not work" will be accepted but give a recommendation if you can), thank you.