New graphic card

I am planning to get a new graphic card but I have no clue what graphic slot i have. I also have a nVIDIA GeForce 8400. Should I get a support card for it or should I get a new card.

its PCI-E x16
some more info would help ...ie how much money do u want to spend
what size monitor do u have
what games do u play
bla bla bla

Try the HD 4670, it's a prett cheap card these days and it'll run circles around the 8400, it costs $70 on Newegg.com.

With only a 17" monitor? Not really, plus, it'll work with your old power supply.

You could get a 19" or 20" 1440x900 monitor with that 4670 and stay under $220, so yeah, why not.

Also what is the difference with th 512MB and 1024MB versions of this card.

Would you recomend any site because Ireland can be quite expensive and I live in the west (i.e. in the middle of nowhere)

4600 series is slow and should only be used for people who dont game. Get a 4770

Stupid question, is PCI-E the same as PCI-Express

Yes

The power supply, it's the box inside your case that's got all the cables coming out of it: http://whitesindia.com/shoppe/imag [...] n_Full.jpg
It limits the kind of hardware you can use (the PCI-E slot will accept even the biggest graphics cards out there, but the power supply may not be able to power them.)

What should i get then, the hd 4670 or 9600gso (9600gso is about €25 to €30 more expensive)?

I don't have experience with the 9600GSO, but as you can see above, I heartily endorse the 4670, lol.

Let me rephrase. I had an XFX 4650 that went to 900 core with the stock cooling. It was a peppy card but in no way compares to the 4770 which is 50 dollars more.

The 4650 pulled 5K for me with a 4.2Ghz I7 in 06. A 4770 pulled 15K with the same setup.

You could, but you'd also have to get a new power supply (around $40), the 4770 (or equally performing 4830) costs around $95, so then you'll only have $85 for a new monitor, which isn't enough, but if you don't get the monitor you won't need anything more than the 4670 (hell, even with a 1440x900 monitor the 4670 would be enough.)

So my advice is: get the 4670 with a 1440x900 monitor and enjoy your games and the money you have left.

It'll do fine with upcoming mainstream games like modern warfare 2 (which it can probably max out on 1440x900) and will continue to do so for another two years (that is if you stick with 1440x900), but of course there will always be some games (I can only think of Crysis right now) where you'll have to lower the settings because those games have ridiculous hardware demands and if you want to max those games out you'll have to pay a lot more for new parts.

But really, the 4670 will run circles around your old 8400.

Yes, and use the rest of the money to buy a 19" 1440x900 monitor.

Totally

Don't spend extra on the 1gb version. It is a low power card, so unless you are running a 200w PSU, you should be fine. It is also a very cool running card, so unless your case is sealed shut in a 40c room, again, you should be fine.

Look up the specifications of your model of computer.

Try google the model followed by the words "PSU specifications" and look at other sites besides HP.

or you could open the case and look at the side of the PSU. 99% of the time all the PSU stats are there, and if you don't understand what you are looking at, take a picture and post it.

The lable says that the max power output is 300W but it also talks about limitations of 268W and 175W. Also dose it matter that my processor uses 95W.

Yes, it can't hurt to have a spare lying around just in case.

The card is recommended for use with a 400w PSU, but manufacturers often recommend higher power than needed, to compensate for low quality PSUs. Often, the PSU included in pre-built computers like Dell and HP are decent units. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but be ready to upgrade your PSU if it can't handle the power load.

If, after installation, when you try to run a game, or any other 3d intensive task, it decides to shut off, give weird errors, or other things of the like, you may need a new PSU.

To make it easy to diagnose these things, when installing a new video card, I always do a clean windows install on a formatted hdd. When all the windows updates are done, I download and install the videocard drivers, and then start playing the games to see how it holds up.