Upgrading my video card

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puffy_plus

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I do a great deal of online gaming. Currently I have a Nvidia GeForce 6600 Gt video card. Can someone please suggest an appropriate upgrade that will not break the bank? Thank you very much.
 
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glaex

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gts 250 are 110 on newegg right now and 4770 115, those are cheapest capable cards you can get. the 4770 is a little slower but its an xfx with higher ratings and the 110 gts 250 is a sparkle model with some mixed reviews
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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Those are good cards but considering even the HD4670 is about 3x more power than the OPs current card and $50+ less than than the cards you are talking about saying that they are the "cheapest capable cards" isn't really appropriate imo.
 
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striker10001

striker10001

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online gamming in the sense.... forgames like....c0d-4,6..cs-all,,and many with decent fps.... go for xfx 9400gt or 9600gt......they've got g96 gpu's and good clock speed of more than 600 and 740..... the 9400gt is 2500 inr...and 9600 is 5000 inr...[24-50$] ...
 
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namelessonez

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Agree with jyjjy. He would be happier of with a 9800 GT or the 9600 GT at the least. I switched from my 9400GT 1gig for the same reasons. Got the 250GTS 1 gig and am pretty happy with whatever I throw at it!

So, if you're looking at gaming on moderate resolutions, the 9800GT/ 9600Gt are ideal. If you wanna go nuts, get the 250GTS 1 gig! :)
 
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puffy_plus

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sabot00

sabot00

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Open up the case, there should be a silver box with a big sticker with a lot of Voltage, amperage, & wattage settings.
Make sure to tell use the Total Watts, the Amps on the +12V rail, the Total Watts on the +12V rail (only applicable if there is multiple).

As for the graphics card, get a 4650, anything more would be bottlenecked by the CPU.
Here's the cheapest 4650 with a 128-bit bus:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161303&cm_re=4650-_-14-161-303-_-Product
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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Yeah, no point in spending much on a video card when you have a pentium 4. I would recommend an HD4670 over the HD4650 though. Both of the cards are quite low power so the PSU shouldn't be much of an issue.
It's theoretically possible your motherboard can handle a better processor but unlikely. We can tell you if you tell us what motherboard you have. If you don't know you can run this program;
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
Then tell us what it says for the model on the mainboard tab.
 
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puffy_plus

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I checked the power supply and all I could see was the following...250Watts total. Input: 100-120 V,200-250 V...50-60 Hz...The sticker was on the side of the power source and was next to a fan. I could not see further without removing the fan...Which I would not dare do. It seems obvious after reading your comments about the cpu that my daughter basically needs a newer computer. I will have her run the program you suggested for the motherboard and post the results. I cannot thank you all enough for your input and advice.
 
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puffy_plus

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Incidentally, I read the reviews on the card suggested and was wondering if there might be another card. It seems there are quite a few problems with the one card. I certainly do not mind paying more for a better quality card. Any more suggestions?...thank you in advance.
 
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puffy_plus

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It has been a bit so I am not certain if you will remember my posting...Was inquiring about a video card for my daughter. Circumstances prevented us from running the program suggested. It was to find the motherboard model...It is from Dell and the model is 0T2408. If there is no hope for this, please just say so. She has been lagging so badly and I want to resolve the issue. I cannot without your help. If a better cpu is possible, please give me the information. Also, does this change your suggestion for the video card? Thank you for all your input.
 
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jezzarisky

jezzarisky

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The computer your daughter is using may still be running on PCI slots instead of PCI Express slots which may also cause problems for what gfx cards can be used on the motherboard. click here for a guide: (http://www.playtool.com/pages/vidslots/mballslots.jpg)
 
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puffy_plus

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Thank you for your input. However, I now have another issue. I did order an ATI card but everything I am reading says that there have been issues changing from Nvidia to ATI...system restores,etc. So I am wondering if I should even install the new card. Do you happen to have any information, or even an opinion, on this? I posted this same question earlier but being a newbie I cannot find where I posted the question...Egads. Thanks for your patience as well.
 
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jezzarisky

jezzarisky

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Also while changing cards, make sure to touch some metal in the case to ground yourself(before taking out the new card) so as not to send an electric shock to the new card you just bought.
 
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puffy_plus

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First let me thank you again for your patience and advice to this gamer's mom. I have found out that the video slot is AGP and the power supply is only 250... does not seem like much...though it does handle the Nvidia card. I am wondering is there a way to increase the power supply(does this affect the performance of the motherboard?)...If there is, can it be done through a USB port?...If this is a silly question I apologize in advance. Also, I am wondering if you could suggest a video card compatible with the AGP slot. I had to return the ATI as it was for the PCI express slot. Hopefully with your input I will finally be able to surprise my daughter...Oh, incidentally she has 2 gigabytes of ram. I do not know if this makes a difference. Thanks again.
 
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puffy_plus

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How nice to receive such a quick response. None too soon as my daughter is yelling at her computer at this very moment. Thank you for the advice on the video card. I will order it immediately... I was wondering if you could tell me about the power source. Is that something that must reside within the computer case? Or is it possible through a USB port?...Also would more ram help this lagging situation?...
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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Yes, PSUs are internal. You haven't said how much ram you currently have but it can probably help.
General slowness/lag of a computer can also be caused by too much spy/mal/bloatware running in the background. If you don't have proper scanners these are free and good;
http://www.free-av.de/en/trialpay_download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
running something like this wouldn't hurt either;
http://www.ccleaner.com/
 
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puffy_plus

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I was afraid the power source had to be inside the computer. It was nice of you not to make fun of my inquery. My daughter has 2 gigabytes of Kingston ram. I will order her another stick since you said it might help. As for the problem of malware...She has AVG full version, adaware and spybot...She is pretty careful with her computer as her WOW account was once hacked. If you think she needs other programs please let me know. You have been kind, patient and very helpful.
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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The scanners she has should be fine. Malwarebytes is a bit better than adaware or spybot though imo.
Adding another gig or 2 of ram could help but 2gb is pretty good for a system that old. If it's mainly just gaming performance that is the problem then just get the HD4650. It should help a lot. With a system that old replacing more than one part generally isn't a good call compared to just ditching the system and upgrading entirely. If you have the money you can build a much better system for about $300 if you can recycle parts from the old system(hard drives, monitor, case, dvd burner, ect.)
 
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