Wanting to upgrade my ATI Radeon X1200!

[Guest]

Hello, my friend recently gave me his old Acer Aspire am3100-u3201a desktop that currently has an ATI Radeon X1200 video card. I don't really know much about video cards and which are compatible with my machine but I would like to upgrade to something that can handle SC2 more smoothly, it currently runs it "ok" on low settings but gets laggy and slow at times. I don't necessarily need anything great, maybe just something so I can play it smoothly on medium settings if possible. I'd like to keep it around $100 or under if possible. I know I may need to upgrade the PSU as well since the current one I have is only 250W. If anyone could kindly point me in the direction of a semi cheap video card + PSU I would greatly appreciate it, thanks!

 

[wa1]

I can't find any more detailed info for your Acer...
Can you tell us it's full specs here?

 

[plastichairball]

I know its not a popular suggestion, and one that many will frown upon, but I've always got all my hardware off Ebay. Having said that, I do LOADS of research and comparisons before I buy stuff, and I've never had a problem. So that's where I'd go if I were you, mind you since you're in the US a lot of people say that newegg is quite the place to get your kit from. Its possible, you just to research really really carefully! Read as many reviews of the graphics card as you can (not just the type, like 9800 Gt but the make of card e.g Xpertvision, Leadtek etc), read all the system requirements REALLY REALLY carefully and try to get a cross section of opinions. A lot of people will say "X card runs on a 500W power supply with no problems", but check to make sure. And when getting a PSU, make sure it has lots of amps on the 12v rail to run your graphics card!