Do I need a Video Card? - Please Read

Do you want to buy the card for gaming ? or you just think that the new monitor requires a new Video Card?

There is no point in upgrading your video card unless you upgrade your CPU.

Your Radeon 9800 has a DVI output and your monitor has DVI input as well.

@ilysaml: The video card would be for everyday use. I chat on irc, play cs 1.6 + nba2k, surf the web, youtube, and watch movies. I wasnt sure if I need a new video card with the monitor i was purchasing in a few weeks or if i could get away with the Radeon 9800 PRO.

What do you guys think is the best Nvidia Card for say 200$ or less?

put another gig of ram in it. /or 2 1gig sticks...... don't mix and match. that will help more than anything.

what do you use the machine for, or what does it do that would make you think you need a new card ?

@swifty_morgan I Just figured since I was getting a brand new monitor thats pretty top notch for gaming and stuff maybe it would require a new video card as well? But yeah Ive been using this same setup for about 3-4 years not and just thought maybe I should upgrade these parts?? But if guys think Radeon 9800 pro will hold off with the new monitor than ill stay with that. Yeah im going to look around for another stick of Ram as well

there may be an impact but as poster above says........ cpu and rest of machine would need upgrading to push a better card. some games may lay waste.... depending. things will look better though. try it and see how it goes.

about the things looking better......... this is an old card. no dvi/hdmi connection ?. could be that old. if it's still getting hooked up using a VGA connection you won't be taking advantage of the monitor. will look almost the same as viewing the CRT.

Got it. Alright maybe its time to upgrade everything

VGA is completely capable of pushing 1080p. Maybe not at the same refresh rates, but it's still fast enough that you won't be able to see the difference anyway. Am I missing something?

But yeah, I agree with everyone else; I'd just save money and buy an entire new system when it stops being able to do what you want it to. A Pentium IV would bottleneck basically any decent modern card, and it's safe to say that you'd want a better power supply if you buy a new graphics card that has any considerable power draw.

you are missing the point. viewing hooked up via VGA will appear "fuzzy" in relation to DVI or HDMI.

SO basically I shouldnt get a new video card unless i upgrade my cpu first correct? And theres no point of ordering a New monitor because I wont notice any difference with the radeon 9800 Pro ?? So guess i have to upgrade cpu first and then go from there ..... ya ?

Yes.

but if you are not going to get a barebones, then upgrade the cpu and RAM. if you are gonna get a new GPU, check your RAM and PSU to make sure they will support it. the CPU/GPU u need depend on how hardcore of a gamer you are. you could get i3-2100 CPU w/ a radeon HD 6950 or Nvidia GTX 560 Ti. both are in the low $200 range. make sure your PSU is 500w. and make sure your MOBO can support it

Best answer selected by mortl.

Yeah that setup is really old. You say you've had that computer for 3-4 years? There is no way it was new even back then. Pentium IV's haven;t been but in new machines in ages. Like since 2003-2004 (guess). You really wouldn't be able to upgrade your video card anyway because I'm willing to bet it uses AGP slot type and newer video cards use all use PCIe. So you would need a new motherboard, in which case your processor would also no longer be compatible. But you definitely need a new computer. And I dont know why that other guy says VGA will look fuzzy, that is not true. I am using a 24" monitor right now @1920x1200 hooked up through VGA and I really can't tell the difference in clarity than when it's hooked up to my other computer using DVI. So the new monitor will be nice and big, but I wonder what the max resolution on your video card is anyway. Or if it even supports widescreen resolutions. Your new monitor would like have a native resolution of 1920x1080 at that size (23"). If the resolution and aspect ratio is not compatible with your ancient video card, it will probably turn out looking distorted and worse than it does on whatever monitor you are using now. I'm not trying to insult you or your system, but you should save your money and buy a new computer. Just some friendly advice.

That kit sucks. Geforce GT 520? Check the benchmarks on that. It's horrible, and scores lower than many GPUs from 4-5 years ago. You wouldn't be able to play hardly any newer games on that.

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey