GPU upgrade

The memory on the GPU is not the same as RAM memory. There is no problem getting a new GPU even if you have maxed your supported RAM

Buth of those cards are too slow to make use of 2GB ram. It is a marketing gimick. Buy the cheaper 1GB edition of those cards for watching movies etc.
They are not gaming cards.

+1

Are you wanting to play games? Give us a budget and the rest of your specs and we'll set you up.

Thanks for the replies I’m not a hardcore gamer myself but my son plays Minecraft, TF2 and Sims 3. Also used for Solid Works. He says that it lags a bit for him and a GPU will make it better I was going to buy a GPU for him and so I can connect it to my TV and watch movies without lots of buffering. It’s an older computer made in about 2006 was awesome in its day  I’m willing to spend about £30-50 on a GPU.
The specs are:
Pentium D 805 DC @ 2.66 GHz OC @ 3.00 GHz
Integrated Graphics: ATI Radeon Xpress 200
Motherboard name: Asterope2-GL8
RAM: 2 GB of 240 Pin DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz
PCI: Three (Three available)
PCI Express x16: One (One available)
PSU: I think it is 300W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

For your budget and power supply this is probably your best deal.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
A visiontek ATI 4670 1GB Anything more powerful or newer would wreck your budget. Meaning a new powersupply would also be necessary.
A little faster than the cards you suggested but lower power draw for the weak power supply.

EDIT:
See if you can find a comparable card on your local UK websites that you prefer and we will see what we can find for you.

I just sold my IBM ThinkCentre M52 which had a Pentium D 945 and a GT520 in it (for movies on the bigscreen, light gaming) and it suited my needs very well. However, my 64-bit OS could only see 3GB of RAM once my 1GB video card was installed. This is the only time I have even heard of this - my friends thought I was making it up.

With a 300-watt PSU I would reccomend buying from a local retailer in this case: for the few dollars more you spend (if any, try to get them to price match), you may get a decent return policy should something go amiss.

If you are buying from a store that have website, please give us the link so we can select whatever is best & available at your budget.

It might be worth knowing that lag in minecraft doesn't really mean an underpowered PC.

This would work as well. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-asus-hd-6570-1800mhz...

I'd strongly advice bumping budget by another 10 pounds and make your son happy with this one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX...

If you cannot spend that much, HD 6570 is a bit of a step down. Yet, it's still way more powerful than either GT 520 or GT 430 (note: those cards weren't made for gaming in the first place. Nor is HD 6570, but if your budget doesn't allow higher, there's not much you can do).

Thanks for lots of replies. I don’t really know what I’m looking for in a GPU I just want his games to run smoothly and my movies to do the same. Can you guys help me make my choice of GPU? Is it better for me to get an ATI/AMD GPU as it is already integrated in it?
This is what I was thinking of getting:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/pny-nvidia-geforce-gt-430...

Did you just ignore my post?  
Basically, at your budget range, AMD gpus are cheaper for same performance levels. That GT 430 is very slow. It's not even a gaming card. I'd really advice you going with HD 6670 (or, only IF you cannot afford it, HD 6570).

Sorry Sunius did not mean to do that.
But now I know to get AMD and not nvidia as they are cheaper and just as good. Proberly get the HD 6670 and see if my son will pay the extra ten pounds as it is proberly me who gave it to him  
Also as I'm new, how to I pick the best response and end the thread?

Many thanks  

Don't get the wrong impression - nvidia cards aren't bad. They just don't have any competition at all below £120. Above that price, the competition is much more fair and it's worth getting cards from both companies. But when you're buying card for much less than that - amd clearly wins.

And to select the best answer, hmm, well, just wait for a moderator to edit your topic to "question" instead of "discussion" type. Just remember: when next time asking something, make sure to select your topic as "question" type  .

Anyway I can't have the AMD HD 6670 as I read it needs 400W PSU and I only have a 300W one.

Well, take that with a huge chunk of rock salt, because what really matters is the amps on the 12v rails. Also, both Nvidia and AMD overestimate to cover their butts in case someone tries to run one of their cards on a weak, no-name, 10-year-old PSU.

It does not need that. Graphics card companies overestimate the requirements just in case some one tries to run the graphics card on a system with ten hard drives and three optical drives. On your average PC, the whole system won't surpass the 180W mark WITH HD 6670:



Taken from http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6570-rade...

I wouldn't have recommended it if it wouldn't fit  .