Graphics card upgrade

:wave Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro-939 - motherboard - ATX - nForce3 Ultra
Product Information

Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro-939 - motherboard - ATX - nForce3 Ultra

ATX - Socket 939 - None - Sound card - None - Network adapter - compatible with:Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX
and Radeon 9600 series secondary 256mb graphics card
was thinks of upgrading graphics card not sure which one? need it for watching films ,games and better pictures on google earth , can anyone Help :wave

 

It appears that you have an AGP video slot. This is an aging platform, and options for AGP video cards are limited unless you go with a used one. Look for a 256bit card for starters, and understand that with a powerful video card comes the need for a powerful power supply. Make sure your current one is up to the task. Some good 256bit AGP video cards are: NVidia 6800GT/Ultra; ATI Radeon X1900/X1950 (I just sold my X1950GT AGP card); ATI HD3850 (new; I think Sapphire makes 'em; about $200+); NVidia 7800/7900....

Good luck!

 

http://tw.giga-byte.com/Products/Mo...rd&ProductID=1875&ProductName=GA-K8NS Pro-939

Yup, it's AGP. And yup, there's a HD3850 AGP. Expect to pay more than the PCI-E version.

 

Is it worth going for a new motherboard as I have had this for a while and if so what would I look out for .....Cheers

 

IMO, it's not worth the cost of a new mobo if you're getting the same HD3850 PCI-E. It's more or less the speed of the AGP version. Unless you upgrade the cpu & ram as well.

Google "pc wizard" & use it to post your specs. What are you primarily upgrading for?

 

need it for watching films ,games and better pictures on google earth Will go to PC Wizard and see what they have ....cheers

 

What genres or games do you play?

 

strategy games ,my graphic card is ok but would like a better one to see thing in better definition

 

Mainboard : Gigabyte nForce
Chipset : nVidia nForce3 250
Processor : AMD Athlon 64 3500+ @ 2200 MHz
Physical Memory : 1024 MB (1 x 1024 DDR-SDRAM )
Video Card : ATI Technologies Inc Radeon 9600 Series (V350)
Hard Disk : Maxtor (164 GB)
Hard Disk : ST325082 (250 GB)
CD-Rom Drive : LITE-ON LTR-48246S
DVD-Rom Drive : TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-W162C
Monitor Type : Samsung SyncMaster - 17 inches
Network Card : Marvell Semiconductor (Was: Galileo Technology Ltd) Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 Service Pack 2
DirectX : Version 9.0c (November 2006)

 

That pc lags bad in modern real-time strategy games. Most every new game has gone 3D. If you really want to see a big difference in performance, you have to do a major overhaul. A new cpu, set of ram, mobo, gpu & psu. Take this as a starting point:

E1200 OR E2XX0
GA-P35-DS3L OR IP35-E
2X2GB DDR2-800MHZ
9600GT OEM
CORSAIR/EARTHWATTS/SPARKLE/FORTRON 450W

That'll come out to about $400 US. If you shop around, you might save a bit. You can use your old optical & hard disks. You can also get 2 gigs of ram. You can even not reinstall XP:

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=Articles&go=read&arc_id=36

 

Would it not be possible to get a new graphic card for my mobo :confused

 

Yup, get the HD3850 AGP.

 

:wave Cheers just bought a Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3850 / 512MB DDR3 / AGP 8X / Graphics Card thanks for all your help Akhilles