graphics card issues.

I have been looking at graphics cards and stuff since me and my sisters started getting super annoyed with our games. they play games on the computer and kept asking why is it so slow. I checked the specs of the computer and everything seemed great. I went to a friend and he told me " sure it lives up to all the system requirements but the graphics card is low grade."
"What the heck is a graphics card?" i said.

yes i was that much of a goober. so i started looking around. Now i've seen a lot of configurations and i heard a testamonial from this one guy who said he was glad that he went with the dual 256mb nvidia gt . . . something or other instead of the dual 512mb nvidia gt . . . something or other. so my question is why would less MB be better than more. wouldn't two 512MB be better than only two 256. both were called SLI enabled (which i hear is really top of the line). so what should i be looking at in the configuration and power of graphics cards. should i go with just one card or look into the SLI if i can afford it? What the heck should i do? i'm starting to get a headache from looking at all these things when i really don't understand any of it.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

I seriously doubt that you need SLI if you have been happy with what you are currently using and it's really at the low performance end of the market. SLI is a method of running 2, generally high spec graphics cards one one PC and is in my opinion for either very serious gamers or people money to burn (yes I'm jealous!).

It would help if you can let us know what you currently have on your PC and if you could let us know a budget then I'm sure you will get plenty of good advice.

My advice is that the upper middle end of the market is always the best place to buy from as you get a good trade off between price and performance. It really depeneds on the games you will be playing.

My knowledge of current graphics cards is a little out of date but I would suggest a GeForce 6800 GT or better.

 

Well i really have no idea what kinda budget i'm dealing with because my parents control the flow of money. they don't want me choosing the most expensive. (like my sisters would.)

I found the booklet that came with the computer but it doesn't say anything about graphics card. I'm guessing it just has a basic graphics type stuff.

By the way do you happen to know about that other guy's testamonial? I mean why would the SLI with two 256MB cards be better than the SLI with two 512MBs? I mean I really want to understand that, the whole less is more kinda thing has never really applied to my experiences with computers.

Also when dealing with graphics cards (and proccessors for that matter) what should i be looking at to determine a good one?

 

Dont worry about SLI because your computer would support it anyways. Download Everest Home (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181) and attatch a log file in your next post; We need to figure out what type of graphics card your computer can use

 

Theres a huge margin where price is concerned,you could by a video card for $50 or $600 or two for $1200 if your computer can support them which well know if you follow viper boys advice,you really need to ask how much your allowed to spend or it would be pointless anyone suggesting a card\cards

A $300 card will enable you to play most games at decent frame rates