Best graphics card option?

Hey what's up fellas? Well i've been thinking about the possibility of buying a graphics card for my compaq presario. My pc came with an OK graphics processor, but i'd like something more. The problem is, i don't know which pci express card to buy. I would like a graphics card that can handle stuff that the xbox 360 could... just to put that out there. Any ideas? (i would prefer an ati though) Oh, and my pc is a athlon 64 processor 3500 1.0 gigabyte ram 250 gig hard drive. Also has windows xp media center. Also requires a pci express card. Any help will be appreciated it, thanks!

 

What are you upgrading from?

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Im upgrading from an ati radeon express 200 series it came with my compaq when i bought the thing

 

I did a little looking around, I am unfamiliar with that one. That is onboard video right? I don't have a XBox, so I am out on that also. I have an ATI X850 XT in my current rig (DFI Lanparty board, AMD 3700 CPU) and I am happy with the X850. Not a high end card, but I can play Doom3, Far Cry, and CSS with no problems, no lag.

It really depends on your budget. If you are wanting something to compete with a new gaming console, you will need to spend some cash! If you just want better performance, the X850, or even a less expensive card will help you out.

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yes it is an onboard video card. The thing is...it does pretty decent actually. It plays halo pretty good but at a 640x420? (i think is the right size) resolution. Crappy resolution, but it looks as good or better than the xbox version of halo. I'll look into it, but thanks for your help!

 

No problem, if you find a couple of cards you like and can't decide, I am sure someone can point you in the right direction.

E

 

how much do u want to spend here?

also, if you upgrade TOO much your CPU will become the bottleneck. You will most likely need to upgrade your power supply as well

 

Good point Viper, I did not think of that. What PSU do you have in your computer themodest?

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i have no idea...i need to check. But i did find that the ati radeon x1650 pro has graphics similar to xbox 360... or so i believe. But i will check up on the psu later, for now i have to go to work. Thanks again.

 

i wanted to spend less than 200 bucks to answer viper's question. Which is about the price of the ati radeon x1650 pro. But i saw on a couple reviews that the fan on-board the card is really loud. so i'll have to check it out....

 

you can get an x1900 for a little under $200 which will blow the x1650 out of the water

 

he can get an X1950 Pro $175-ish..

 

I have a similar set up to that and use an ATI x800 XL (passive cooled version). You will find you can play most games at more like 1024x860 with one of those or above.

Usual rule of buying a graphics card applies...

http://tomshardware.co.uk/graphics/charts.html

Look before you buy (and listen to viper boy, he know's his GPU's).

 

x800s are good cards but only have pixel shader 2.0. new games require or make good use of 3.0 which the x1XXX series have. check out the link than orbital posted, the x1900/1950 cards do VERY well and are a heck of a bargain

thx for the compliment

 

Thanks so much! I actually looked behind my forbidden computer case to find out that ... well i frankly don't think that the power supply would suffice for the x1950 pro. Though the x1950 pro looks kick a$$. The requirements for the x1950 pro asked for a six pin power supply connection, but i just have a 4 pin connector(s). Im kinda computer illiterate, but how can you find out how much wattage your psu is putting out?

 

There should be a label on the power supply that will tell you the maximum power it can output. As for the 4-pin connector, they make 4-pin to 6-pin connectors. Often times the video card comes with one.