Need a graphics card for old computer

I have quite an old computer, and it won't play minecraft or some other games my family want to play due to an old graphics card, it will play online games e.g. on facebook but any to download will not, I have an acer aspire SA80 with windows xp on, I know it is old, just a graphics card for the time being as I am thinking of buying a new one around christmas time for my family, thanks in advance

 

I can't really recommend a graphics card because of the different sizes of the cards. Replacing the graphics card may require relocating the hard drive.

You're probably going to need a new higher wattage PSU and some additional RAM as well.

 

i checked google for your make and model of pc, every place i checked had replacement mobo's for it and they showed agp ports since your trying to play old pc games, check sites like newegg.com for low priced agp cards
i checked newegg for agp cards and this is the best one i found since i don't know the requirements of minecraft http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130635

 

Thanks MA.

@Chris - I agree to go with an AGP card as the motherboard specs shows it supports AGP 8x. Newegg has 16 AGP cards to choose from.

Note that adding RAM generally provides the best bang for your money - depending on your starting point. However, replacing integrated graphics with a card that includes dedicated graphics RAM (and all cards do) will also provide a small (albeit, very small) RAM increase too as previous stolen... ...err I mean "shared" system RAM used for the integrated graphics will be freed up. Still, if running with a small amount of RAM, I recommend increasing that first (to 2Gb - the max your board supports). Maxing out your RAM will not likely require a new power supply either, but WILL provide an overall performance boost (again, depending on how much RAM you have to start with).

And note graphics solutions tend to be power hungry, often more power hungry than the CPU so I also agree with the above advice to ensure your power supply is capable of supporting the increased demand. That specs sheet says your computer came with a 250W supply. That is not very big to begin with and if there have been any hardware upgrades since new, you may be pushing the limits already.

 

i checked the manufacturer of the card i sent you a link to just incase you decide to buy it and they reccomend a 300 watt psu minimum with a + volt current rating of 20 amps http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=512-A8-N403-LR

 

I think you should consider if it's worth the expense and trouble to upgrade that computer with a graphics card and power
supply since Microsoft support for Windows XP ends in April 2014 and there will be no more security updates..

After that, the computer may become increasingly vulnerable particularly if you will be online downloading stuff.

Power supplies lose capacity over time, estimated 5% to 10% a year.
This will help calculate the PSU requirements. The nvidia GeForce 6200 is in the drop down list for NVIDIA Brand cards.
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp