need help choosing a PCI video card

hi i'm upgrading an old gateway computer beast from 2002. it has a 1.80 GHz Pentium 4 w/ 640MB ram. i'll be upgrading the PSU to a 500w, and slapping 2GB of PC3200 RAM in it.

so here are the video cards i'm looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133233
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161227

i have it narrowed down to those two cards, and cannot decide as i know very little on the subject. maybe someone with experience can help me decide, or suggest something better for a PCI video card. price is not a n issue, i just want the best PCI card :confused

 

I presume you're looking at PCI cards because you have no AGP slot. Is that correct? If you have an AGP slot, you should be looking for an AGP card.

Regarding the two cards you posted, I wondered why you picked two cards of different graphics chips (one ATI, one nVidia) and why you picked two cards so different in price. I've been using nVidia for quite a long time, so I'm not familiar enough with the ATI series to compare ATI and nVidia. But, just based on price, I would think the ATI card must surely be the better of the two cards.

If you want to look at other nVidia options that are closer to the ATI card you posted, you might consider this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133245

 

This is the card I put in my 6 year old Sony Vaio. This is the best card you can possibly get with the old PCI interface.

 

thanks for the replies. it must be a good sign that you both picked the same card, so i am much more confident now.

usafveteran, true this computer does not have any AGP slots. i chose those two cards after searching for terms like "fastest/best PCI video card". i'm impartial to chip/brand, but i have read that nvidia tends to be more compatible with linux (which is a plus).

 

Wow --- didn't know USA picked the same card! Glad to have helped none the less.

 

great minds do think alike ;-)