Video Card Advice!!!

Hey Gang,
I'm thinking about Christmas what I really would like is to install a video card for light gaming needs. I only have a PCI slot. (no AGP or PCIe) I really would like your input and opinion on what video card should I install? My budget is no more than 100 bucks. (I know, I'm cheap)

My specs are this:
Dell Optiplex GX150
Pent. III 1 Ghz.
512 meg of RAM

Need more info, just ask. I'm hoping to able to play Neverwinter Nights. Possibly World of Warcraft in the future. (probably not possible, but I can dream)

Send me your links to places to buy. Really appreciate the effort and time!
:wave

 

Ye dude no offence, but that system is crappy...=( horribly outdated, pent 3 is pretty bad, i have an amd which is about the same as a pent 4 but still, only Ok thing but still isnt that good is the ram, PCI is crappy for graphics cards, going off the market completely youd need to buy a new comp within the next 2 or even 3 years, so id suggest that you buy a new one soon or upgrade important parts, but heres a link to a decent vid card for your comp http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130289

Dell Optiplex GX150 is your current graphics card right?
Heh mine came with a crappy geforce mx 4 so ye, mines still better, but way crappier

If it can play battle field, it can play WoW
Btw, whats your power supply? not sure about how much ud need for this specific card, but you need about a 300-350 at the least, i got a 500

gl in hunting for ur graphics card, hardest part may be installing it

 

Heh, that's the same vcard I bought back in July.

It plays Supreme commander on lowest, so It's okay. <_<

But I think my system needs upgrading soo too, what do you think?


MSI sumthin(cant remember right now) 1.9 GHz
1GB RAM
That video card

 

Well what do u plan to play? if just sc, which ive never played, but it looks like a rts? with nice graphics perhaps? depends, if you have agp slot, then you can get some nice slots, or a pci, than that limits it, u most likely dont have a price slot so ye but if its a agp i recommend the Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS (or GT which is the better but more expensive one) It may be a little costly, but its really nice if you have a pci slot, and have a budget over $100 id recommend
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143055
for well more "hardcore" gaming, just makes things seem more realistic, and life like, now im not a "certified" computer technician, so you may wanna take your computer into somewhere like bestbuy, and just ask "well were lookin for a few upgrades" and theyll do there thing and recommend something, but i suggest not buying it from bestbuy, only because theyre very pricey, now if youd rather get your vid card in store and right away and secure, than go ahead, but some people just like it a little cheaper and will wait a little longer for online services. and if you dont no how to install a vid card, u may want to want them to do it, if you mess anything up in your computer, it will screw everything up, trust me...id know...lol

and the reason why its kinda choppy or laggish and you need it on low, is your processor speed and well depending on the processor itself, whats the exact name of it? you can find out by going to start>right click my computer>hardware>device manager and pick computer

=)

 

woa woa woa...slow down there turbo. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dont recommend a physX card...those things were lose-lose every since they came out. no one is designing games to use a dedicated PPU, i think the only one was GRAW which didnt really even do much, just added more particles and a LITTLE bit more interactivity with the environment (ex: cars blow up into more pieces) There are a few games that were designed to show off the PPU like Cell Factor but eh...i wouldnt put my money on PPUs getting popular anytime soon.

as for the video card, for PCI this is the best you can get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103031

however, as stated above, you will need to upgrade your PSU, at least a 420W, to run this card. it may be tough to find a PSU that will fit in an Optiplex though, Dell uses proprietary PSUs (made specifically for their cases) and the only way to upgrade them is by getting a PC Power and Cooling PSU that they make specifically this type of situation. they are pricey though so it's up to you if you want to keep dumping money into this PC rather than saving for a new one.

Id recommend saving your money for now, you can build a mid-range system for ~$500 and then slowly build it up as money comes in. I recently put together a really nice gaming rig for a guy for $500 and it runs basically everything just great. (core 2 duo, 2 gigs RAM, x1950XT)

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and dont hesitate to ask if you have anymore questions

 

I would invest in a new pc if you can. A 1GHz P3 CPU is really slow and 512 ram wont run most of todays games. Also PCI is really slow for video cards. For now I would agree with Viper Boy. Save your money.

 

Thanks Guys!
I'll take your advice and start saving up. Keep in mind, I was only looking for something for light gaming. Playing some of the older games doesn't bother me as much. I'm just looking for a little fun. (I'm still playing Diablo 2, for crying out loud!) And yes, I realize that my computer is crappy. Mostly I use it to get online and my wife has an online business that she maintains. I don't really need something top of the line, like Alienware, just something that will give me a little push for graphics.
Thanks again. You guys rock!

 

My 2 cents worth, hold out for a few weeks as the new revision of cards are out in the next 3 to 4 weeks also. Wait and see what these cards have to offer to.

 

eh...i dont think that they're gonna be throwing PCI users any bones this go around...

 

I was under the impression they was but you got me thinking now. I will check it out. Apologises now if I am wrong.

 

oh i dont know for sure, it was just an assumption. time for some research for me too lol

ok found some stuff: http://www.voidedwarranty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2392

not sure what ATI's plan is though

 

You do now.

One of the big attractions of these cards is their low power consumption.

As for the person who spoke up thread about SUPREME COMMANDER. Although the graphics on that game don't look like much, it's requires a pretty beefy system to run.

C2D processor is almost a must, because everything in the game is simulated. In fact, it's one of the few games on the market that's been optimized for a Quad Core.

I only ran the demo of this game, but it ran pretty well with my C2D and a 7600 GT. Though a better card wouldn't be amiss. It's one of the few RTS games that really requires a fairly high end system to run well.

 

we're talking PCI here, not PCI-E

 

DOH!

Which I would have easily understood had I actually been paying attention. LOL

 

Your specs were:

>Dell Optiplex GX150
>Pent. III 1 Ghz.
>512 meg of RAM

The video card you can use on this machine depends on which form factor your chassis is also. Only the Tower will allow the cards mentioned here. The others, the Small Desktop and Small Form Factor will only take low-profile cards.

If you have one of the small factor chassis, your best bet is the GeForce FX 5200. This unit does have 1 AGP socket (4X).

 

dvtedgar,

Thanks for the update. I had no idea I had an AGP slot. I don't think I ever noticed it in my Device Manager. Someday, I'll have to crack open my PC and take a long hard look at it.