What graphics card to get?

Hi all, im a newbie so be nice

ok, so I have a decent pc but I have an absolutely nothing graphics card.

I want to get a new Graphics Card that will run the likes of Ghost Recon:Advanced Warfighter and when I say run, I mean run smooth, with a fairly high amount of detail at a resolution of 1024x768.

problem is i'm a student, so i want to spend less than £120 (about $230 USD).

I know absolutely nothing about Graphics Cards so I really dont know what to look for, I dont want to spend £120 and get something that wont run GR:AW.

I have a 2.8GHz pentium 4 processor and 1GB of ram, the PC is just over a year old (Dell Dimension 5100).

If anyone who knows what they're talking about can suggest for me some good cards i'd be very greatful, i've been looking at scan.co.uk and seen this and this and this that caught my eye, but like I say, i know nothing about Graphics Cards so i dunno if they're what i'm looking for, so i'm looking for advice and suggestions

Thanks in advance!

Steven

 

Well first of all what graphics card are you currently using?? and is it a PCI-e card or an AGP card. If its a PCI-e card then any one of those graphics cards that you mentioned would work, tho if your looking for something thats gonna give you amazing picture quality and really fast frame rates I would suggest the first card you mentioned this one. But really it all depends on your budget and what type of performance you want out of your card. Also I would recommend checking what wattage power supply you are using for your pc as you may need to upgrade that as well to run the new card at top efficiency. I would recommend a 400 watt or higher power supply for the card I mentioned above.

If you would like to compare different cards theres a really good site Here which will allow you to compare side by side 2 different cards (they have a huge list of cards, and I believe all three of the cards you mentioned where in the lists), so you can compare perfomance and features and prices, etc.

Hope this help!!

/bow

 

my graphics card is PCI-E.
how do i know what wattage i'm using?

Thanks

great site by the way, cheers

Ste

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Dimension_5100/4507-3118_7-31429803.html?tag=sub

This is your specs I assume. Install this for your pc info.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Yes, it's PCI-E. As for wattage, you have to open the side panel to look at the power supply's specs on a sticker. & yes, 7900gs easily.

http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/winfast_px7900gse_tdh_2.html

 

yea thats my spec (except for the RAM i added)
you say "7900gs easily" I presume you mean that is easilly the best of the ones i linked too. Will that run GR:AW well?

Many thanks

Ste

 

I thought this link was good..cant go wrong with toms oppinion.heres the link...
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/31/the_best_video_cards_for_your_money/

 

yea thats a quality... 404 error

 

1024x768 is the minimal pc gaming resolution. 7900gs will run GRAW well. I've played it on 7900gt.

 

having read this article it reads a lot about overclocking... what exactly is overclocking, how is it done and why should or shouldn't you do it?

 

You'll need a good rig to see any noticeable overclocking gain. Generic psu, value ram, etc. will only give you a difference in benchmarking. I don't recommend you to do it. Beside quality parts, time is needed for stable overclocking. After each small incremental overclock, run a few tests of memtest+, 3dmark, etc. to make sure the overclock is stable.

Last but not least, you void the warranty by overclocking.

 

thanks for all your advice, another question i've just thought of:
Is it worth me getting a new card now or would I be better waiting till DX10 comes out and getting a card made for that?

Thanks Again

Ste