Graphics card help- Can my computer support it?

Our family owns a Windows XP Home desktop that’s about four years. But recently I discovered that it doesn’t have a proper graphics card. A friend helped me find one on newegg.ca that seems reasonably priced appears promising. But I need to know if it is actually able to work with my computer. My computer has an Intel 915G Express chipset. Someone out there please help me! The real question is whether this card will support (or can be upgraded to support) Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.

Here are the tech specs of the card. If you need to know more about the computer let me know.

Model
Brand EVGA
Model 256-P2-N753-TR
Interface
Interface PCI Express x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer NVIDIA
GPU GeForce 8600 GT
Core Clock 540MHz
Stream Processors 32
Memory
Memory Clock 1400MHz
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D API
DirectX DirectX 10
OpenGL OpenGL 2.0
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO No
General
Tuner None
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2560 x 1600
RoHS Compliant Yes
SLI Supported Yes
Cooler With Fan
Dual-Link DVI Supported Yes
HDCP Ready Yes

 

Not enough information.

1. Does your card have a Pci-E slot? It's 4 years old so possibly (probably not)

If not, then no, that card won't work.

Need specs on your PC first before any educated guess can be made on the graphics card.

 

If you mean PCI Express slots, then yes I do: One x16(J6C1, whatever that means) and one x1 (J9C1)

 

Need to know the PC brand, or the case and power supply specification to say if it's compatible.

 

For the graphics card, there were no specs concerning power

These specs come directly from the owner’s manual on my computer, under the heading ‘Power’ (sounds kinda obvious but just to make it clear)

DC power supply:
Wattage 305 W
Heat dissipation 434.6 BTU/hr
Voltage 90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz
Backup battery 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell

As for brand, the computer is a Windows XP Home Edition, Version 2002, made by Dell. Its processor type is Intel® Pentium® 4 with HT Technology.

 

Still need to know which Dell it is, for example Dell Dimension 3000.

 

In system info, it says Dell Dimension DIM4700. That what you're looking for?

 

It's a standard PCI express tower, so the 8600GT will fit. A far better buy, however, is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102854
(Assuming you don't have anything plugged into the neighbouring slot)

 

Thanks, but I think I'll go for the one I already chose. Besides, I'm Canadian, which means I'd have to spend more money even before S&H, and I'm not exactly made of money at the moment. So, thanks, but no thanks.

But the question still remains: Will this graphics card support (or can be made to support) Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic?

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102854
I don't take people ignoring my advice personally don't worry, but sometimes why people pass up having a graphics card three times as fast for almost the same cost really does escape me.
At the very least get this:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161262

 

I couldn't use them even if I wanted to. I dont (think) I have PCI Express 2.0 slots, and both that you suggested still cost too much for my budget. If you could find a card that can perform better than the one I've decided on, is $50-, and is compatible with my computer specs, I might consider it. But can you answer the KotOR question?

 

Also, the one I found had good reviews and ratings, and was recommended to me by my friend, who is a computer techie kind of guy

 

PCI express 2.0 cards are still backwards compatible with PCI express 1 slots.
Still almost twice as fast as the 8600GT, and $50.
Either of the cards will run KOTOR, but you certainly stand to get the best performance from the HD4650.

Edit: just realised it's a US link.
The HIS card posted is about as cheap as you can get for 4650s in canada, but $9 for double the performance? Hardly seems much to ask.

 

There are lots of "computer techies" I know that have almost no clue when it comes to stuff like this. While I'm not suggesting your friend doesn't know what he's talking about, in this day and age really, cards like the 8600GT are poor value for money because they are too old.

 

go to youtube and type in the model of the video card you want and there will be video reviews of the card in action. The newest games require that the card have at least shader 3.0. The older games where happy with shader 2.0.

 

I'd advise against youtube reviews, they provide absolutely no insight on what detail levels the cards are able to produce because the image quality of the video is so poor. If you want to know what they're really like, study benchmarks like those found at bit-tech.net, driverheaven.net, techreport.com and hexus.net.

 

Does this mean I can install it without having to go through too much installation trouble? And what about the reviews on newegg.ca? The one I chose had far more positive reviews

 

Sadly, most of the people on newegg are idiots, who thought the card was bad because they broke it. Also don't forget most people who have no problems with a product won't think to come back and review it, but typically people with negative experiences will.
Most of the people moan about fan speed, which takes all of 5 seconds to fix.
Installing a new graphics card isn't difficult, you just need to uninstall the old graphics drivers and then install the new ones (preferably updated ones from the AMD website - the CD ones are always outdated).

 

Most people will give an item 5 eggs simply because it works fine and they're happy with it, the fact still remains that the 8600GT is a lot worse than any of the cards Sam suggested - he speaks nothing but the truth