I'm trying to find me a decent graphics card that will allow me to play most computer games without to much lag on at least the games lowest settings. I tried to find a guide on here about how to pick the right graphics card, or how to compare graphics cards but couldnt really find any good guides so... My budget is a MAX of $150 but I would really love some suggestions under 100. My computer is a Dell inspiron 530 with a Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU q6600 @ 2.40GHz 4GB Ram Running on Vista Home Premium 64bit I'm not really sure what all information you need (I know nothing about Graphics cards) so if you need more just say what info you need here. Thanks
Just the basic one that comes with the computer, I actually haven't changed anything out I'm more of a programs person not hardware (I know its horrible). Name - Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family Chip Type - Intel (R) GMA 3100 As for wattage of my PSU it too is the standard one that came with my computer... feeling ashamed now... and I'm not really sure how to find its Wattage.
the radeon 4670 (cost $80.00)is a decent lowend card that will play every game available. As long as the settings aren't set too high for the newer games they run fine. Also this card doesn't need a separate power connector like the higher end cards. It plays my racing games (flatout ultimate carnage, Need for speed games) they look very good on the screen and no slow down even when I have the settings on high. Even my radeon 4350 (cost $40.00) plays my need for speed games and ultimate carnage. But this is more of a budget card but is better then my ati 9600 pro (bought 4 years ago for 140.00). Just make sure the video card has the shader 3.0 or higher. The newer games won't play if the card doesn't have this feature. The only drawback with the radeon cards, the fans can be loud depending on the brand of the card. The diamond brand radeon I bought had a very loud fan, some people say the sapphire brand uses better fans. Once you narrow what card you want, check youtube there are many videos showing the video cards in action.
Thanks alot for the suggestion, I'm planning on going to buy one either tomorrow or sometime this weekend. What exactly does a shader 3.0+ actually mean - Got me curious now.
An HD4670 will do just fine. Shader Model 3 is a graphics technology employed by newer games to produce more realistic looking effects.
