Well I bought my pc about 4 months ago thinking it would be up to date nowdays in I go to play gears of war,guitar hero,and some other games,and my pc lags seriously bad,so I decide to look at the requirements and it seems my gaming card isnt up to par,could someone help me in decideing in which is a compatible card to get at a good price.Im not looking for the best of the best unless its cheap.lol I am looking to spend about 200.00 at most I am a assuming that Geforce card would work but like i said i am new to inside pc stuff so i'll ask the pro's before i screw stuff up.Below is my pc specs thank you • Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Processor AMD Athlon™64 X2 5000+ (dual core)(AMD LIVE!™) 64-bit processor with AMD64 technology Operates at 2.6GHz | 2 x 512KB L2 cache | 2000MHz FSB Chipset NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150SE Memory 2048MB DDR2 Memory, Dual Channel (2 x 1024MB), 667MHz (PC2-5300) Expandable to 4GB 4 DDR2 slots (total) | 2 DDR2 slots (available) Video NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150SE integrated graphics (up to 128MB shared video memory) PCI-Express (PCIe x16) slot available for upgrade TV Tuner6 Analog/digital TV tuner w/ 3-D comb (PCIe) Ports: (1) analog TV, (1) ATSC antenna, (1) stereo mini-jack audio, (1) S-Video, plus S-Video to Composite Video Dongle, Vista™ Media Center remote control Audio 8-channel (7.1) high-definition audio Amplified stereo speakers (USB powered) Hard Drive 500GB SATA II (7200rpm, 16MB cache) Optical Drive 16x DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive Up to 8.5GB with dual-layer media Write max: 16x DVD+/-R, 8x DVD+R DL, 6x DVD-R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-R, 32x CD-RW Read max: 12x DVD-ROM, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-ROM Digital Media Reader High-Performance 15-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader up to 40x faster xD-Picture Card™, CompactFlash I (CF), CompactFlash II, Secure Digital™ (SD), Mini Secure Digital™ (Mini SD™)7, Multi Media Card™ (MMC), Reduced Size MMC (RS-MMC)7, MMC Mobile7, MMC Plus, Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick Duo8, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Pro Duo8, SmartMedia, IBM Microdrive™ Communications 56k ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port) 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port) Interfaces 6 - USB 2.0 Ports (2 Front, 4 Rear) 2 - IEEE 1394 ports (1 front, 1 rear) 1 - VGA 3 - Analog inputs (front); Composite Video, left/right stereo audio 1 - Parallel port 1 - Serial port 2 - PS/2 ports (keyboard and mouse) 6 - Audio (rear): center/sub, rear (stereo), side (stereo), line-in (stereo), front/headphones (stereo), microphone 2 - Audio (front): microphone, front/headphone (stereo) 1 - RJ-45 Ethernet port 1 - RJ-11 Modem Port Expansion Slot Total Available 1 - PCI-E x16 1 - PCI-E x16 1 - PCI-E x1 0 - PCI-E x1 2 - PCI 1 - PCI Expansion Bays Total Available 3 - 3 1/2" 1 - 3 1/2" 2 - 5 1/4" 1 - 5 1/4" Gateway Portable Media Drive Bay Input Devices Elite multimedia keyboard USB optical two-button wheel mouse
I just read a review today about the best video card under $200. I'm not going to repeat all the details. Here's the link to read about it.
That looks pretty good.Is there any thing else that maybe i should upgrade by looking at my spec's?thanks again
the 9600 looks good but ati just dropped prices to compete with it. i would recommend the 3870 because you can get it for about 200 and it will overclock nicely. i have seen benchmarks and a 3870 and 9600 are even when the 9600 is overclocked and the 3870 is stock. http://techreport.com/discussions.x/14192 http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/21/nvidia_geforce_9600_gt/
power supply. once you get a graphics card, you'll need a new power supply because the one that comes in the computer won't be able to handle all of the components. many members would recommend one of THESE corsair units. you would only need a maximum of 500watts, so the 450VX or 520HX will do.
I will also need to know what power supply you are using.your choices might be limited by a sub standard psu.
If I were to buy the card in power supply,what advantages would I see over my xbox 360?Also will this stuff be outdated in like a year or am I worring to much.You always hear about how a pc is already outdated by the time it hits the shelf.And I guess my last question is will I see a improvement on video played on my pc or is that a different card?Seems like some video is a little crappy and not crisp.Thanks your a great help so far.
Your PC will be more powerful than your 360 with a good graphics card. This stuff might get outdated because PC tech moves so fast, but your xbox 360 ain't gettin upgrades either so it will still be better than the 360. Now if game programmers write shitty code for the PC and better code for the 360 then the 360 games will look better, so it depends on a game to game basis.
if u can spend 200 dollars then i would recommend u to buy this. i got one of these last week and had no problems and it also runs all of my games. Good thing about it is that it has shader model 4.1 and directx 10.1 so when those come out you'll already have them.
here is the link to the card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103051&Tpk=diamond+radeon+3850
K so now I am finally ready to make a buy ,and I decided to go with the Corsair 450vx PSU, Cause mine is only a 300 watt.And A HD3870 card But Im not sure witch one to buy cause there is 1 full page of them from all different price ranges on newegg Does it matter which one I get?Is there a difference in performance or just diffrent mfg.Thank you
Can you get an 8800GT? That would be my choice. PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004 Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329
i would also go with an 8800gt. it will outperform the 3870. but not by too much if you still want it i would get this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103050 i have the Corsair 450vx an i can run an 8800gt on it so it will be fine with either card. but you wont have much leftover power for alot of things. if you have alot of stuff, multiple hard drive and dvd drives and lots of accessories like fans then go with the one abuzar suggested. if you just have a basic setup and don't plan on adding much then the 450vx should be fine.
LOL By the Time you guys get done with me my wife will divorce over this pc but hey lol.K if I go with this card Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329 Do you see at the bottom they offer a combo deal with a power supply K if you select see all deals they have a combo deal for 299.00 with this psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182069 Would this be a good route, or go with the one that abuzar selected, I see it's got ton's of plugs.
do not go for that combo. roswill makes crappy power suplies. get the one abuzar suggested. never cheap out on a psu, you could ruin your computer.
Rosewill? Never. Go with the Corsair, it will serve you well. It's got less watts, but that doesn't really matter, it can handle a lot.
