If you had this system, what graphics card would you upgrrade to?

[68Ripper]

Skuzzy says the graphics card here would be a problem because it shares memory. I don't know a lot about computers and would like some good advise for a better graphics card.

Specifications:

Processor: Intel® Viiv™ Technology with an Intel® Pentium® D Processor 940 featuring two processing cores
Processor Speed: 3.2GHz
Chipset: Intel® 945P Express Chipset
Processor Cache: 2 x 2MB L2 Cache
Bus Speed: 800MHz Front Side Bus
Memory: 2.0GB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2x1GB for ultimate performance) (expandable to 4GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive
DVD SuperMulti Drive with LightScribe Technology: 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 4x DVD-R,DVD-R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CDR, 32x CDRW, 40x CD-ROM
DVD-ROM drive: 16x max. speed
Video Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 7300LE graphics card with TurboCache supporting up to 256MB shared video memory, and TV-out
TV-out capability
Network Interface: Integrated 10/100BaseT network interface
Wireless Connectivity: Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g
Sound: Intel® High Definition Audio, 8 speaker configurable
Personal Video Recorder
TV tuner (NTSC) with personal video recorder and FM tuner (antenna included)
Fax/Modem: 56k modem
Expansion Bays: 2 external 5.25" (occupied), 1 internal 3.5" (occupied), 1 HP Personal Media Drive Bay(x) (available)
Expansion Slots: 3 PCI slots (occupied), 1 PCI-Express x16 (occupied)
External Ports; Front panel 9-in-1 memory card reader – supports Smart Media, xD, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Compact
Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, Micro Drive, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro
6 USB 2.0 ports (2 FRONT, 4 back)
2 Firewire® (IEEE 1394) ports (1 FRONT, 1 back)
Mic/line-in/line-out/center-sub/rear/surroun
Front Panel Composite Video, S-Video, and Audio Inputs
Digital Audio (Out/In)
Mouse and Keyboard: HP wireless keyboard and optical mouse with extended range (up to 16 feet)
Remote Control: HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver
Operating system: Windows XP Media Center 2005

[Hoarach]

Well I have a PNY VERTO 7600GS 512MB RAM and I dont have any problems with my PC.  I paid $150 for this card.  I only have 512MB system memory on top of that and I am able to run sliders all the way up and the run the high res textures and able to get easy 100 fps.  I rarely get below 70 unless in a giant furball with a lot of gvs on the ground or fire.  

My processor is a AMD 64 3200
Ultra X-Finity 500W PSU
2 HDs with 1 being a SATA

[Chalenge]

Geforce 7950

[Krusty]

Depends on your funds.

7600GT (NOT "GS" -- GTS also acceptable) is one of the best price-for-performance cards there is.

However, *if* you have more money, a 7950 or higher would be beneficial.

The thing is you can always upgrade the rest later, or take the vid card and pop it into a better mobo. 7600GT won't be bottlenecked by CPU, but the higher cards might. That's fine, though, as if you upgrade later you'll get more of a performance boost as the bottleneck is widened.

[RTR]

I'm with Krusty on this one.

I run a 7600GT on a pooter pretty close to what you have. I get great performance. A pretty decent middle of the road card still.

cheers,
RTR

[AKDogg]

Originally posted by 68Ripper
Skuzzy says the graphics card here would be a problem because it shares memory. I don't know a lot about computers and would like some good advise for a better graphics card.

Specifications:

Expansion Slots: 3 PCI slots (occupied), 1 PCI-Express x16 (occupied)
 

1 PCI-Express x16 (occupied)

Well, u say u using intergrated graphics but i do see that your pci express x16 slot is occupied.  What do u have in that slot?.  7600 cards run pretty good.  I have a 7900gt with only 256 meg ram and I never go below 55fps.  My video settings are:

4xAA
1280x1024x32 at 512 textures
all graphic sliders full left

[68Ripper]

Haven't got it yet, it should be here on Friday according to UPS tracker. I don't know what's in that slot AKDogg, maybe the 7300LE ? Like I said when it comes to computers I am the worst.

[AKDogg]

sry, my bad, was looking at wrong thing.  Yes the video card u have needs to be upgraded and is in your pci express slot.  If u on a budget i get a 7600gt.  If u can go alittle more but not the most expensive, get a 7900GT.   Stay away from the 8800's for now as the drivers are real buggy for them.

[Nemeth]

Originally posted by Chalenge
Geforce 7950

GeForce 7950 GT KO (retails around $350 Cdn) - higher bandwidth and overclocked by nVidia (so its stable)
the 7950 is for people who dont kno their vid cards or are too cheap to spend the extra $$ for the GT KO
and what evere you do, stay away from "Turbo Caching" its 5h|+,
if you want a GeForce 7xxx series go with the 7600 for price or 7950 GT KO for proformance
The 7950 GT KO proforms about the same (or a little bit less) as the 8800 GTS (not to be confused with the 8800 GTX)
I Co-Op at a computer store and the manager (who is not a moron) just sold his 8800 GTS and bought the 8800 GTX and he has had no problems with the drivers as of yet.

[Krusty]

Well, IMO, if you've got a 8800, you don't really need a 8800 GTX

Neither card's going to dip in performance for the next 5 years.



P.S. is your sig line (throwing cans) related to HL2?

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/11/17

[Nemeth]

well it isnt my $$ im wasting  lol,   he just wanted the extra 512MB of ram on the VC, and he only paid the difference of the cards, EVGA has a sorta promotional thing, if u buy a card from them and you want to upgrade all you have to do is send them your card and the $$ difference between them in 30 or 90 day of purchasing it

And no if u looked closely at my avatar it would make more sense

[TexInVa]

Originally posted by Nemeth
The 7950 GT KO proforms about the same (or a little bit less) as the 8800 GTS (not to be confused with the 8800 GTX)

I do not confuse the GTS with the GTX. I believe that you may have a processor bottleneck if you see the 7950 of any variate matching the 8800GTS in performance.

Web searches appear to show the 8800GTS outperforming two 7950GT KO's in SLI configuration.

[Chalenge]

Originally posted by Nemeth
GeForce 7950 GT KO (retails around $350 Cdn) - higher bandwidth and overclocked by nVidia (so its stable)
the 7950 is for people who dont kno their vid cards or are too cheap to spend the extra $$ for the GT KO

I was actually thinking about space requirements in the case. I went with the XFX 7950 GT with the HUGE heatsinks rather than fans because I had room in the case and the little fans dont do as good a job at pushing heat away. But his situation may require a different setup and he should check out the different card setups before buying.

I dont think the 8800 would be any advantage because the CPU will be acting as a cap on performance with his computer. I have 8800s now and performance went up 0 so I am using the 7950s and will use the 8800s in the next system I build.

[Nemeth]

The 7950 GT KO has a fairly small HS/Fan

and his processor wont put a big enough cap to worry about, has 2 2Mb chaches and its running at 3.2 Ghz, that should be sufficient to run the 8800

[Chalenge]

Its not a question of running it its a question of making use of it. I dont think it would give him any more advantage than a 7950 has to offer.