Member Avatar for Bryfry221

I'm looking to upgrade my video card from a Nvidia GeForce 7300LE to something a bit better.

My system specs are:

Windows XP sp2
2gb ram
3.00ghz Pentium D cpu
Dell 0WG864 Motherboard
(i think that's all, tell me if there's something else i need to post)

Which cards would be compatible and what should I get for better gaming use. I can play Bioshock, crysis demo, timeshift and other new games, but only if they're at the lowest settings right now. I'm looking for something that will allow me to play them fairly smooth at higher settings and hopefully not too expensive.

Also could someone tell me how to know what is compatible with my computer?

  • 5 Contributors
  • 6 Replies
  • 118 Views
  • 6 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by dirt14
Member Avatar for Serunson

First off what GFX (GFX = graphics card = video card) slot you have in your computer? This is either PCI-express x16 OR AGP.
This is crucial to know because they have a different slot and they have a different set up.
Otherwise all cards of that type (either AGP or PCI-express x16) will work with your computer as long as you install the drivers for that video card. I would personally go for an ATi card, because i know about them the most and i have never used an Nvidia product. But i would shop around the internet and high-street stores seeing as prices for cards vary massively.
Also seeing as you don't currently own Vista you can't run any GFX card that has DirectX.10. So i would advise going for a card with 512Mb of VRAM as on-board memory, if you do want to upgrade to Vista then go for a DirectX.10 one, so that you can run Vista. Also for increasing the gaming experience, for Bioshock especially, that game is very high-end graphics and is probably better off with a Duel Core processor of some sort. Your RAM amount is fine. Also another thing to consider is the size of your PSU (power supply unit) if the wattage (W) of your PSU is too low then it will struggle to run a high end graphics card.
Anyways here is a place to start of your search for a new graphics card

Member Avatar for Bryfry221

my computer has a pci-e slot, any recommendations for a nvidia card?

Member Avatar for Serunson

This one would seem to be a pretty good video card all round

Otherwise such through different websites/high-street store to find the offer right for you. Look for 512Mb of on-board memory as a must if you want to play games of the future.

Member Avatar for carljonson07

Windows XP sp2
2gb ram
3.00ghz Pentium D cpu
Dell 0WG864 Motherboard

excellent...
i wanna ask u , do you have to buy a new gpu . also i would prefer nvidia ( i dont remember the card exactly)

Member Avatar for jbennet

be careful. dells have crap power supplies (which you cant replace) so you probably cant put anything better in - also the dells cases are crap design (cant be replaced either) so those "fat" cards wont fit

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.