Question about installing a video card for gaming?

I share a computer with my father. It is a very good windows xp that i use for gaming. every spec is good except a very bad video card. Geforce 6150SE nForce430. I'm unable to run games from 2004 on max graphics because the card is holding me back. My dad wants nothing to do with changing the video card so it's up to me. I'm interested in something that will let me play upcoming games like starcraft 2 or diablo 3 on fairly decent settings without lagg or freezing. I would like reccomendations for a good video card, and i dont mind spending over 100 dollars for one, as long asi get my money's worth.



Also, i'm not too big on computers, is installing a new video card difficult? How is the process itself?



Thanks|||Well, the card I have is an NVIDIA GeForce 9400GT and it is a pristine card. It will be worth around $80 - $90 but it will be worth it.



Installing a card is just like building a model car, it is straight forward. Just place it in a port and you're away. One proviso, make sure you have an internet connection. It is best to download the driver from the manufacturer. You know what you're getting that way.|||Okay, so let's approach this situation realistically. First of all, I would love to help you find a video card appropriate to your needs, but to be honest with what information you've given me I can't make a decision. If you have hardware questions, you should post all your system specs, so us tech geeks can tell you what you need as accurately as possible. This includes motherboard model, power supply, cpu, operating system, and anything else you feel might help us.

As far as your performance issues, you may very well be having performance bottlenecks in your video card, but many other places are well. Technology is moving very quickly!



Here are the UNOFFICIAL UNTIL VERIFIED BY BLIZZARD system specification requirements for Starcraft 2:



Minumum Requirements

GFX: GeForce 7/8 Series or Radeon 1000/2000 with 256 MB RAM

CPU: Pentium 4

RAM: 1 GB

Internet: ADSL 1 Mbit



Recommended Requirements

GFX: GeForce 8000 or Radeon 2000 series with 512 MB RAM

CPU: Core 2 Duo or Athlon X2.

RAM: 2 GB

Internet: ADSL 3 Mbit



Optimal Requirements

GFX: Geforce 9000er or Radeon 3000er Series

CPU: Core 2 Duo 3 GHz or Athlon X2

RAM: 2GB with DualChannel mode



Nothing official as far as the system reqs on Diablo 3, so I can't really give you any reliably grounded advice!



Installing a new video card can be broken down into easy steps. Completely disconnect computer, open the case, remove old card restraints, remove card, install new card into appropriate slot, fasten card, and restore the computer case. There are lots of great resources online for examples, look around google and youtube!|||1. Please confirm that you are using the VGA socket on the mobo itself?

2. What add-on cards do you have installed?

3. follow the link below - scroll to bottom of page that shows orange, white and yellow slots. White slots are regular PCI which can take medium quality graphics cards.

The yellow slot is a PCI-E slot that will take a high end graphics card.

BUT - check to see if you have a PCI-E power connector on your PSU, which is a must for the best cards (also a high wattage PSU - mine is 460W and only just enough for a 9600GT)



Remember, if you only have a VGA monitor, pick a card with VGA output, else you will need to buy a HDMI-VGA adaptor)



Finally check the "Requirements" listed for the games you want to play - especially the RAM needed - and let that be your starting point in checking which graphics card to buy.

Fitting is a breeze - turn off completely at wall socket (leave plugged in to keep anEarth (Ground) connection).

Remove casing and check out your available slots (a fat card needs more room than you think)

Remove the blanking plate closest to the slot you want to use.

Remove all dust from the slot (vacuum cleaner and soft fine brush)

Plug the card fully home and fit securing screw.

Fit PCI-E power plug if you went for high-end card.

Transfer monitor cable to new video card and power up.

Check fan on new card spins up - if not, power off immediately and check connections.

"New hardware detected" - should ask for installation disk - etc etc

Have fun!

Video card for gaming computers?

im looking at getting a gaming computer and cant decide which video card would be best for my desktop is 1GB Nvidia Geforce GTS 240 that much different compared to 1.8GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 260.



thanks|||definitely go with the gtx 260 as it is much much better than the gts240...the gts240 is a low end card and the gtx260 smokes it.......performance is like night and day......so if you have a chance to get the gtx260 i would highly recommend it....you will be a happy gamer........





Scott

Is this motherboard/video card/CPU good for gaming?

Im looking for an affordable mother board and video card(s) to run hardcore games on my machine. I built my machine my self, but i want to improve it with a decent mother board (SLI) and 2 video cards good for gaming. im thinking of buying the following motherboard and video cards, but i dont know if theyre good enough to run next gen games on them:



Mother Board:

MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA775 ATX Motherboard MS-7350-010, nForce 650i SLI Chipset, Supports Intel Core 2 Quad Duo CPUs, Dual DDR2

114$



Video cards (2 of them):



Two ZOGIS GeForce 8500 GT 512MB PCI-E ZO85GT-E

219$

(109$ each)



Im gonna fit this board with my pentium 4 proccessor with 3.2 ghz and HT. If anyone knows a better way to configure my gaming machine at an affordable price please let me know. (im mainly looking for info on my motherboard and video card, but if you wanna comment about my proccessor thats fine because im looking for a good AMD proccessor).



Any help would be appreciated.|||The board and processor are great but do NOT go with the 8500 GT's...You would think that since it has a GT at the end of it, that it should be a rocket. Let me tell you from experience this isnt one of those times. I owned one for about 45 minutes and took it back. I was trying to upgrade from a XFX6800 extreme(SLI) and thought that it I would notice a difference and I did, worse! I play Ut2004 quite a bit and get 80+ FPS (frames per sec) with the old 6800 extreme and got 20-30 with the exact card you are considering. It is not at all a gaming card (8500 or 8600 GT). If you are going to upgrade and are tight on cash, the 8600 GTS is the way to go. If money isnt an option, go with the 8800. I went with the 8600 gts and see some difference during game play. I hope this saves you from the time and headache that I went through...|||your processor sounds fine its just the video cards that are a little weak. try puttin in an Nvidia card if not 2 of them. that will make everything run smooth. the dual core will help as well. The GeForce cards sound just as powerful as the Nvidia but maybe a bit weaker. thats all i got.

Will video cards eventually reach a peak where they can no longer improve significantly any more?

What I mean is, certain games, like crysis, already look so close to real life that it makes you wonder if games can possibly look any better. Since a GTX 280 can already max out crysis, how much better can video cards and graphics overall possibly get?|||well, as a computer nerd, for the past 10 years i have been thinking the same thing, i look back now and 10 years ago graphics sucked so bad! but, maybe you are right|||games will always look better, you'd look at crysis and say wow this game can't get any better, but when Crysis 2 comes out you'll see it could. GPUs will continue for a LONG time maybe in 80 yrs where we use virtual helmets then ya it might slow down ... a little.|||I agree with you. I already think blue-ray on TV is unnecessary as dvd is good enough for me. I will buy a blue ray when more than half of the disks in video rentals are blue ray.

Video cards?

yea i have a dell dimension 2400 and its video card is built into the memory. now i own rome total war and it runs fine but i downloaded medieval total war 2 demo and it says it needs a video card that supports shader 1 and the only upgrade video card wise on my comp is a pci video card. do you guys know any pci cards that support shader 1 and also if a demo works on your comp does that mean the actual game should as well?|||You're in a tough spot only being able to use a PCI (not PCIe or AGP) card. There are only about 3-4 cards left that are even semi decent. Either an NVIDA FX5200 pr ATI 9250 will have to do and both will use SM1-2 (but not SM3) and only the FX5200 will do DX9 - but it's better than IGP =). I would get the FX5200 -- or if you can find an 6800NU (non ultra) I would grab that because that one will do SM3 but it's very hard to find in stock anywhere. Again I would just nab the FX5200 it should be a good match for your system.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…|||Skip looking for shader one and 6000's series nvidia card with 256 megs of ram best buy or staples have them for about $50 Plus it will allow you computer to use all you ram with out sharing. I have a 5200 nvidia with is slower but Haven't found a game that doesn't work on it.|||The only way to get a better shader is to buy a whole video card. Nowadays one's ith 2.0 shader should cost around $60.00.

How big of a diffrence does turbocache make when it comes to gaming?

My video card is the nvidia 8400gs, with 512mb of built-in video ram. If I enable turbo cache, how much of a difference will it make when it comes to gaming?



Also, with this video card, what is the maximum amount of ram I can give to it using turbocache?|||It will probably make your game run slower. If at all possible get ANY other graphics card with the second number being a 6 or an 8. Example: 8600 or 8800 6600 or 6800 7600 ext....|||There's a good chance it will make it run SLOWER.

What is a good video card to use for Revit Architectural program?

For the 2010 version and future version. I want a card that will last a good while. From what I've read, i don't need a very powerful video card for Revit. I was thinking the Nvidia 250GTS 512mb or the 1gb version. Would i actually need an extra 500mb of vRAM? Anyway, any other suggestions are appreciated.



Again, i don't need a powerful card. All I'll be doing is modeling, rendering etc, nothing like playing games.|||http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis…