What video card can I get for my computer?

[Holiday]

Hey, I have a highly modified HP Pavilion a375c Desktop computer. It has a 3.0Ghz Intel P4 with HT Processor, 3GB of RAM, and a NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 128MB DDR Memory graphics card. I want to upgrade my video card to the best NVIDIA card that is compatible with my mb. here is a link to the system specs http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00063272# It says the mb has a "AGP 8X/4x slot", so would this card work on my mb http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...duct_code=340768&Pn=GeForce_7600GS_Video_Card and if so, is it a good card and would a notice a system performance increase? Also I'm not very experienced with graphics hardware so let me ask some questions. If I have a bad video card, will it use system resources like the CPU and system Memory (ram) to compensate for not being very powerful and slow down my comp or does that only happen with on board video? And if it doesn't use other system resources how is it going to increase my systems performance? Sorry but I'm very ignorant when it comes to video cards, I tried to find info by searching Google but all I could find was "It's good to have a better graphics card", but I'm not quit sure how it's going to speed things up or make things look better, if that makes any sense

Also (even know it's kinda lame) here's my Vista performance info (note: I'm currently only running off 1.5GB on ram.)

Base Score: Determined by lowest subscore. [2.6]

Processor: Calculations per second. [4.2]
Memory (RAM): Memory operations per second. [4.5]
Graphics: Desktop performance for windows Aero. [2.8]
Gaming graphics: 3D business and gaming graphics. [2.6]
Primary hard disk: Disk data transfer rate. [5.6]

System   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  Manufacturer PSLA1 
  Model PSLA1134 
  Total amount of system memory 1.50 GB RAM 
  System type 32-bit operating system 
  Number of processor cores 1 
  64-bit capable No 
 
Storage   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  Total size of hard disk(s) 849 GB 
  Disk partition (C:) 46 GB Free (150 GB Total) 
  Disk partition (D:) 55 GB Free (108 GB Total) 
  Disk partition (E:) 45 GB Free (149 GB Total) 
  Disk partition (F:) 4 GB Free (234 GB Total) 
  Disk partition (G:) 107 GB Free (208 GB Total) 
  Media drive (H:) CD/DVD 
 
Graphics   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  Display adapter type NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) 
  Total available graphics memory 462 MB 
        Dedicated graphics memory 128 MB 
        Dedicated system memory 0 MB 
        Shared system memory 334 MB 
  Display adapter driver version 7.14.10.9686 
  Primary monitor resolution 1280x1024 
  DirectX version DirectX 9.0 or better 
 
Network   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC 
  Network Adapter Microsoft Tun Miniport Adapter

Thanks, Holiday.

 

[SubDude199]

ANY video card that says AGP 8X will work in your computer.. BUT if your looking for a higher end card, then you need to have a certin size power supply to run it, if your running a stock PSU (Power Supply Unit) then chances are that it will not be powerful enought.

the 7600 series is not the best you can get for your computer, but it is a nice midline card. Its a bit older, but then again so it AGP 8X.. current technology uses PIC-Express 16X slots for video cards.

for price I would highly recomend buing all you computer related stuff at tigerdirect.com or newegg.com.. they are both VERY trustes sites with AMAZING prices.

If you want the best car you can get for your computer with money not being an issue I would go with a Nvidia 7950GT, this is on the top 5 Nvidia card list at the moment, and its only $270.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3013023&CatId=2234

upgrading your video card will not affect performance besides gaming/video editing, its not got to make your computer faster. only more ram or a bigger processor can do that.

with a dedicated video card (not onboard) the video and system ram are complerlt seperate and do not share at all.


If I missed anything or you would like to set a price range on a card, I can help you find soehting, just post.


also, you might want to check how many watt your PSU is and how many amps it has on the 12V rail. there should be a sticker on it with all this info.

 

[PohTayToez]

the 7600 series is not the best you can get for your computer, but it is a nice midline card. Its a bit older, but then again so it AGP 8X.. current technology uses PIC-Express 16X slots for video cards.

True, but it's a nice card for the price, and you will definitely notice an upgrade coming form a 5200

 

[SubDude199]

I agree, but the first post does not mention price as much as performance, I believe hes looking for the best card that his PC will accept. let us know what your looking for holiday

 

[Holiday]

Thanks for all the info! And yes I'm more concerned about promofrance than price. I too found the 7950 to be the best AGP 8x out there. I still am a little confused about a few things though...

with a dedicated video card (not onboard) the video and system ram are complerlt seperate and do not share at all.

if this is true, than why in my post above does it state that "Total available graphics memory 462 MB", "Dedicated graphics memory 128 MB", "Dedicated system memory 0 MB" and "Shared system memory 334 MB" ???
Also if it shares system RAM then it could potentially slow down performance, right? also if Graphics performance for windows Aero = 2.8 and I can use Aero than why would it get a low rating for it? Sorry I know I'm asking weird questions but I just can't quite understand it. Let me try from a different angle, Ok I tried to play Halo on my computer and when I looked around it was very slow to respond and jerky. I believe some of this was do to the fact that my graphics card isn't very good. However I also believe that my CPU was cranked up to 100% also (Not positive), so if my processor was running hot, does that mean I have a slow processor too or is the processor some how being use more, to compensate for a bad VC? thnx