PC gamers! I need your help!

[NeoGC]

Ok,so I have a crappy computer,and for christmas this year, we're not on that big of a budget. From my dad, I am going to ask him for a new graphics card so that some games will run at LEAST decent.

My computer is a Dell Dimension E310 (Don't laugh.) and currently I only have the graphics card that comes with it (which sucks.) So, your job,PC gamers, it to help me find the best graphics card for this computer that will be best suitable for gaming.

Thanks everybody!!

[WaywornMmmmm]

You should find out what power supply and what PCI slots your motherboard has before you pick out a card. You will also want to make sure that the card will fit in your case. If the power supply is less than 500w, you will probably need to upgrade that as well.

On the nvidia side, the 9800 is pretty good. I'm not sure how well that will fit your budget though.

[greatman3388]

WARNING

Make sure your motherboard can support PCI Express 2 graphics cards! If it can't, you need a whole new computer! Take it from me!

[NeoGC]

Originally Posted by greatman3388

WARNING

Make sure your motherboard can support PCI Express 2 graphics cards! If it can't, you need a whole new computer! Take it from me!

I don't NEED a computer that'll run all the recent games. Just something that'll run TF2 and Half life and all the others comfortably. As for my Graphics card slots I'm pretty sure they are PCI,which if you know even a little bit about graphics cards,you'll know that they are the worst kind. My graphics card is:

Intel (R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset family.

I dunno if that is it or not,as I wewnt to my device manager and looked under "Display adapters".

I can tell you for a fact that mine is the built in one. As for Express 2,probably not. My computer is pretty good for nothing, and getting a new computer is out of the question,seeing as my parents are on a tight budget and are not gonna spend 600$ for a new desktop. >_<

[greatman3388]

No, I mean, if you don't have PCI Express 2, the card won't work. At all. If you look at this post, you really DO have a crappy card.

The last update for that card was in mid 2005. PCIX2 came out in 2007. Your computer will not be able to use an Nvidia 9500, or basically any card worthy of running HL2 or TF2.

Long story short, your MoBo can't support it. You have two options. Buy a new MoBo (which in turn basically means you need all new parts) or just get a brand new desktop, somehow.

Sorry bro.

[Little Laurence]

Heh, I just got a new motherboard. Thing is you have to reactivate Windows.

[Whyme123]

You generally don't buy a new motherboard unless you are building your own computer..

[Shaz]

What is the average specs for a gaming quality computer anyway?

2000th post

[mebecj]

Originally Posted by greatman3388

The last update for that card was in mid 2005. PCIX2 came out in 2007. Your computer will not be able to use an Nvidia 9500, or basically any card worthy of running HL2 or TF2./

Actually, if you're running The Orange Box and nothing better, you can run it on a PCI card. I've been doing it for a while, just make sure it's got at least Shader Model 2.0 and you're in the clear.

[greatman3388]

Originally Posted by mebecj

just make sure it's got at least Shader Model 2.0 and you're in the clear.

I can't for the life of me find a PCI card that has ANY shader, let alone 2.0

[mebecj]

Well, I think you can actually be lower than 2.0. I'm running an Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4200, and it runs The Orange Box just fine.