michael_ed :
do u no of any graphic cards with a shader model 3.0 that will work on a compaq presario desktop computer.
Shader model 3 is not the latest version of the shader, it is the Shader Model 4.0 a.k.a Direct X 10.
Which cards support shader model 3.0?
Well, i can tell for Nvidia.
Have heard anything like GeForce 7200 GT. This is an example of a card model. notice it has a 7 in the begining (don't bother yourself much with numbers after 7)
So when you see GeForce 7xxx - card is direct x 9 card and has shader model 3.0.
And when you see GeForce 8xxx ex: 8600GT 8800GTX. Card has shader model 4.0
There are also more powerful versions of cards available but the shader model hasn't gone beyond 4.0.