In need of help with my video card pls

[jasminerobbo]

i have recently purchased the sims 3 game, and am not able to play it as my video card needs to be upgraded to support shader model 2. i have tried doing research as to what video card i may need, but i do not know much about computers and feel as if i am trying to read a foreign language. below is some information about my pc, if anyone is able to point me in the right direction as to what video card may best suit me, your help would me much appreciated.

operating system : microsoft windows XP home edition
service pack : 3.0
manufacturer : Hewlett Packard
model : HP d530 sff (PH118PA)
BIOS type : COMPAQ BASIC Restart your system
BIOS Date : 2003.07.10
Chipset : Intel 2570 rev 2
graphics card : Intel (R) celeron (R) 82865G graphics controller
approx total memory 96.0MB
processor : Intel (R) celeron (R) CPU 2.60GHz
Memory : 504MB RAM
direct X version : direct X 9.0c
current display mode : 1024 x 768 (32bit)(75hz)
monitor : plug and play

and i have a AGP video card slot.

hope i have supplied enough info to get some feedback.

 

[darkvine]

I am not sure how well your computer is going to play the game with that CPU and Ram even with a new card though I am guessing at that display it should do alright.

Here is what you need

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161237

 

[jf812]

I would recommend buying at least 512 MB of RAM which is really cheap these days because that would make your system as a whole run better especially the game. Also i would recommend this card: http://www.amazon.com/nVIDIA-GeForce-8600GT-Express-s-video/dp/B001L5GX5Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1251280873&sr=1-3

 

[techgeek]

System Requirements for The Sims 3

FOR WINDOWS XP
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
1 GB RAM
At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

Ok, so first off you need to double the amount of RAM you have. RAM is so cheap now, it's probably worth it to ditch the 512MB DIMM and get 2GB. As for a graphics card anything contemporary will be sufficient. ATI cards in AGP (X1650, 2600XT, 3650, 4650) all should be well suited for your system. nVidia cards are pretty scarce for the newer GPU's on the AGP bus for instance Newegg only has cards from their FX 5XXX line and 6XXX series. These are pretty old GPU's. I can't seem to find any nvidia cards available for retail in the 8000 series. A 7600GT would be ideal, but I didn't see any on Newegg. It seem's to me that at least for AGP cards your best bet is ATI.

 

[darkvine]

well the requirements of must games are always a bit more then you actually need to run the game but yes, you really really should get some more ram.

 

[blackhawk1928]

THANK YOU! Somebody actually follows common sense, you see other people posting stuff about which video card i need and give no system specs. Congrats you are one of the first I have seen to do this in this board Cheers

-Anyway, as much as the truth doesn't sound good, i will be honest, i wouldn't waste money on a new card, i would just buy a new system. A 2.6ghz single cored celeron with 500mb of ram isn't going to do anything unless you are running linux which are probably not and need a more powerful computer Best of Luck