Need Help Picking a Graphics Card

[mustangking]

Hi I got a HP Pavilion desktop about 2 years ago, I'm wanting to put a better graphics card in it. I done a little research already and found out that better cards require a better power supply so I plan on getting a new case and power supply so no real issue on enough watts just need to know what to get, so I don't have any bottle necking or slowing down. Here is my system info,

CPU: AMD Athlon x64 x2 Dual-Core 4100+
MoBo: ASUS A8M2N-LA (NodusM3)
RAM: 1024 MB DDR2 533 Dual-Channel (512x2)
Video: Integrated Nvidia GeForce 6150 LE (128mb shared)
PSU: 300W Max Standard ATX
Hard Drive: Seagate 320GB SATA
OS: Windows Vista Premium 32-bit
3 PCI Slots (2 open)
1 PCI-Express x16 (open)

 

[jyjjy]

You should replace the ram you have and not try to use it with new sticks. a 2gb kit (2x1gb) would be the most cost effective way to go, but a 4gb kit (2x2gb) wouldn't be entirely wasted either.

I dunno about that. If this is temporary just adding another gig and being done with it is a good idea imo. It will save money and let him afford a decent processor sooner. When he does replace the motherboard he will likely want DDR3.
You can use DDR2 on an AMD build however... this is why I recommended either getting the bare minimum or just rebuilding the whole thing. Decisions like what kind and how much ram you should get, how much power your PSU needs to provide, what video card you should buy, ect. are all going to depend on what your end goal is in terms of a new build.

 

[tom thumb]

This sounds a lot like my old machine... I also had a Pavilion with a 300W PSU - it came with the same integrated graphics - and if I recall, it didn't have any peripheral 6 pin or 8 pin power connectors. Most cards nowadays require these.

If you don't want to also upgrade your PSU, then I'd check what power adapters you have available and make a video card selection based on that. If you have no peripheral power (as I didn't) then you'll need one of the low-end cards that gets it's power directly from the mobo - such as the HD 4650 (~$50). With a card like this you'll be able to run most games at 1280x1024 with med-high settings and no AA - with a playable frame rate.

Some other notes:
- Virtually any video card you choose will be better than the 6150 integrated, when you're at the bottom, the only place to go is up
- I strongly agree with some of the other comments about upgrading your ram - especially since you're running windows vista. Quite frankly I'm surprised you haven't run into ram problems before. I'd recommend at least 2Gb, you can get a 2gig kit (2 x 1gb) and replace your existing ram, or get a 1gig kit (2 x 512Mb) and populate all your slots, although the former is better, the latter is probably cheaper.

 

[Emperus]

I downloaded the CPU-Z program but I dont know what I'm looking for on the ram little help ?

Run the program and click on the tab titled memory.. It'll give you all the information..