NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GS w/512MB

[sviper11]

The card came with a decently priced computer so i was wondering if it was a good card. Specs are


PROCESSOR
AMD Athlon X2 4850e (2.5GHz/2 x 512KB L2 Cache)

MEMORY
4GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x2048MB)
Total memory slots: 2 DIMM

HARD DRIVE
500GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive

PRIMARY MULTIMEDIA DRIVE
LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVDRW w/Double Layer

GRAPHICS CARD
NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GS w/512MB

TV TUNER
N/A
SOUND CARD
Realtek High Definition Audio

COMMUNICATION
N/A

NETWORKING
Realtek RTL8201CL 10/100 Mb/s

KEYBOARD
HP multimedia keyboard

POINTING DEVICE
HP scroller mouse

EXTERNAL PORTS
Front:
15-in-1 memory card reader
Two USB
Headphone

Back:
One VGA
Four USB
One IEEE-1394
One LAN
Audio (speaker out, line-in, microphone)

DIGITAL MEDIA
15-in-1 memory card reader

OPERATING SYSTEM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)
SOFTWARE
HP Total Care Advisor
Recovery Manager
Hardware Diagnostic Tools
HP Photosmart Essentials
Adobe Reader

DIMENSIONS
105 x 340 x 275 mm

If i can can i upgrade the video card?

 

[Its_Me_Mario]

For new games it will not step up to the plate. For DVD watching, web browsing, Vista GUI it will be more than enough. I do not really know what a 9500 GS is, but am am pretty sure (could be wrong) that it is an on board GPU that id comparable to the 9500GTs.
If you are not into games it will be fine, otherwise plan on the upgrade. 8800GTs cards are still decent. I currently have one and they are beginning to flood ebay for under $100, but take into taking into effect that that that computer will be pretty darn energy efficient by looking at the specs, I doubt that it has a good PSU to handle today's video cards.
If you are not in a hurry for this computer, like to save money and are somewhat a DYI kinda person who likes to learn, I would suggest building your own. Going to the right online vendors, you can build a PC twice as good for a good savings. I knew nothing about computers a year ago and decided to go this route. I did it piece by piece, slowly turning my old PC into a completely different computer. In the process I have learned how to troubleshoot my own problems (saving more money) and realized a lot more features that customized my PC way better for me than any Store bought. Also, some store bought PC's are hard to upgrade for lack of info on components such as the motherboard (or at least it was like this a year ago) and some come in cases that are difficult to manage internally when upgrading. Some might not see this as a perk but I do... Buying a Windows OEM CD is not expensive at all, and if you are a college student, your school may have relations with MS for student software. I bought Office 2007 Enterprise, XP Pro 32 bit, XP Pro 64 bit, and Vista Ultimate 32 all for under $100 (collectively)!! Store bought PCs always have a buttload of BS advertising programs preinstalled. If you would like more info send me a message and I will give more info.

Taking from what I have learned in my journey, that computer would have to be dirt cheap.

What will you be doing with this PC, are you a college student, if so do they have software offers? If you are not, do you have a sibling, child, neighbor, etc. that is a college student?

Wow, this medication gets me ramblin'. If anything I have said strikes a note I will continue.

 

[Its_Me_Mario]

Found this thread on here

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/253001-33-9500gs

 

[sviper11]

Thanks and well the pc was (Pops bought it for work and school) only 300. now i would like to upgrade the video card what do you (or other people) think my limit. or how would i go about getting a better card if i have to breakdown the computer (ie. Motherboard,)

 

[sviper11]

ATI wouldnt hurt either just wonderin my max

 

[Its_Me_Mario]

Do you know the motherboard? If not Download something call CPUID or CPUZ (same thing). Google that, download it and run it on the computer. It doesn't require install. You can run it from flash drive. It will come up with a window that tells you your Motherboard, what graphics slot it has, memory type, pretty much the whole nine yards. Then open the side of the case and look and look for a stick on the PSU that says how many watts it handles, and the brand of the PSU (brand is important)

Those are the two major criteria for upgrading GPUs. Get the right slot and have enough power. I'd guess you have a generic PSU at 300-400 watts output, and the slot is probably PCI-E (which is good). You may need to upgrade PSU as well depending on how good of the graphics you wnat