Graphics card upgrade

[Potsie]

I'd like to upgrade my graphics card and the Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4800 seems
to fit my budget. I'm kinda new at this and would like some feedback. Any
thoughts??? Thanx in advance!!! Here are my system specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Dell Computer Corporation
System Model Dimension 4300
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel Pentium 4 ~1594 Mhz
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 301.00 MB
Total Virtual Memory 1.35 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1,017.10 MB
Page File Space 866.40 MB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

[EGMcCann]

Not familiar with the system itself - does it have a "real" graphics card,
or is it built into the mainboard? (Easiest way to tell - is the port you
plug the monitor into parallel with the other ports, or is it off by itself,
perpendicular?) If it's built into the mainboard, you might not have a
"real" AGP port to put the card in, in which case you'll need a PCI based
card. You'll also need to find out how (or if) you can disable the onboard
video.

 

[Jeff]

ok... first... don't spend your money on a geforce 4
card right now... I am selling my card this week and
getting an GeForce FX 5600 250 Meg card.... they are
currently $50 more expensive than the 4's right now...

all the new games coming out (Doom 3, Halflife 2, etc.)
are all using DirectX 9 ... and the Fx cards are the
only DX9 certified card... from Nvidia...

also... the TI 4800 card is basically a 4600 card with AGP
8x i would be willing to bet that your motherboard only
supports AGP 4x if so you are wasting your money on
extra memory bandwidth that you can't even use...

My suggestion with your setup and current prices would be
to get an FX 5600 in a 128 Meg version...

Check www.leadtec.com and Chaintech.com.tw
they have a bunch of these cards with good stats on each...
just some food for thought