Want to upgrade my GeForce4 MX 420 Graphics Card

[bc_hawaii]

Hi,

I want to upgrade my graphics card on my Dell Dimension 8250 which has been using the GeForce4 MX 420 grahpics card every since I bought it. My computer is 2.4 Ghz and 512 RDRAM. What graphics card do you recommend for an upgrade? I'm looking in the $100-$150 price range. I want to have smooth playing with the newest games like Half-life2 and Unreal Tournament 2004.

BTW, if I upgrade my graphics card to another graphics card in the $100-$150 range, will I notice major differences?

Aloha,
Bronson

 

[technoman2]

Agp / Pci / Pci-e ?

 

[bcbronz20]

(This is bc_hawaii, I had to make a new username because I couldn't log into the old one for some reason)

What exactly do you mean by "Agp / Pci / Pci-e ?"

Sorry, I'm not tech savy about video cards and am not acclimated with their technical terms.

Thanks,
BC

 

[Giancarlo]

Those are different expansion slot terms.

Umm.. you will have to open your computer to find out which one... you have a manual for your computer and the motherboard?

And to answer your original question, if you spend $150.. you can get a medium range one. Yes you will notice major differences over that old Geforce4.

 

[bcbronz20]

I went on "My Dell" online and got some information, I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, please tell me:

ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), NETWORK INTERFACE CARD/CONTROLLERS, DIM8250

PROCESSOR, 80532, 2.4G, 512K, 533, SOCKET N, C1

IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel
Secondary IDE Channel

 

[airiox]

I recommend the 5700 Ultra or the 9600XT for that pricerange.

 

[Giancarlo]

I went on "My Dell" online and got some information, I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, please tell me:

ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), NETWORK INTERFACE CARD/CONTROLLERS, DIM8250

PROCESSOR, 80532, 2.4G, 512K, 533, SOCKET N, C1

IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel
Secondary IDE Channel

Does it say anything about having a free expansion slot? Those are controllers... not the info I need..

 

[bcbronz20]

Thanks for the quick replies:

Okay, I went to Device Manager and under "System Devices" I got these:

Intel(R) 82850/82860 Processor to AGP Controller 2532
Intel(R) 82850 Processor to I/O Controller 2530

I saw "AGP" so I got the feeling like this might be what your looking for.

THanks for the help!

 

[airiox]

Yeah so I recommend these for upgrades.

http://www.buyxg.com/store/item.asp?key=VC-105-210

This one is the nicest but a little more expensive. But will give you 33% to 50% more perfomance.

http://www.gameve.com/gve/store/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=VC-ALBA-026

 

[bcbronz20]

Thanks for the input... IN another forum I'm in, this guy said this:

"In that price range you'd want a Radeon 9600XT or a Geforce 5700 if you can find it.

If you can spend the extra money, a Geforce 6600GT is something like 4 times more powerful than those cards, and starts at around $220. So the price difference is well worth it."

What do you think? I really don't want to get out of my budget but from what he says, it's very tempting. Is he correct in his comparison between these cards?