Video Card Question

[BlackArrow]

Right now I am running NVidia GeForce 4 MX 440 64 mb (PCI) on my computer. I want to upgrade this but to do so I'd have to upgrade much more than I can afford right now(mobo, vid card, and ram). For now I'd like to just upgrade my PCI card. The 2 cards I'm looking at are the GeForce FX 5200 128mb and the Radeon 9200 128mb.

My questoins are, how much better are these cards than my current one. Which one is better? Are there any better PCI cards?

[AceFireball]

Dont get either....seriously. Wait awhile till you get the money you want and get a good mobo, ram, and video card.

What games are you playing?

[loop2kil]

Dont get either....seriously. Wait awhile till you get the money you want and get a good mobo, ram, and video card.

What games are you playing?

yep i agree with ace...save your money for now....the pci bus is killing your gaming performance.

[Brent]

upgrade a piece at a time, i'd upgrade your mobo first, keep the current card you have

then upgrade vid card

[BlackArrow]

My problem with upgrading is that I have a Dell Dimension 2300. Upgrading this means I might need a new case as well as the above hardware, plus other pieces that I don't know will transfer. My plan is to(maybe) upgrade this video card to one of the ones mentioned and then buy a brand new computer in the next few years. Any new computer I get will be easier to upgrade(I hope).

Is it as hard as I think to upgrade my computer? Will I have to buy new a new fan/powersupply/case/etc to fit into a new case? Or will I even need a new case.

[Sava700]

I"ve got a dell 8200 and yeah its difficult to upgrade the sucker... I've found a Powersupply that was made for the Dell that w/ill upgrade mine from 250W to 400 so I can add a 6800 Ultra which I think the PS itself will push over 500W so that should be enough. As for anything else on a Dell It hink the model you have is very small. I'd suggest getting another computer built or build it yourself.. after reading so much here in the last 2 years I wish I would have done that rather than buy the Dell. I do however like the new Alienware dual Gcard SLI setup talk about Sweet! But your also talkin about 8000$ when you get everything maxed out..and I'mnot ready to sell my soul just yet :)

I'd recommend the Nvidia card to answer your question though!

[AceFireball]

A case really isnt that big of a deal, you can get a 350 watt PSU with it for 60 dollars and below ;)

[BlackArrow]

I seriously regret buying hte Dell, but I didn't know any better back then( 3 years ago) and have now learned my lesson. I'll probably just upgrade my card now and buy/build a new computer in a couple of years. Then I'll give this one to my wife.