Looking for a new card, any suggestions?

[Jen McPherson]

Hey guys!

I'm looking to get a new graphics card for my system. I've scaled back on gaming since I started school, but I do get in a game every now and then and all I get is lag, lag, lag. I have to drop my card settings down considerably to even enjoy things... and then the game just looks like crap.

I don't need a top end card, and I know it's asking a lot, but keeping my budget low is priority. I was looking into this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162022

But I've also read that PCI express 1.0 is backwards compatible with the newer 2.0. Would it be worth it to get a card that is 2.0?

Also looking into a good dvd rom/burner, as the one I have is going out. It doesn't want to read discs and the door on it refuses to open at times. :\

Some insight would be great.

So, here's my specs:

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Speed : 2.79GHz
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s)
Internal Data Cache : 2x 16kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 1MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

System
System : Dell Inc. Dimension 4700
Mainboard : Dell Inc. 0M3918
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : Dell Inc. A05
Total Memory : 2GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : Dell 82915G/GV/GL/P/PL/GL/910GE/GL Grantsdale Host Bridge/DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Total Memory : 2GB DIMM DDR2
Memory Bus Speed : 4x 100MHz (400MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T2953BG0-CCC 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3.0-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T2953BG0-CCC 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3.0-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)

Video System
Adapter : RADEON X300 Series (128MB, PCIe 1.00 x16, PS2.0, VS2.0)

Storage Devices
WDC WD2500JD-75HBB0 250GB (SATA150, 3.5", 7200rpm, 8MB Cache) : 233GB (C
TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-W162C (ATA33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D
SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-252S (ATA33, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (E
FMBSDE TIJO5MFKPM (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (F

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C : 233GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD2500JD-75HBB0 250GB (SATA150, 3.5", 7200rpm, 8MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (D : N/A @ TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-W162C (ATA33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (E : N/A @ SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-252S (ATA33, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (F : N/A @ FMBSDE TIJO5MFKPM (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Intel 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface Bridge
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : SMSC LPC v1
Audio Device : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) AC'97 Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Analog Devices 0070h
Serial Port(s) : 2
Parallel Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) Ultra ATA Storage Controller
Disk Controller : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) SATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) USB UHCI Controller 1
USB Controller 2 : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) USB UHCI Controller 2
USB Controller 3 : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) USB UHCI Controller 3
USB Controller 4 : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) USB UHCI Controller 4
USB Controller 5 : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) USB 2.0 EHCI Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Dell FW322/323 IEEE1394 OHCI FireWire Controller
System SMBus Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver (300x300, Colour)
Printer : hp psc 1310 series (USB, Colour)

Scanners and Cameras
Scanner : HP Scanjet 4800 series (USB)
Scanner : hp psc 1310 series (USB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Home 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x86

 

[b1lk1]

For barely more $$$, this card will make that 9500GT look silly:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814140095

Getting any card in this price rance with 1GB of memory is also a complete waste since they do not have the bandwidth to use that much. The max you want is 512MB and even that will probably not get used 100%.

As for a DVD burner, there is little difference. I'd go with the cheapest you can find.

 

[Kougar]

Fully agree, b1k1's GPU would give ya much better performance. ATI is cutting prices and introducing a new GPU that will be priced only a little or so more or so to replace the 4830, so there should be plenty of good deals out there when they release it.

And as b1k1 said for that midrange GPU anything over 512mb would go unused and be a waste of money. Same thing with PCIe 2.0, it won't matter if the card is 1.0 or 2.0 or not, partly because it doesn't matter either way and partly because your motherboard is only PCIe 1.0, so it would run a PCIe 2.0 GPU as if it was a 1.0 GPU.

If you are looking for a new DVD burner I suggest ya just grab one that is SATA based, ya can find them for $20-25 now almost anywhere.

 

[Jen McPherson]

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Rob Williams]

I've been a little slow here, but both b1lk1 and Kougar offered some great advice. I like the HD 4670 quite a bit. It's silent, and a good performer, especially for the money.