Upgrading Video Card Help

josmil1 · October 9th, 2008, 04:05 PM

I am looking for upgrade my current video card, the only games I plan to play is Gears of War, Fear, and Far Cry...other than that it's for general use. I think my mobo supports PCI Express x16 but at x4 mode. What would be the best video card that my mobo can support??

Specs:
Monitor: DELL E173FP Max resolution 1280 x 1024 (17 in.)
Motherboard = Asrock 775Dual-880 Pro
Intel (R)
Pentium 4 3.00 GHz
2.99GHz 2GB of RAM (DDR 2 PC2 4200)
Current Graphics Card = Matrox Graphics Millenium II PCI
Power Supply Unit = Model LC-8460BTX, 450W
OS = Windows Xp Professional
Direct X = Version 9.0c

josmil1 · October 13th, 2008, 07:41 PM

bump...can anyone help please?

KarmaKiller · October 13th, 2008, 08:04 PM

Hi and welcome to TIMO.

As you know, there are a bunch of options out there. Budget is the main thing I need to know, and also do you live in the states?

josmil1 · October 13th, 2008, 08:07 PM

thanks, I live in New York...my budget i'm guessing would be under $150...i know my mobo can't support the best cards out there, but I just want the best card that my mobo can support.

KarmaKiller · October 13th, 2008, 08:27 PM

Ok. Your mobo does actually in fact support most of the newer cards, they are just capped off at 4x bandwidth, as opposed to 8x.
So most any card you find, PCI-E or PCI 2.0, it should technically work.

Now with your budget, and your PSU, I would recommend something like the 9600GT, 8800GT, maybe for the cheaper side 8800GS/9600GSO.
Any of those would work fine.
I'll give you some links.

Newegg.com - ASUS EN9600GT TOP/HTDI/512M GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N862-AR GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N975-AR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

josmil1 · October 13th, 2008, 08:32 PM

thanks..now another question I have is, shouldn't I have to worry about the size of the video card? If it would be too long to fit?

KarmaKiller · October 13th, 2008, 08:37 PM

Well on some of the cards, yes that is a concern. But the 8800gt/9600GT/9800GT are still shorter then a standard sized ATX motherboard, which I believe yours is. So if the mobo fits, that cards should fit also.
Another concern, as far as the cards fitting, would be the height of the card. If you have multiple PCI cards installed on your system, the asus card I recommended may not work for you. But the others are single slot coolers, so they'll fit even if you have other PCI cards installed.

Also I want to mention, make sure you have at least one, if not more case fans going. These GPU's will run warm, so it's best to prepare. Fans are like ~$5.

josmil1 · October 13th, 2008, 09:00 PM

Now that I remember i did try to put this card in my mobo one day but it didn't fit because it was too long..

Newegg.com - MSI N9600GT 512M OC GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

just by looking at the cards you recommended, they look about the same size in length as the one that i've tried before, so should I even take that chance again? or is there a better shorter card?

KarmaKiller · October 13th, 2008, 09:20 PM

All the cards use the same reference PCB, so if one doesn't fit, none of that series will.

So by how much did it not fit by?

josmil1 · October 13th, 2008, 09:42 PM

about 2-3 inches