Need help choosing a Video Card

[Ethan_HangFire]

Hi,
I need some help choosing a Video Card for my old PC.  It's an HP d1000y (all specs
listed below), that I ordered from Comp. in early 2005. I had always meant to upgrade the Video card, but never could get to it till now. When I went into the market I was hit with so many different kinds of cards, I am lost. And to complicate things, it appears that all the card connections (buses, ports?) have been changed. Most everything now is something called "PCI-E", and I am not sure what I have. I think my old video card is connected to an AGP port, and the rest are PCI's after comparing pics on the web. 

I'm fairly good at using a computer, but pretty much an illiterate when it comes to the tech side and how they work. Anyway, I have linked to some pics of the inside of my PC if it could be of any help:

1. The inside: 

a) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/3174435475_3cd0b61e96_b.jpg
b) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1220/3174433217_b03663450f_b.jpg   
c) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/3174432421_0808b3bfe4_b.jpg

2. The back:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/3174432669_819e515453_b.jpg

3. Close up of where the port where the video card is connected. AGP?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1001/3174433603_d4fd88d069_b.jpg

4. Close up of the other type of ports in the machine:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3175269442_c6d6b1a095_b.jpg

5. Close up of the power box:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1018/3174434791_3dee04f30d_b.jpg

I am looking to upgrade so that I can run high end photo editing graphics software like
Adobe Photoshop Extended CS4 / Flash, a 26-28 inch flat screen monitor, and also play
high end games like COD4, Half Life 2, World In Conflict, Crysis. 

If my video port is AGP, I found the following card that reviewers seem to like, but I don't
know if it's compatible or enough power for my needs. In the description it says that it is a  'GDDR3 memory interface' and in my Specs it says I have a '3 GB DDR2-400 RAM / PC2
3200 (2 DIMM)' if that means anything:   

ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 512 MB AGP

http://www.amazon.com/ATI-Radeon-X1600-Pro-512/dp/B000E5VQOU/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UT

F8&coliid=I3EK86F6P7RP0X&colid=3PS5P3QJJJMY3

Also my power out put is 400w, I think. Is this enough, or should I upgrade that also. If so,

what would be a good choice?

Looking through this site, you guys know your stuff, so any help would be greatly
appreciated, and I thank you very much in advance. 


System OS =  Windows XP Pro SP3
System Make = HP Pavilion 061
System Model = PU031AV-ABA D1000Y 

Purchase Date = 2, 2005

Main Board Make = ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Main Board Model = Puffer2
Main Board Version = 1.xx
Main Board BIOS  = American Megatrends Inc. BIOS Date: 01/23/06 20:09:06 Ver:

08.00.10 A M I - 1000623 20060123

Processor Description = Intel Pentium 4 w/ HT Technology, 3.4 GHz
Number of Processors = 1
Processor Clock Speed = 3400 Mhz

Performance = 320 GB RAID 0 (2 x 160GB SATA HDDs)

Graphics Description = 256MB ATI RADEON X600PRO w/TV-Out & DVI


Memory Installed = 3072 MBs
3 GB DDR2-400 RAM / PC2 3200 (2 DIMM)
Memory Slots = 4 slots
Memory Configuration = 512+1024+512+1024;DIMM Synchronous

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

Drive Name (C) = HP_PAVILION
Drive Size (C) = 298983 MBs
Drive Format (C) = NTFS 
Drive Name (D) = HP_RECOVERY
Drive Size (D) = 6169 MBs
Drive Format (D) = FAT32 

DVD-RW Model  = HP DVD Writer 640b
DVD-RW Read Speed = 7056 KB/sec (40X)
DVD-RW Write Speed  = 7056 KB/sec (40X)

DISPLAY =  ATI Technologies Inc. RADEON X600/X550 Series 
DISPLAY =  ATI Technologies Inc. RADEON X600/X550 Series Secondary

[LimpingFish]

Okay, here's the deal.

AGP slots are usually brown/maroon in colour. From what I can tell, the slot your card is in is black, which makes me think PCI-Express. I could be wrong, though.

When buying a video card, most specs listed are superfluous once you know the following:

Card type (AGP, PCI-Express)
Card memory (At least 512mb is what to look for here)
Card Pixel Shader version (Pixel Shader 4.0 is what to look for)

A little snooping tells me that your current card, the ATI x600 is, as far as I can tell, an exclusively PCI-Express card. If you have an ATI control panel installed (either a little icon on the taskbar, or right-clicking on the desktop to bring it up) it will tell you for sure.

[voh]

PSU
400W should be fine, I wouldn't expect any problems if all you're going to upgrade is your video card.

video card
The AGP slot has two seperate parts - toward the back of the case, long part, toward the front of the case, short part. PCI express cards have that backwards - short part, then long part.

PCI express card

See? Yours is PCI express. Guaranteed.

Also, the memory type of the video card doesn't matter - it's simply what kind of RAM is on the videocard itself and you won't get any compatibility problems. The only important thing is whether or not your system supports the type - so if you get a PCI express card, you should be fine.

[Ethan_HangFire]

Wow, great! LimpingFish, voh , thanks you guys! What a relief to know I have a PCI-E.

As for the 400w 'PSU'. I read that if your Video card can handle a game like 'Cysis', that it
can pretty much handle anything. But I read that some of these cards require more juice
than others. One video review of a card said that it needed like a 1000W! I don't have a
problem of upping the 'PSU' if it will get the type of card that will run the graphics in this type of game smoothly (750w?). Any advise on a video card that could run a resource hog like 'Crysis'?

I found a site that tested my system for a particular game and besides failing the minimum requirements for the game 'Crysis' when it came to the video card, it says that I barley meet the minimum on the following two points:

1. CPU
"Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or faster.

You Have: 2 processors running - Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz"

2. Operating System
"Minimum: Windows XP/Vista

You Have: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Build Service Pack 32600)"

Other than that, I'm good to go.

I don't know why they would have a problem with windows XP Pro, but as for the CPU, I take it that there is nothing I can do about that short of buying a new PC. 

[Oliwerko]

Yup, some GFX cards consume a little more juice than expected. My one year old PCI-E 8800GTX had two PCI-E 6-pin power connectors.
If you don't have a compatibile PSU, the only way to connect such power cables is through the standard wide 4-pin power connectors that were used on ATA disk and CD drives (not sure what are they called) with help of some conversion cables. This is not quite comfortable and I guess it's not totally good for the card performance and/or PSU. AFAIK I have a 550W Gigabyte ODIN PSU and I run the Nvidia GTX 280 fine, although using one conversion cable.

Anyway, don't look only on the memory on the card.
Memory Interface Width is also very vey important. Also check the Memory Bandwidth and Clock speed. You can have Gigs of memory, but when you have a slow core and only some 256-bit MIW, it's going to be slow. For example - Nvidia 8800GTX has 384-bit MIW, while the best 9800s have only 256-bit. Result? While having MORE memory and FASTER clock speed, the newer series tends to give lower performance in some conditions than the older 8800 GTX. To put it simple: No matter how big barrel of whatever quality water you have, it's going to be slow when you manipulate the water in the barrel through a narrow pipe. So - DO look at the width of the pipes, not only on the quality and quantity of the water. 

But yeah, buying a too powerful card for your computer is a waste of money I guess, because too fast GFX won't save you when playing new games on slower processors/RAMs/whatevers.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

As for the 400w 'PSU'. I read that if your Video card can handle a game like 'Cysis', that it
can pretty much handle anything. But I read that some of these cards require more juice
than others. One video review of a card said that it needed like a 1000W! I don't have a
problem of upping the 'PSU' if it will get the type of card that will run the graphics in this type of game smoothly (750w?). Any advise on a video card that could run a resource hog like 'Crysis'?

I can tell you with complete assurance that this is a marketing scheme and nothing more.  A game will not require your video card to suddenly require more of your supply than the card will be using during normal operations/3d tests.  If you can run a program like 3dmark with your video card then it will be fine.  It is true that some cards are just flat poorly designed and draw more power than their counterparts, and that's something you'll have to look into by checking hardware forums like tom's hardware for specific cards if you're worried.  A 400 watt power supply should have no problem running a 8600 gt, for instance.  For a 9600 I couldn't guarantee it, but it all depends on what else you have running.  One thing I can promise you is that no video card/cpu combination out there can possibly REQUIRE more than a 500-550 watt supply to function properly.  People are quite fond of overkill when it comes to pc hardware, and as long as they don't mind paying for it that's their problem.

My advice is to buy a card and not worry about the supply.  If it's not good enough you can buy a 500 watt for 60 bucks and swap it out easily.

I have an 8600 GT and it ran crysis with no trouble.  In fact, the only problem I had was that it wasn't using my dual core properly so I could only get good frame rates if I turned off 'enhanced shadows'.  Most of the advanced settings in Crysis didn't really add much to the look, anyway.

[InCreator]

In your place, I would still go for 8800 GTX. Even though newer series are out.
It's cheaper now, and it still runs everything. Including Crysis. On high. DirectX10 compatible.

I have one, and have not stumbled upon a game that finds this card weak.
Except GTA IV maybe, with having veeeery slightly noticeable low frame rate.
But what are we talking about? This game is nothing than a buggy, shitty PS3 port.

[Oliwerko]

8800GTX - totally recommended. 
I had one (until it crashed two weeks ago and I was forced to buy a 200-series one). To my surprise, this card is even better at higher resolutions according to forums, tests and whatnot, better than 9800GTX+. Of course, this can be arguable, but I can tell you that it's probably 3rd or 4th best card out on the market, even though it's one year old. Simply put - perfect choice.

Of what manufacture do you have yours, InC?

[InCreator]

BFG.

It's OC2 model, where "OC" should mean "overclock" or something. Probably withstands stronger overclocking?
I never touched card speeds though, I had no need for this so far.

[Oliwerko]

Heh, from what I see it looks exactly like my Gigabyte one. And I'm not fan of overclocking as well. Curse that 3 condensators on the uncovered part though. I accidentaly struck one of them, very lightly, but heavily enough to tear one of its contacts out. Some time ago, I would not care if the card is covered with plastic or not. Today, having the 200 series that is completely covered (bottom side included), I really appreciate it