Upgrading from onboard graphics!

[james.wired]

Hello all! I have a couple of questions haha. First, I will do my best to explain the current state of my troubles! I currently reside in Panama City, Panama and the resources here for building a nice custom PC at a decent price are scarse. The prices for electronics are much higher here than alot of other countries, especially in the states. As for buying on the internet and shipping, out of the question...

I am wondering what the best, or if not need to be BEST, graphics card I can buy that will work well for computer, budget being $200 with a little room, but I have no problem spending more for cooling and power components(if you could suggest some?). I will probably use it mainly just for gaming with the newer better games out there, but also it would be nice to have an HD option as I plan to buy a 1080p monitor if plausable. my computer specs (custom built by a local computer hardware store) :

Mobo: ASRock ALiveNF6P-VSTA , it does have one PCI-E.
CPU: AMD ATHLON 64 DUAL CORE 2.0GHZ 3800+
Memory: Super Talent 2GB DDR2 DIMM PC2-5300 (667Mhz)
HardDrive: Seagate 160GB

This is the best store I have been to and been recommended to go to, here is the link to their Card selection: YotecComputers

I have read a lot of the minimum requirements for these new games like Red Alert 3, Dead Space, etc..and they seem pretty demanding! I can live without those if I have to, but would I be REALLY limiting myself by keeping with my current setup and having to pass on more and more games, or should I maybe start from scratch?(would hate to do that!) I realize I do not have the best setup, but not necesarily the worst either. Any replies and help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Thanks again!!

 

[Peter.Cort]

Yoytec Computer

that's the best card you can get for the money, which really isn't that over priced in comparision to the states.

Yoytec Computer
if you can stretch your budget a bit this is the best card in terms of price/performance.

 

[james.wired]

Thanks for the reply!
Both of the cards you posted require a PCI-E 2.0 slot ..does that pose an issue for me? Also, can my motherboard and CPU support 512MB GDDR3 SDRAM 256bit cards?

 

[Peter.Cort]

2.0 is backwards compatible with 1.0 which is what you probably have. and yes its gddr3 so your board has nothing to do with your graphic ram. only your motherboard ram.

 

[james.wired]

Oh that's good news then haha..how about cooling/power? Should I be worried if my CPU is too slow for the graphics card and these new games I want to play?

 

[Peter.Cort]

it might be a bit of a bottleneck but i don't think it will be too bad. also what are you running for a powersupply as that might create a problem.

 

[james.wired]

For power I have a $14 ANLIX P4 ATX 350W from 2006. As far as cooling I honestly dont know what I have plugged in, so I took a picture...not sure if that will help, but if it is dated at the same as my mobo and power supply, then my guess is that it's something around a '06 AMD Socket AM2 compatible cooler.

Any suggestions for upgrades if I need them?
YoytecComputer-Power Components
YoytecComputer - Cooling Components

Also, I am pretty sure i will be buying a Viewsonic 1080p monitor, so should I get the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4850 that you suggested (because it has the HDMI)?

Thanks again!!

 

[james.wired]

I think I have come to the same conclusion haha. I suppose if I need to ask these many questions on whether or not upgrades will ruin my mobo or processor, I should just get new ones! It's so expensive down here though! I will figure it out, expect me to be back with more questions though haha.

thanks for the help!

 

[Valdeam]

My best friend is Panamanian. He curses left and right about the prices there. I'm Cuban so I can't really say anything LOL