Help choose my Video card PLez

[spec2nr]

hey all!!! im new to the forums and wanted to get some advice on which new video card i sould get because im computer impaired . I have a Geforce4 mx 64mb vid card <-- funny i kno that came with the comp, and am looking at either the radeon 9600xt 256mb or the 9800pro 128mb card. before i go any further let me give you my specs:

pentium4 @ 2.4GHz w/533MHz fsb / 512k L2 cache

512MB DDR SDRAM at 266MHz

120Gb hard drive

DSL broadband connection

Wich would work best with my setup and not create any bottle neck type problems? Im a CS junkie so im planning on running HL2 on my comp and i deff want to have a decent fps while playing CS:source online. Would there be any power concerns with either of these cards? im not even sure how many watts my power source is... how can i find out? One other question i have is why is a 256MB card less then a 128MB? Will this make any differance in performance? Plez any information would be great, i NEED to learn so show me the ropes!!!!

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

The 9800 pro is a much better card than the 9600xt. You cant go wrong with the 9800.

 

[spec2nr]

yeah its deff a sweet card but im just worried that my specs wont let me get the most out of it... do you think this is a factor with my specs? how about the power issue?

 

[U-Toast]

9800 pro much better period

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

400w would be great, 350 would work, 300, might be pushing it. As for your question if the card will cause other things to bottleneck your system, if there is a bottleneck it wouldnt be a large one, you should be fine.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

This is a site that will help you figure out what you need for power.

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

 

[spec2nr]

cool, i thank you greatly for all this helpful information

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

sure np

 

[spec2nr]

well i went and bought the 9800pro today, now i need to get a better powersupply turns out Dell just uses 250Watt supplies.......lol. I cant wait to get this best set up and see what ive been missing out on with that lame geforce4 mx 64mb. Thanks again for all the helpful info. ill deff turn to you guys if i have any more questions. THANKS!!!!

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Very nice. What brand is it? Also what version of catylast will you be running and what agp voltage do you have in your bios. I am just wondering on what settings you have on your system.