Vista - which graphics card to upgrade too?

Hi

I currently have a nvidia geforce 9500 GS 512mb dedicated graphics card.
Its not that old, but from what i hear its not that good eaither. I couldnt find this particular one on the list of graphics cards on the forums aswell which im not sure is good.

I was wondering which graphics card i should upgrade to, as im not too sure since theres so many differant ones. I play quite a few games and i use my pc alot of the time so i would like quite a good one.

Could anyone recommend one for me if they know a good one?

Thanks

Your CPU will bottleneck any good GPU unless you take it past 3 ghz. Do you have a good power supply? What model/brand? How about a budget?

What do you mean my cpu will bottleneck any good gpu?

And my cpu is a amd phenom 8650 Triple Core 2.3ghz, so shouldnt be a problem with that.

And i think i have a good power supply, its from a HP pc i got about 6 months ago.

As for budget, not a big problem aslong as its not a really high price.

Thanks

Video cards run off the CPU, 2.3 ghz will bottleneck any good GPU, especially since you have an AMD CPU. How many wattage are on your power supply as well as the amperage on the +12v rail(s)? You're going to have to either find your exact PSU on the web or look at the sticker on the PSU (which will probably require disassembly, so look for your PSU on the web first).

I see the sticker on the side, Its a LITEON, model: PS-5301-08HF.

Okay, I've looked up that power supply and it's a 300W. That's not going to cut it with any good video card, sorry. If you want to upgrade something in your PC, make it the PSU.

What kind of wattage would i need?

Since your monitor's native resolution is 1680 x 1050 and you're a gamer (I'm not sure which games you play though), I'd recommend an EVGA GTX 260 CORE 216 (55nm). A system running this card officially requires a minimum 500W PSU and 36A on the +12v line. I'm running this card on a COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro 650W PSU with 57A on the +12v line total (a little less if all three +12v rails were used).

Ok thanks for the help, il make sure i upgrade my psu before i get a gpu then.


thanks

If you're upgrading your power supplies, be sure to look into these brands only.

Antec
Chieftec
COOLER MASTER (all but the eXtreme power series, preferably Real Power/UCP)
Corsair
Enermax
FSP
OCZ
PC Power & Cooling
Seasonic
Silverstone
Thermaltake (not the cheap units)
Xion

The ones in bold are the absolute best. Personally I prefer COOLER MASTER over all the others. Since your CPU isn't efficient, and overclocking should be done to improve performance, I recommend this PSU which is also the one I have.

Real Power Pro 650W - 713002460-GP - Buy.com