ADN

the above referenced links also have the answers to all these questions, in addition you will gain the background knowledge you need to be able to draw your own conclusions about "what is the best <insert component type> to get" based on your particular situation.

I could go on and on about how I think the Nvidia GForce 7800 Graphics card is a much better value in terms of performance/dollar than the 7950, whereas someone else could post the argument that the 7950 will give better performance for certain game titles, and someone else could state that running two 6800s in SLI is actually the better setup and is actually less expensive than 1 of the 7950s. Now if you make a decision based on one of these statements and go out and buy your spiffy new graphics card, whether it is the 7950, 7800 or 2 of the 6800s (which your mobo will not handle btw) and try and install it in your PC, I will virtually guarantee you that your system may work for all of about 20-40 mins (if it even boots to begin with) before you start having problems. The first thing you will run into is your generic power supply unit (PSU) is not capable of supplying the voltage these high end graphics cards need. So your next post will be about what kind of PSU do you need to get to handle all the demands of your new graphics card. So then there are several posts about what PSU you need to get. So you go out any get a new 600W PSU to provide the voltage you need. You install it and again, your system is unstable but this time it takes a little longer, maybe an hour or two before you start getting intermittent lockups and freezes, which seem to happen anytime your system is under load. Well geez, you can't expect your system to be stable with all those higher end parts in it and only one exaust fan providing the cooling, you need to add more fans or go to a water cooling set-up. So then you ask what is the best method to cool your system etc etc etc etc

The point I am trying to make, is by educating yourself you will not need to be asking people to make the decisions/recommendations for you. Only you know all the variables in the equation, therefore the decision is ultimately yours. When you ask, "Does anyone have a graphics card they prefer over the rest that I can plug and chug in there?", there are literally hundreds of graphics cards that will be able to be put in to plug and chug in there. Why don't you do a little of your own research and narrow down the field for us and tell us what you were thinking and we can provide feedback on whether you have made a sensible choice.

It is time to stop thinking like you are still in the service and always being told what to do and how to do it. Grab this metaphorical bull by the horns, take charge of this situation and start making some of your own decisions.

Ok, but the problem is when I looked up graphics cards last night each one has a long list of features they provide. I don't want something where i have to start replacing power supplies and adding cooling fans. I want something that performs well for movies and games. I don't mind upgrading, but I don't want to completely rebuild my system.

Damn, rough.... If you were a woman, I would label you "High Maintenance"... /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Damn skippy. I am high risk/high reward.

I don't know anything about computers and just want some help going in the right direction. Emanon wants me to read... I have, and I still don't know the damn difference between a 6600, 7000, and 7500 graphics cards. Know why... read 5 articles on each and you will get 5 different opinions on each. I don't have the money to be doing trial and error runs. I have some extra to play with, but not to waste on screwing stuff up when I get the wrong parts. Or, get part A and it works, but then I find out that I have to almost rebuild the guts of the system to make it work right. For that I could juts buy a custom built computer and be done with it.

I want to upgrade the sound and video cards to maximize the play of games and movies. I don't need anything crazy... just pretty good. Since the machine came out of the box ready to go, I am sure the components are not all that great and could stand to be upgraded anyway. I like to get advice from people who know about these things rather than me opening the computer and poking my way through until I break something and have a bigger problem. What Emanon wants is to be a hard-ass and tell people to figure it out. Is that not what the tech section is for†™‚¢‚¢¢¢¬…¡‚¬¢‚¬Å¡‚¦ to ask and figure out?

Ok, here are 2 things I was thinking of adding. I don't know if they are good or not. You've heard what I want to do, would this work without me having to change out other components?

http://www.chiefvalue.com/product/produ ... 14-143-049

http://www.chiefvalue.com/product/produ ... 29-102-188

i am not trying to be a hard-ass, I am trying to help you answer your own questions and the questions those questions spawn. Start with this one, what about your current set-up is not working for what you want to do?

When you say "I don't need anything crazy... just pretty good." What about that statement does not describe your current setup? The point to bring home from this whole discussion is anytime you take a cookie-cutter, mass-produced system and try to start upgrading parts of it, you are going to run into obstacles faster than a participant in the blindfolded 500 meter hurdles. That is why I ultimately recommend saving your money now, and researching the parts for your own custom-built system. Sure you could plunk down a couple bucks, and put in an Nvidia 6800 GT based video card (providing your PSU is at least 350W and you have no more than 1 hard drive and 1 optical drive and) (In case you missed it that is an official emanon recommendation as much as I was trying to avoid it) but this is not going to be the most efficient use of your upgrade dollar. Will it handle movies and games better than your current on board video? Sure! Will it be a noticable difference that is worth your dollars? That depends again on you and your needs.....do you play far cry at 1600x1200 with full anti-aliasing enabled? If so, it will be better than what you have but probably a long ways off from what you are wanting. Playing DVDs and other video content is not a graphics card intensive process, so your current on board video hardware is fine.

The parts you linked to in your previous post would both work in your system providing your PSU is enough to handle it (at least 400W). The sound card is probably overkill, especially if you do not have the full complement of 7.1 surround sound speakers hooked up to it.

AH.... that helps. Ok, here is what I've got and what I want:

Have:
AMD Athelon 3400+ 2.2 Ghz processor
200 gig ATA HD
2.56 GB of RAM
DVD+/- RW
NVIDIA GeForce 6100
2 standerd speakers that came with the system
300W power supply

What I want:
better graphics for when I play Civ IV and watch DVD's or online movies. When I play Civ IV now, there is a little lag in the video.
I might upgrade the speakers to a nicer 2 speaker and sub set-up, but nothing like a complete surround sound. I want a crisper sound than is given.

Basically I want the graphics of the game and movies to be a little bit better. I don't mind spending a little bit of bucks here, but I want to make sure I get the right equipment the first time. I do not know what is involved in replacing the power supply, but it looks like I can get a 500W for around $50. If a power supply is a power supply that is. For the sound card if that one was overkill, what about something more modest like this one: http://www.chiefvalue.com/product/produ ... 29-111-002

Thanks for the help Emanon. I know I kind of want to be told what to get, and everybody has their owm personal opinion, but if you wanted to upgrade an out of the box system such as mine, what would YOU do? It's not that money is no object, but I will spend money to get quality. I want to play my Civ type games and watch movies from DVD and internet as best as possible. What do you recommend Emanon?

ruff, I think the question being asked is based on this:

Basically I want the graphics of the game and movies to be a little bit better.

Watching a DVD is probably more dependent on the speed of your optical drives, and to me that only matters if you're constantly fast forwarding and rewinding...I have a system that is 6 years old, and plays DVD's just fine...

I personally don't see or know what kind of performance gains you think you're going to make, and if you make any, they will be marginal...You don't seem like a hardcore gamer, from what I gather about your system as you posted, its above avergage in many ways...The only think I can think of would be a faster HDD...If that was my system, I personally wouldn't upgrade anything...

Yes AYHJA... I'm not a hard core gamer... just a nerd that wants his stuff to work best it can.

I do really like playing Civ IV and I would like the graphics to be a bit more in sinc or quicker to load. I mean I may like to play more games like Civiliaztion, but I don't know what they are. Maybe I can troll the games section and find some stuff there. I get that the movies won't see much gain, if any at all.

So what I gather then AYHJA is that my system is already pretty good and upgrading the graphics card alone may be more of a hastle than it is worth for what I want it to do? I've been looking and most of the cards I see want a 350W power supply minimum, which means I would buy atleast a 450-500W just to be safe. They aren't that expensive, but when I looked inside the tower, the MB and some components are wired into the power supply (I know... DUH) and then it becomes a matter of weather I can reconnect them to the new one. It looks like it is unscrew and plug in for the power... but the wiring I don't know. If I just want to have a little better sounds and graphics would it be worth it to upgrade the card (s) a small amount or will I not get what I want until I spend $250? Thanks for the help guys.

The integrated graphics is a bit limiting if you want to play recent games. The Nvidia 6100 would probably be fine for Civ (depending on the resolution you are playing it at).

What you might want to do is find some games you'd like to play, then test them out. Check out this chart: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html to see what card would fit your budget to let you play your game comfortably (if you still want to upgrade).