What video card will work?

Question

I have an eMachines W3410 desktop system, and I want to add a new video card to it, so that I can disable the onboard graphics from using system RAM. I need it in PCI Express. I know that power supply is a factor, since a new card will draw more power. I have a 300W power supply, so what will work best? My other specs include:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.2gHz)
512 MB DDR SDRAM (PC3200)
100 GB HDD (7200 rpm)
16x DVD RW

Please help. Thanks to all in advance.

Answer 1

Geforce 7600GS or Geforce 7600GT, they will get all the power they need from the PCIe port. They won't tax your system too much but I'm afraid those cards are the limit of your system, unless you upgrade the power supply. Anything above those cards will want a connection to the power supply, you'll have to avoid all the cards at or above the 7800 series. Still, the Geforce 7600GS or GT are quite powerful for their price. They offer the best price/performance ratio of any card currently on the market. I'd also get another 512MB stick of memory and a larger hard drive as well, you don't have to do that right away but if you want to run Vista, those are other upgrades to consider.

Answer 2

You'll probably need a new power supply, but something in nVidia's 6000's will do you fine =)