Can it work?

Question

I had my computer either 2001, 2002,2003,or 2004. First, I used it for internet, desktop needs. But now I have alot of freetime, so I use it for gaming. But since my video card is very bad, I can handle very little games, so my enjoyment is limited. I currtenly play Call of Duty for PC all on low, Counter-Strike: Source on the low detailed maps, (All on Medium).

So, I need a new graphics card. But since my Computer is pretty darn old, won't that mean I need to get a 6000 series Geforce? Because, I'm not sure if my Computer can able to handle a 8800 GTS Geforce. Its too... Modern..

While my old computer.. Isn't too modern... So will that mean I'll just use a more lower-end graphics card, like a NVIDIA 5000 or whatever?

Answer 1

If your computer has 8x AGP, you can get awesome performance on the ATI X1950 Pro AGP or Geforce 7950GT AGP.

If you are lucky enough to have a x16 PCI express slot, then buy one of the 8800 series.

Take note that above cards would most likely need a bigger power supply with strong +12V rails.

Answer 2

It depends on what your motherboard can take. If its old it probably uses an AGP slot for video cards so that would take older video cards. If it can take PCI Express than you can use the new higher quality cards. I have a AGP slot motherboard right now and have a GeForce 5200 128mb of memory and i can run counterstrike pretty well with high settings. You could also get a GeForce 5500 with 256mb, Or any AGP with high memory would be good. hope that helps.

Answer 3

it depends on your motherboards connector if u have pci express u could install an 8800 gts maybe not the gtx do to size restrictions and power requirements u still may want to concider installing a new power supply to ensure optimum power thats the only thing that really prevents u from haveing any card u want.

Answer 4

Repeat your question and list:
The computer make and model
Amount of RAM in MB or GB
Operating system Vista, XP, ME?
Processor type and speed in GHz or MHz

I am guessing you have an 4x/8x AGP video slot, but I am guessing. If it only a PCI slot you should consider upgrading your motherboard or computer.

Common Video Slot Buses and their Max Bandwidth
http://www.directron.com/expressguide.html
PCI 132 MB/s
AGP 2X # 533 MB/s
AGP 4X # 1,066 MB/s
AGP 8X # 2,100 MB/s
PCI Express 16x 8000 MB/s

Graphics card gaming performance charts:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=399&type=expert&pid=1

CPU gaming performance charts:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html

CPU Benchmarks
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/index.php
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