[Fox07]

My son needs a new graphics card to play Guild Wars because there seems to be a fault on the one he has now. We went to PC World to try to get one but the man there said the one he had picked wasn't the right one and wouldn't fit. The one he thought he had in was this one http://www.pcworld.c...gory_oid=-31463 and he was going to get this one....
http://www.pcworld.c...p;category_oid= but it seems there is a difference between AGP and PCI-E.

This is what it says for his graphics card so can anyone tell me if the second choice would be okay for his machine please.



Any help would be gratefully received.

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How old is the computer?
I am not sure by the pic if you have PCI-E or AGP. There is a difference between AGP and PCI-E. If you are sure you have PCI-E then the cheapest thing that I can recommend under $100 is a GeForce 7600 GS. I would not recommend the 7200GS.

[jackflash1991]

How old is the computer?
I am not sure by the pic if you have PCI-E or AGP. There is a difference between AGP and PCI-E. If you are sure you have PCI-E then the cheapest thing that I can recommend under $100 is a GeForce 7600 GS. I would not recommend the 7200GS.

[Neil Jones]

1) Please don't buy anything from PC World UK if you can help it and never buy things off the shelf based on what the salesperson says you want/need unless you know 100% its what you want. If you must go to PC World and don't know what you're looking for, use the Helpdesk, they're slightly more clued up (more than the sales reps are anyway).

2) Tell us a bit about the computer you've got - if you bought it from PC World its either probably an eMachines, Packard Bell, Advent, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Acer or an EI Systems branded computer. It's model number should be printed somewhere on the case. Tell us this and its brand, we'll be able to find it and tell you what sort of card you need for upgrade ability.

(most people who work in IT support in the UK give the same standard answer to anybody who's had the misfortune of dealing with PC World )

[Fox07]

Sorry I should have give more details - I forgot with him driving me round the bend about his computer.
The computer is a Packard Bell Intel ®, Pentium ®, 4 CPU 3.06ghz, 512mb of Ram. It's Microsoft Windows XP, Media Center Edition, Version 2002 Service pack 2. The Display adaptor according to him is NVIDIA Geforce 6200 LE.
We bought the computer from PC World in January 2006 so it will be 19 months old or thereabouts.

We did go to the helpdesk because we were also picking up a printer that we had reserved.

He has found this number but we aren't too sure if it is the model number or not..X11-45376.

Thanks for your replies Jackflash and Neil.

Edited by Fox07, 29 August 2007 - 04:16 PM.

[jackflash1991]

Ok download CPU-Z, here: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
Then unzip it and run cpuz. Click on the mainboard tab and in the section "Graphic Interface" you will see "Version". If you have PCI-E it will say PCI-Express and if you have AGP it will say AGP.

Edited by jackflash1991, 29 August 2007 - 06:44 PM.

[Fox07]

Thank you so much for your help. He has run the cpuz and this is the result - so it looks like he has the PCI-E one.


Could you please recommend a card we could get which is better than the 6200 one he has at the moment please but would be okay in his computer (don't know if all the PCI ones would work or just some of them. )

[Fox07]

I was wondering if this one would be a better one for him to go for http://www.pcworld.c...p;category_oid= -don't know if it would be suitable or too powerful for his computer or anything cos I don't know anything about graphic cards..

This was the one he was originally going to get yesterday.. http://www.pcworld.c...p;category_oid=

I just thought maybe the 256mb might be better than the 128mb.

[Fox07]

I just remembered your first post where you said the cheapest one you could recommend is the 7600 GS - would this be the right one? http://www.pcworld.c...p;category_oid=

[jackflash1991]

I just remembered your first post where you said the cheapest one you could recommend is the 7600 GS - would this be the right one? http://www.pcworld.c...p;category_oid=

Yes that is the cheapest card that I can recommend. Now what you need to do is figure out if you have enough power from the power supply to run the thing.
If you or your son can figure out how to fill out eXtreme Power Supply Calculator v2.5 then use this accurate one, here: http://www.extreme.o...ucalculator.jsp
If you are unsure of anything then take a look at the bottom of the page with terminologies.
If you are just puzzled by it and don't know what the things mean the try this easier but less accurate Newegg wattage calculator, here: http://educations.ne...calc/index.html
If you are unsure of anything then ask because anything misfiled could drastically change your results.

[Fox07]

Well I have had a look at those two links and I don't really understand what to do at all - the first one especially. I looked at the other link but there are a few things I don't know about that either so I think we will just go for the 7200 which is better than the one he has got now which is flashing all over the screen.
Wouldn't it list the power supply on the back of the computer?
Thanks for your help Jackflash.

Edited by Fox07, 31 August 2007 - 05:38 AM.

[Troy]

Wouldn't it list the power supply on the back of the computer?

Yes, what jackflash1991 is getting at is whether your current power supply will be enough to support the new card. That way you can look on the power supply you have to find out what you've got (look for a sticker with a little table on it), and then compare that with what the PSU calculator says you need...

[jackflash1991]

Wouldn't it list the power supply on the back of the computer?

Yes, what jackflash1991 is getting at is whether your current power supply will be enough to support the new card. That way you can look on the power supply you have to find out what you've got (look for a sticker with a little table on it), and then compare that with what the PSU calculator says you need...

I guess I did not explain myself enough. I would not go with the 7200. Both the 7600GS and 7200 are going to need more power then the old one. So even if a 7200 was a reasonable choice you would still have to make sure you have a strong enough power supply in your case. The sticker on the power supply should look something like this:
As you can see this is a 580Watt power supply.

PS: If you are unsure of what to use the calculators then just list your system's specs and I can fill it out for you. Your processor, memorry (RAM) how much and if it is DDR2 or just DDR, what kind of CD or DVD drive.

Edited by jackflash1991, 31 August 2007 - 12:32 PM.

[Fox07]

We have just taken the side off his computer and on the PSU or is it the CPU - I keep getting these mixed up.. - it says Max 305w and Peak 400W. Does this mean anything?

[jackflash1991]

PSU- Power Supply Unlit
CPU- Central Processing Unit

it says Max 305w and Peak 400W. Does this mean anything?

The "Peak" seems kinda weird to be on their but the Max is what we want.
What are your system's specs? I can figure it it out for you. Your processor, memorry (RAM) how much and if it is DDR2 or just DDR, what kind of CD or DVD drive.

[Fox07]

Thanks Jackflash.

Right his processor is Intel ® Pentium ® 4 CPU 3.06 Ghz
Memory is 512MB of Ram
I'm not too sure what the DDR2 or just DDR means - sorry I'm not too well up on computers.
It only has one DVD drive which says DVD R9 on the front and if you click on the device on 'My Computer' it says Matshita DVD-RAM SW-9586,