Looking for a new graphics card (hoping this is the right area of the forum)

[durango992007]

My current graphics card, NVidia 8300GS, just is not cutting it anymore, so I'm on the hunt for a new card, but I really don't know what to look for, so I'm hoping you guys can help me.

I have a Dell XPS 410 with an intel E6600 Core 2 Duo @ 2.4GHz, 2GB Ram, running Windows XP, and a 375 Watt PSU.  I'll be playing on a 20" Acer with a max resolution of 1600x900.  I'm looking at spending around $150, but am willing to go a little higher if need be.

One that I've looked at (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261056), but, like I said, I don't really know what to look at when buying Video Cards.

Basically, I'm looking at being able to play games at max settings, at the resolution of 1600x900, but I don't really have a problem dropping the resolution down to keep it playable.
Thanks for the help!

[macdad-]

Things that you should look for in a Graphics card:

• Dedicated Memory amount
• Max Resolution
• Compatible video connection(Does it support VGA, DVI, S-Vid, etc.)
• Power usage

First off what is the connection for your monitor?
What games are you playing to play(You could provide the one with the highest requirements)?
Are you going to put it in a PCI, PCI-E slot?

[durango992007]

I'm gonna be playing on a 20" LCD at 1600X900 using DVI.  It will be connected in a PCI-E slot.  I kind of just draw a blank when it comes to graphics cards, so I don't really know what to look for, but I will be looking at what you have said to look at.

Thank you

Forgot to add what the highest requirement game might be.  I'm guessing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 or Left 4 Dead 2.  I'm just looking for something that can play those games on high at possibly 1600x900, and something that will last a little while with newer games.

[macdad-]

Alright Modern Warfare 2 seems to have higher specs than L4D(Source: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/60971)

It requires a graphics card with 256MB of Deticated Graphics Memory.
And it must be a NVIDIA Geforce 6600GT(or newer) or a ATI Radeon 1600XT(or newer)

Since you want to play it at high specs you probably want a newer model than the ones required.

You also need to figure in your power usage, the power supply calculator may help:
http://www.schrockinnovations.com/powercalc.php

[durango992007]

OK, I think I got it figured out.  My total wattage use for my rig (even though it doesn't have the processor I have) was 305.  That's including the PCI-E Video Card, but, to be honest, I don't think this really helps me when getting one, but then again, it might.  I've been looking at cards on Newegg, and a lot of them say to have a 6-pin 75 watt connecter, but with a recommended PSU of being like 400, 450+.  So, would that mean that I wouldn't really need a 400+ watt PSU as long as I have a 75 watt 6-pin connector?  I found what seems to be a good ATI based card for a reasonable price that is in my range, but are asking for 400+ watt PSU's with a 75 watt 6-pin connector.

Thanks for the help again.

[macdad-]

Ok I did the math and your current GFX card uses about 20 Watts.

Which gives you about 70 watts to work with(I put in a safety margin of 10 Watts from the max wattage of your PSU)

As far as the connectors you shouldn't have a problem.

Modern Warfare 2(on recommended requirements) requires a Geforce 7800 series or better(Which has 512MB of memory)

Summary
Use these figures as benchmarks:

Power Usage: 70 Watts or less
Memory: 512MB or more
Max Resoulution: What you want
Connector: DVI
Slot: PCI-E

Here's what I found on Newegg that may work for you:
Results