Older Alienware video upgrade

[charley22]

Hi guys, I'm new and no computer guru.  Anyway, hope you can help.  I just bought an older alienware desktop.  Its got a p4 2.0 gig processor, 512 meg of ram, and a GeForce 3 Ti 500 video card.  I need to upgrade the video card which I think is an AGP.  I looked at upgrading the memory previous to the card, but it won't take ddr2 mem, takes something else (can't remember)  OH it needs pc800 memory, which is REALLY expensive.  Anyway, I've looked at video cards on ebay and find a bunch that are very affordable, but I'm not sure which to buy.  I see cards that are AGP, but have ddr2 memory etc..on them.  Will any AGP slot video card work or do I have to have one that works for pc800?  I dont' know what to look for whatsoever, so please help, thanks

[butterflap]

ya it will work i asked a question like this a while back. the memory is on the gpu not the motherboard so yeah.  edit: make sure your power supply can take the new card too.

[homer]

as butterflap stated, the type of memory on the video card is independent of the motherboard and therefore will not be an issue.

you will need to find out if your AGP port, assuming you have an AGP port as you seemed uncertain, is either a 4X or an 8X.

[charley22]

ok, so the memory on the video card, ddr2 or whatever, don't matter.  How do I tell if it is 4x or 8x?

[ale52]

One other bit of advice...buyer beware.  eBay is a great place to shop but remember "you get what you pay for" 

Alan <><