[ChewChew]

My PC is a HP 760n
From my understanding I need:
1.5v AGP
4x
DirectX 8

Hoping for DVI suppport and more memory.
Looking to upgrade on what it has now.
Any suggestions?

[loserOlimbs]

Compaq Pavilion 760n supports up to 2048MB of memory, you may want to install even more, especially if you work with several programs at a time or use memory-intensive software, such as image-editing software.

The RAM you want id PC2700.

What do you use the PC for that you need a new graphics card? Or do you just want DVI out, a DVI out card can be found for $20, but you won't to play any games on it.

[ChewChew]

My new monitor has DVI and my PC doesn't.
I want that digital to digital quality.
Plus when I play PC games the video skips.
But I'm not sure what AGP video card I need?
I know I only have directX 8 so I am probably
looking for a later model video card?
Was thinking about a Radeon 7000...?
Unless there is something better?

[msgtgumby]

What games do you play and how much are you willing to spend? And you can upgrade Directx, don't worry about that.

[kidcnote]

Originally Posted by ChewChew

My new monitor has DVI and my PC doesn't.
I want that digital to digital quality.
Plus when I play PC games the video skips.
But I'm not sure what AGP video card I need?
I know I only have directX 8 so I am probably
looking for a later model video card?
Was thinking about a Radeon 7000...?
Unless there is something better?

http://tinyurl.com/zgpdq
See the speed chart for Radeon 7000 PCI tests http://www.barefeats.com/gr7000.html PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

http://www.pixpond.com/1/37vasz.jpg TigerDirect.com = Less the $50

and upgrade to 9.0c http://tinyurl.com/3jptx

[Triple6]

The Radeon 7000 is very old card that has very poor gaming performance. I'd be thinking a Geforce 6600 which has DirectX 9.0c support and will perform 10 times better a Radeon 7000.

[StillLearnin']

Your HP Pavillion 760n should have either PC1600 or PC2100 memory. The AGP port is 4x.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph07030

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph07048

It appears the system comes with 2 sticks of 256MB memory. The mobo only has TWO RAM slots so you would have to purchase a single 512MB stick and replace one of the existing sticks to have 768MB(or purchase 2 512MB sticks and have a full 1G of RAM).

The 7000 is the basic Radeon card. No fancy stuff, not all graphics will be displayed in all games. The low 9000 series are not good for gaming except the 9000Pro (now extinct). The lowest/highest decent card to use with your cpu/memory would probably be the Sapphire 9600:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102320

[ChewChew]

I play a lot of Soldier of Fortune and Unreal Tournament. I also have Unreal Tournament 2004 but it is so skippy and jerky I hate playing it.
The reason I was thinking Radeon 7000 was because it is better then what I have and it had all that I was looking for and nothing more and I figure that was enough. I just didn't want to get more (DirectX 9 or 8x interface) and not be able to use or take advantage of.
Am I wrong in my thinking?
And it seems I was wrong with the Radeon 7000, it's really not all that good, but I was thinking that's all I could hope for with a PC like mine?

[ChewChew]

I think you have me on the right track...thanks StillLearnin

[Triple6]

DirectX is a feature of the video card, all you need to take advantage of it is to have a have video card that supports the version, the latest drivers for the card, and DirectX 9.0c installed. The later two are jsut software and will come with the card or can be downloaded from the internet.

AGP 8X is backward compatible to AGP 4X, you won't get the speed of the interface but the video card itself is much faster and will only marginally be affected by the slower bus speed - just a few percent.

Here's some benchmarks with the Radeon 9600: http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/10/..._iv/page7.html
The Radeon 7000 would post the lowest scores when compared against the rest of the cards in the review.

And here's the Radeon 7000: http://www.tomshardware.com/2002/12/..._ii/page5.html
Thats with UT 2003 and notice its dated from 2002.

[ChewChew]

The sky is the limit when it comes to video cards...prices and what they can do seem incredible. I doubt my PC could handle most of these.
But the census seems to lean toward a Radeon 9600 or maybe a GeForce 6600.
Obvious there are many more video cards out there that might work for me.
And looking at my specs either one of these should work?

[ChewChew]

When talking about video cards what is meant by compatibility?
Also, power supply/watts?

[StillLearnin']

The ATI 9600 or the ATI/chip Sapphire (good card, just a little less expensive brand) will work in your system and be the maximum card to probably work correctly (and also new enough to use in an upgraded system if you wanted to in the near future). The nVidia 6600 would probably be the most for your system if you want to go the other route. There are many makers using the nVidia chips; some of them more economical yet not overclocked and plenty fast. We prefer ATI for the stability/dependability/performance that they have demonstrated over the years. However, the nVidia cards are quite fine now that they have improved upon them from the past and are fine in systems like yours also. You will find a never-ending debate on who is better....................to the majority of users, it doesn't make any difference..........................no more on this debate...................

Compatibility means how well a piece of hardware/ software app will work with other components or software...............Example:

The ATI/nVidia video card is "compatible" with your system;

Translation:

Either one will work "correctly" without problems in your system as according to the system specs.

Example:

Some games are "not" compatible with Windows XP:

This means some games (made for Win98/98SE/ME usually) may not run properly. There is a "compatibility" setting in WinXP that you can use to "see" if the app will run correctly or not. Sometimes they just won't.

Power Supply/Watts

All power supplies have ratings for the amount of juice they put into different circuits in the system. This is important as a computer is very susceptible to power fluctuations/supply. It is common practice to use a quality, bigger power supply in custom built systems to meet future upgrade potential. Proprietary systems (HP/Compaq/Dell/Gateway/etc.) don't allow for much that way. Here's a link to maybe help you better:

http://compreviews.about.com/od/cases/a/PSUWattage.htm