Upgrading video card

[XabbaRus]

I've got an ATi X300 SE and want to upgrade.

Nothing too super just one with a bit more memory so I can have IL-2 running more smoothly. Only thing I am worried about is power. I have a 300W PSU which came with my system.

anything I should look out for?

[Skybird]

Take care of that PSU, with 300W you are running a risk when investing into a contemporary gfx card. It might help if you have not too many vents, LED blinking stuff and other power-consumers built into your tower. But check the new card's power demands carefully. I had to replac emy old PSU when installing three additonal vents and replacing my old GFX (AGP) card.

[JSLTIGER]

Just as a note here, memory doesn't have a whole hell of a lot to do with framerates. Core speed is what you're looking for here, so the trick is to find you a decently priced card with a decent amount of RAM. From the fact that you own an X300SE, I know that you've got a PCI-e slot, so here are some potential choices (although, as you're out of the US, you will probably need to find a different retailer) that seem appropriate for you.

DX10 (if you intend on eventually going to/already have Vista):
8600 GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
8600 GTS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150228

ATi's midrange DX10 offerings don't offer adequate performance, which is why I have not included them.

DX9 (if you have no intention of ever going to Vista):
X1950 Pro: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121031
7900 GS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133186

[antikristuseke]

Ehhh, the dx10 suport on the 8600 cards is little more than a badge,in reality it isnt powerful ennough to pull of dx10. Besides its sort of irrelevant wether you have a dx10 or 9 card and go to vista or not, Vista has more to offer than dx10, though i personaly dont think that to be ennough of a reason to buy a new os.

[Dowly]

I'd go for a 8800GTS, got mine for ~300€ and it beats my old 7800GTX with ease.

[JSLTIGER]

I would have recommended the 8800 GTS (in my opinion, it's currently the best value out there price/performance wise), but there is no way that he could run it off of a 300W PSU. He'd need 450W, minimum.

[XabbaRus]

PSus are all standard sizes I assume, so I could rip out my 300w and get a 500w.

Things is the MOBO and CPU are good with max of 4Gig of RAM so My system will run for a bit before I have to buy new.

[Dowly]

PSus are all standard sizes I assume, so I could rip out my 300w and get a 500w.

Things is the MOBO and CPU are good with max of 4Gig of RAM so My system will run for a bit before I have to buy new. A 500W should be enough.

[XabbaRus]

Can anyone recommend a decent one that won't split the bank?

[antikristuseke]

a friend of mine recently got Fortron EPSILON FX700-GLN 700W for his new rig, arround here it costs something like 115$ from retail and less than 100$ when bought from the guy who deals with bulk orders and occasionaly makes money on the side buying stuff for a few contacts. This psu is decent from my experiences with my friends computer, did qutie a bit of stress testing on it with no aparent problems. Though it is overkill tbh.