getting a new pc soon (graphics card)question

[ps249]

I plan on getting a new PC after windows 7 is released. I am currently running a HP Pavilion a1430n with a basic nvidia geforce 6150 graphics card. (yea its the bare bones minimum for what you should be using on SH3). Any way- I will be getting a new PC around November/december 2009. My main question is what video card should I be looking for. I am not a serious gamer but I notice SH3 can get very choppy at times during gameplay. I am very confused with all the cards from Nvidia. I would prefer to get a PC with the graphics card preinstalled but I will buy the card seperate if I have to. I am from America so I would like to keep my budget around $800 for the PC tower and card. I have a 19 inch flat screen monitor.

[irish1958]

There are dozens of threads on video cards. I suggest you do a search and read them.
I had an ATI card on my last computer, and it worked well. My new card is nVidia 9800m GTS and it has worked flawlessly with the new drivers.
Windows 7 is basically Vista with some of the things what didn't work removed. As near as I can tell, there is nothing new in it, but reports say that it is faster and doesn't have all the hassles of Vista.:rock:

[FIREWALL]

TigerDirect ..... TigerDirect ..... TigerDirect .....

[kz26]

Since you're not a serious gamer, check out one of the midrange cards, e.g. the ATI Radeon HD 4650 or the nVidia 9600 GT or 9600 GSO. For $800 you can get an awfully nice machine...though I much prefer building my own rigs (my own rig w/o monitor cost only $600 and will easily play any of the latest games :cool:). I personally have an ATI Radeon HD 4830, that's a bit overkill for SH3 but it's great for higher-end gaming.

[Checkmate King 2]

A few years ago, I had an HP Pavilion a1610n. My computer came stock with 1 gig of ram and an integrated graphics card. I knew that I need a to increase the ram and get a better graphics card.

To make a long story short, I ended up buying 2 gigs of ram. I also had to buy a new power supply to be able to run my new video card. The power supply was a Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply. The video card I bought was a XFX brand Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT (XFX offered a lifetime warranty). I bought both the card and the power supply from newegg.com; both had rebates & both had free shipping.

I installed the video card & the power supply myself. (Video cards are easy to install. The power supply "looked" a lot worse than it was.)

Since installing both in my computer, I haven't had any problems and would buy both again if I had to do it all over again.

I personally, would be a "worried" about buying a new operating system unless it has been out for at least 1-1.5 years. The longer you wait, the more bugs get fixed!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask or shoot me a PM.

Good Luck