computer people

[jrobie79]

looking to upgrade my video card in my PC, i think i have a built in one to the motherboard, basically i want something up to todays standards, it doesnt need to be super capable, im not playing to many hardcore games like crysis, but id like to get better resolution, definately DVI capable, and if possible has some TV output or something. I already have a tuner so it doesnt need that, but i was looking around on newegg, no idea what im looking for, looking in the < 75 dollar range. Thanks

[legion3pm]

first you need to know what type of card your puter will actually accept. such as AGP or PCI-e then it will be easier to narrow it down from there if you have a puter from walmart or bestbuy or something like that you might have to look up the model on google to get the specs of the motherboard.

[jrobie79]

its PCI, i built it myself, so its not from a store.

[legion3pm]

just a regular pci or pci-e?

[jrobie79]

-5 PCI slots, 32 bit,
-1 AGP slot supports 2.0 and 3.0 for 4x and 8x mode

right outta the manual

[legion3pm]

then you'll want to buy an AGP video card. best thing to do is find one on newegg in the pricerange you were wanting to pay and read the reviews left by the other people that bought one. make sure you get one with a fan on it and not that quietcool no fan crap. and as far as a good one goes the more ram on it the better. if it were me id find one with a good review in my pricerange with the most ram i could get

[jrobie79]

i think im gonna go for a new mobo to get the PCI-e x16 2.0, got any suggestions for those? i guess that board will expand my options for future upgrades.

[legion3pm]

that all depends on the type of processor you have or if you plan on buying a new one and also the type of ram you have or if you plan on upgrading that too with the new mobo. if you're gonna upgrade mobo and havent upgraded anything else in quite awhile then you might as well do it all at one time i know its more expensive but in the long run it will be better than trying to find a mobo to fit the stuff you have now if its old.

[MightyMike]

I agree New Egg is the best for getting stuff for the Comp
I brought a Geforce 8500GT ..For less then a $100 and this was a while ago.
Does come with a TV Turner ..I hook it up to my pc and watch tv on my 42 inch plasma .Works great
I agree with Legion if your going to upgrade do it all at once instead of Ram and them the Motherboard them the Card ...You will notice a bigger gain when you do it all at once instead of one thing at a time .
I play UT 2004 and Call of Duty ..My card runs great with it ..I tend to keep my settings in the middle .So as to keep my frame rate up.

One other thing to consider if your playing games .You can have the best system in the world but if your bandwidth sucks it won't make a hill of beans of what kind of system you have

[jrobie79]

i got a question about my TV tuner, im gonna shelf the PC upgrade till i move in a couple months, anyways, i have a pinnacle tuner card http://www.fastsilicon.com/graphics-card-reviews/pinnacle-pctv-hd-card-800i-review.html

got it from a buddy of mine, have no idea how to use it. Can i get TV for free? i have my coax cable hooked up to it, however it says HD capable, and my monitor is capable of displaying HD, but i dunno about the video card. Also can i get premium channels with the card or is it just the cable package that i pay for from comcast? cause on TV's with the comcast box i get all the channels above 100, however on regular TV's, without the box i only get the chanels up to 100. any advice thanks.