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What video card should I use?

Hi! I'm in the market for a new video card, mainly for playing Sims 2. I have all except two of the expansion packs, which I plan on buying very soon. As an example, here's how the water looks in the game. http://picasaweb.google.com/aerie.aerie/DismaysOfTheGame/photo#5196690587923728866 Anyways. I'm on a budget and would be incredibly happy if it were under a hundred dollars. If that's not possible, feel free to say so. Here are my system specs --- Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) System Model: Dell DE051 BIOS: Pheonix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A00 Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.53GHz Memory: 1022MB RAM Page File: 557 MB used, 1907 MB available Thank you very much in advance. Ehhh, I'm not too much of a computer expert, but here's what I could find. On the front of the computer (her name's Dana, actually) it says Dimension B110. She's a Dell computer and it has a blue tag that says Intel Celeron D inside.

Public Comments

1. you'll need a PCI video card for that system. check these out, they should work fine for your game. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161227 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814145087 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103167
2. The real question is your model of computer, specifically what type of video expansion slot it has. The most common video slot these days is PCI-Express, but some older computers have AGP and some models have neither- just old-style PCI slots. What model Dell do you have? An Optiplex? A Dimension 3000 or 4700 etc? For the Sims 2 you don't need anything extravagant- something along the lines of a Radeon 2600 Pro or Geforce 8600 costs around $75 and will run that game and other quite well. But your specific machine determines what choices are available, and their cost. ** Update ** Of the video cards linked by the previous poster, the first one (Radeon X1550) is good, while the last two are TERRIBLE.... The Radeon 9000 and Geforce FX series are ancient, obsolete stuff. If it turns out you've only got PCI slots, here are a couple of additonal inexpensive (but decent) PCI video cards.
3. I looked at several sites but still couldn't find what if any graphics expansion slot your computer has. Check your owners manual or you might even have to get someone to open the case to see. Anyway, here is an article on the best graphics cards for the money. They cover both PCIeX16 interface and AGP interface. Your computer is slightly aged so I'm guessing yours has an AGP interface but you still need to make sure. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-cards,1965.html
4. It looks to me that your specs are similar to mine.. i am running windows xp professional on a Gigabyte Computer, and i also am using an intel Celeron D.. your processor is good. the ram is pretty good enough for Xp. but you are thinking about the video card..if your computer, (Dell) has a built in VGA, or D Sub port, you an use that, if it does not have it, then yes, you can use a video card, or graphics card. I like Nvidia, you can use that.. or Intel Graphics. if you have intel graphics, you should see that blue icon in your system tray.. called "intel graphics media accelerater driver"