BleepingComputer.com: Need new video card and more RAM

I need to get a new video card and so I can play the Sims 3.

These are the requirements for the game:

Video Card
Minimum: 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 (NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 or above / ATI Radeon 9500 or above / Intel GMA 3-series or above)

NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280


System RAM:
Minimum: (XP) 1 GB RAM

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My computer: HP Pavilion Desktop, Media Center PC 873n

Model #:P9875A-ABA

Antec - EarthWatts 500-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply

My video card: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 (64 MB) (No pixel Shader)

My RAM: 2GB

So can someone give some advice on which NVIDIA video card to get? I don't need the most expensive and best card. I just need it to be good enough to play the Sims. It's the only game I play.


I no longer need help with the RAM.

This post has been edited by roswellian82: 29 May 2009 - 11:58 PM

Frankly I would put two 1G sticks in and see if that does the trick, buy quality ram! 2 Gigs will probably amaze you, decide you do not need for a new video card as most all systems video shares system ram.

OK, I'll get two 1GB sticks. I've figured out which kind to get. This/

So I'll have 2GB RAM.

Can someone help me with the video card now? Someone at the NVIDIA boards said my computer is too old and I might as well get a new one.

This post has been edited by roswellian82: 29 May 2009 - 11:56 PM

"decide you do not need for a new video card as most all systems video shares system ram. "

Allow me to expand on that !
If you are using onboard video it gets ALL of it's memory from the system memory.
If you have a "regular" add-in video card it has it's own memory & doesn't normally use system memory.
There are a few exceptions to that as nvidia & ATI both make certain cards that have some onboard memory & get the rest from the system memory.
An example of that is the Nvidia GeForce 6200, which is a horrible video card.

My pc doesn't have PCI-E slots, but AGP.

I'm not a big gamer, I only play Sims games on my computer. So I don't need anything fancy.

Can someone direct me as to which card I should get? Could you help me find one at newegg.com?

System requirements:
http://www.thesims2.co.uk/news.read.asp?id=1078

Not sure, but I think you need at least need to run DiretX 9
Remember it's a DVD not a CD

If it were me I'd get the

SAPPHIRE 100175L Radeon X1650PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102073

It's not the cheapest but the important poit is it has a 128 bit memory bus.

For a AGP slot that is [IMO] the best bang for the buck.

[fixed typo]

This post has been edited by fairjoeblue: 30 May 2009 - 04:17 PM

^ Thanks! :D

Are you sure it will work with my pc?

Will it support pixel shader 2.0?