Looking to Upgrade Graphics Card

Okay, I consider myself knowledgeable in computers but now that I'm upgrading an "ancient" computer, in computer world anyway lol, I worry about the newer hardware!

I have a Dell Dimension B110. (However I have upgraded my monitor). I'm looking for something for high end gaming. I've been looking on TigerDirect and found an EVGA GeForce 8400 GS as well as a PNY GeForce 8400 GS. Firstly, WHAT is the difference between EVGA and PNY??! I wanted something with a bit more power, but I believe my PC is only capable of PCI and not PCI-E? Of course 1GB or more would be nice, but I'd like to keep the price $150 or below. (I know that's a lot to ask.)

Regarding the rest of the PC, I still have what it came with, Ram, Processor, etc. Of course I would love to upgrade them, but probably not able to anytime soon. (I'd love a new computer more lol, but I think I'll wait for Windows7 and when I have money lol) Ram 512mb and Processor Intel Celeron® 2.53GHz. With an updated graphics card, is it necessary to upgrade these as well?

I want to be able to run Emulation on my computer and it takes a pretty heavy toll on the CPU. So I dont know if I should just slowly start upgrading or get a new computer when Windows 7 comes out that is capable of running high end, load heavy games. Thanks for your help and advice. ^_^

Edited by DarkLiter, 28 June 2009 - 11:54 PM.

If your computer is as it came, with only 256MB of memory , I suggest upgrading the memory before the video card.

Ram 512mb and Processor Intel Celeron® 2.53GHz.

I just realized that the link to my computer has the ram at half of what I have for some reason. Maybe mine came with a free upgrade when I got it *shrug* But yeah, I have 512

You mentioned "high end gaming" .

Depending on what your definition of "high end" is 512mb still isn't much for games.

On the video cards, neither you mentioned are very good for gaming, IMO.
They both may have 512MB of memory but both have a 64 bit memory bus [or memory interface].

You would do better with a 256MB card that has at least a 128 bit bus & preferably 256 bit.

I can't recommend a nvidia card as I only use ATI.

So, should I just upgrade RAM and the Graphics Card to something like 1GB-2GB RAM and 1GB Graphics(w/ all the features for powerful gaming)? OR should I just start saving for a more powerful computer altogether? This one is a little over 3yrs old now. I know XP is already started to faded out, so ~eventually~ a newer OS will be needed, so I don't know if I should start upgrading or just cash in for the new, more powerful PC.

Thanks.

If you want to do "high end gaming" I would live with what I have & start saving.
While saving start reading articles on how to build a computer.
Build your own & get a REAL gaming rig !

I might do that. I've been looking at Alienware as well. So whichever seems to be the best I'll go with.

Alienware? Hmmmmmmmmm. I know, get $1000 bucks and go throw it out in the street or donate it to a homeless person, THEN go buy all the parts you want at Newegg for your super system and you will still save about 1000 bucks. There is no comparison. I spec'ed what I built last year at Dell, Vision, and Alien. It ran around 9,000-10,000 bucks. I built it for around 2,300. That's a LOT of "profit" built in there, PLUS I got a good PSU, not some cheap piece of junk that would burn out in 6 months and fry all my parts.

Fairjoblue is right. you don't have enough RAM to play the latest games and a 8400 isn't much of an improvement. It's a cheap version of an outdated Video card. Also, Newegg usually beats Tiger direct in prices, check out the difference in the 8400 gs's.

You will definitely do better building your own, and it's really not that hard, heck I did it lol. Here is an excellent computer parts guide with an explination of the different components. It's only about a month old so the prices are still fairly accurate, if anything, they have gone down. If you read the whole guide, you will see the guy (Carbon) specs out a low end build, a mid range build, and a high end build. Look at the costs, then see what Alien charges for the exact same build. You will also notice that he is not "brand loyal." Meaning he is a computer hardware guy who recommends what gives you the best performance for your money at the time. Right now for instance, he recoomends some of the ATI cards over nVidia. on his last guide, it was the opposite. He will also tell you things you need to know, such as why spend the cash on a quad core when the dual cores are cheaper, easier (and more stable) to over clock, and only 1 game utilizes a quad core. I wish I had "known" him and his guides before I built my machine. I would have spent about 1500 less and still had a machine that plays the games with the same quality.

Hope this helps.