3800 Decent video card??

[SaturdaysGS]

So my family has a Compaq Presario 7000T (7rpme2) and its fairly outdated. These are the specs:

-1.7Ghz Pentium 4 w/400 MHz Front Side Bus
-256mb EEC RDRam RIMM (Rambus)
-64DDR nVidia GeForce3 w/TV-Out
-80GB-7200rpm harddrive (replaced the 60GB HDD that started to fail)
-16X DVD-ROM drive
-48/16/48x CD-R/RW drive (replaced the 12X CD-RW drive)

It runs Windows XP, and has the bare necessities, program wise, on it. It will mainly be used for surfing the web, papers, and the occasional video played by my younger brother.

What video card is the best performance per dollar? I'm looking for something that would work well, but nothing extreme.. the computer wont be used to play any real intense games.. aka requiring DX10.

Also I want to upgrade the ram. 256mb was OK for Windows ME (Microsofts Excriment) but XP just does NOT like it. Some sources say 1GB is max while another (more realiable source) says it can handle 1.5GB. I have to install it in pairs so I'm going to be looking for 2x512 sticks. Where is the best place to go for RAMBUS ram? I'm looking for a good deal for a good brand?

Thanks
-Nick

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[Royalgtp]

Rambus ram is tough on the wallet.

 

[SaturdaysGS]

Rambus ram is tough on the wallet.
[/b]

Thats one thing I've come to find out..

 

[Toasty]

google search reveals 512mb of rambus ram to be about 150-165 or so for pc800

 

[imported_Xerxeis]

Some sources say 1GB is max while another (more realiable source) says it can handle 1.5GB.[/b]

ummm....Go slap those sources...I've been running 2 gigs since the day i got my computer and XP runs like a charm...so does vista...Your motherboard will have the max ram factor on it, i believe it's based in the BIOS, I tried taking our old old computer's ram up to 128, but the motherboard maxed out at 96 for some stupid reason.

 

[SaturdaysGS]

Some sources say 1GB is max while another (more realiable source) says it can handle 1.5GB.[/b]

ummm....Go slap those sources...I've been running 2 gigs since the day i got my computer and XP runs like a charm...so does vista...Your motherboard will have the max ram factor on it, i believe it's based in the BIOS, I tried taking our old old computer's ram up to 128, but the motherboard maxed out at 96 for some stupid reason.
[/b]

Ah I guess I should have worded that better, I was referencing to the motherboard, not XP. My bad.

 

[PANDA]

Im sorry you were one of the unlucky people to buy a computer with RDRAM. Since that type of ram was only out for maybe a year before DDR came out prices are really high for this type of ram.

If your gonna be running Windows XP I recomend a minium 512mb ram. Newegg has a stick of 512 for $209 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820147302

If your only going to go on the internet and watching movies why do you need a better video card?

With PCI express AGP video cards are disapearing slowly but you can still find many of them. I would recomend a 6600GT its under $100, and is a great mid range AGP card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814130059

I think your money would be better spent put towards a new computer.

 

[DaytonaPaceCar]

IIRC, Rambus ram MUST be installed in pairs. Super sucks! h34r:

 

[Toasty]

as for video card? for a decent entry level card look at this one
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?...N82E16814133177
it's only 128mb, but this card is excellent and cheap. I've got this one in my wife's machine and it seems flawless for most anything except intense 3d gaming.

If you want more memory, here's 256mb version, slightly different memory speed tho:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814133151

 

[TonzKnock-G]

You call that outdated? Come to my house and I will show you outdated. :lolsign:

 

[dole21]

^lol im still runnning windows 98 1st edition on one of my pcs