Noob questions about graphics cards

I'm really not much of a PC gamer, but I've always been a fan of RTS's . Recentely I've been wanting to upgrade my graphics card to play stuff like world in conflict / supreme commander / C%26C 3 etc. As it stands, I have a pretty good comp (2GB RAM, dual core 2.8GHz etc.) but my graphics card can't process my balls (Nvidia Geforce 7300 LE). So I'm looking for a card that's pretty good, but not super top of the line. I'm willing to spend like 300$ on it, maybe a bit less if I can still get something pretty good. I'd want to play a game like C%26C 3 on fairly high settings, but not nesseserily maxed out. Maybe even crysis on a medium setting. I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions. Thanks for your help.Noob questions about graphics cards
only one choice for raw performance 8800 gt G92Noob questions about graphics cards
$290
I'm not sure about crysis but the rest like sc and C%26C 3 at least they run good for me on my 8600gt xxx 256mb graphic card.On C%26C 3 I have it all on high not ultra I don't see why doing that. It looks fantastic on the settings that I just mentiond.On sc I have like one or 2 things on high and most other stuff off or on low and the rez is a 1024x768 and to me this is just fine for now until later on down the road other graphic cards out there come down in price.To tell the truth what has made sc run better and C%26C 3 is the new sound card that I bought the other day. It is the extreme gamer x-fi and to tell the truth it has trully help me out far as running the game better and all.This is my rig. Amd 2.2 athlon 3800 dual with 2 gigs of ram and the 8600 gt xxx 256mb and I got this card for 140.00 at the time but these days it is cheaper then that.
the 8800gt G92 consumes lots of power like over 200watts at load so you might be upgrading beyond your ps if you go that route maybe the 8600gt is better for you...just depends if you have a 600w ps or not
Before we move further, what type interface does your computer have for graphics? AGP or PCI Express? Don't know? Use this program.
8800GT 512mb you can find them on amazon for around 270$! BEST CARD ON THE MARKET for price to performance ratio. It will play many games on very high settings (it will handle supcom, crysis, ect.) and you will love it. It does NOT consume as much power as other cards (like 8800GTX) if you have a standard PSU (which is around 500 watts) you should be perfectly fine.
Yes that should of been asked in the beging.
[QUOTE=''blackleather223'']Yes that should of been asked in the beging.[/QUOTE]lol It's always the small details.
[QUOTE=''battledroid978'']Before we move further, what type interface does your computer have for graphics? AGP or PCI Express? Don't know? Use this program.[/QUOTE]PCI express
you'd be just fine with a 500W... 600 would be for sli...
[QUOTE=''usule'']you'd be just fine with a 500W... 600 would be for sli...[/QUOTE]Talking about the power suply...
yeah right. maybe with one hd and brand new ps without worn capacitors...you need to account for the ''wear'' of the ps since capacitors can wear at a rate up to 10 to 20 percent a year.
[QUOTE=''PuffstaJones''][QUOTE=''battledroid978'']Before we move further, what type interface does your computer have for graphics? AGP or PCI Express? Don't know? Use this program.[/QUOTE]PCI express[/QUOTE] If that's the case, you will be fine with any of the above mentioned cards. 8800GT for overall performance, or Radeon HD 3870 for slightly less performance and price.
thanks for the advise, as for my power supply, to be honest it's the one componant of my computer I haven't the slightest idea about. My PC is about a year and a half old but I really don't know about it.

If it's that old and it wasn't designed to be a gaming computer, than you probably don't have a PSU capable of handling any of the newer cards. You probably should shop for one before you upgrade otherwise your card will actually burn out your current power supply. (AKA MELT IT)
It truly is amazing thay one small problem could turn into a huge problem and cause the whole thing to crash.Me I have a infinity I believe and it is a 500 watt power supply.Do make sure your power supply is powerful enough and if not and when you goto get another one make sure it is the right one because I orderd a 500 watt power supply and I assumed that it was the right one and so I installed it and later down the road it burned up on me and came to find out it was only a 450 watt one. So I have made sure that when I bought the next one I made sure that it was a 500 watt one and nothing else.If there was ever a time that I order one and the watts are higher then what I ordered then I wouldn't be upset.