Soo.... I want to upgrade my computer. http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/GTModels/5454/5454sp2.shtml I've got 1 gig of ram. I can expand to 4. I'm gonna put four in because I can find 4 gigs for 40 bucks on newegg I'm aware there is a difference in what types of ram you can buy but i've heard these are okay. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178164 but what I want to know what's a good video card that's kinda inexpensive that fits with the PCIe 16x slots that's relatively inexpensive?
yup. You can do a switch if it does not come get the max automatically ,but it can not hit 4. I have 4 gigs and it only reads 3 gigs...
well son of a... thanks I don't think I can just use 3 gigs? lol. I know I can hit 4 in ubuntu; which is cool. any idea about the graphics card?
I run this one: link The gs. Its ok, aoc pushes it though, other games do good with it. The slit-a technology is great though
If you have two empty slots for a 2 slot (because of the fans) video card, I'd buy the Geforce GTX 260 or the Radeon 4870. If you only have a single slot, this is the best for your money: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161235 or any 4850 for that matter. I have two running and it even runs Crysis at high pretty smoothly.
# Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 * Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) supports up to 224 MB of video memory # PCI-Express (PCI-E ×16) slot available for upgrade
I know, they're all PCI-E. Although they only need one slot, they need another one on the case to let the fans operate. If there's an extra expansion slide on the back of the case either on top or bottom of the PCI-E slot, you can get a 2-slot card, else, it's the 4870.
Not necessarily the case. You can have one PCI-E slot for a dual slot GPU but you need a blank expansion slot (one of these) right above and below the PCI-E slot.
How's your power supply? A lot of PCs come with low-end power supplies. Make sure you have enough juice before you upgrade your video board. But you knew that already (grins) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_4850 Power Usage on the 4850 mentioned earlier: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_4850/21.html