New Graphics Card

Hi guys.

At the moment, my computer has an old and outdated graphics card. It's too old to support newer DirectX releases, and because of how windows update works, I can't downgrade. Heck, if I'm honest I'm not even sure what graphics card it is, just that it's an old Radeon one.

Occasionally it causes problems for me when I'm working in Photoshop, and not being able to run the odd program because it utilises DirectDraw is really annoying to say the least.

I'm also thinking of setting up dual monitors when I move into my mum's, since there is a spare monitor there and it would just be a nice and convenient thing to have.

But I'm not looking to do any gaming on my computer, and I am honestly at a loss as to what sort of a graphics card I need?

I don't really understand what all those numbers and letters mean :c

I just know that Photoshop works best with an nvidia graphics card. But I don't want to go and buy something that's more than I need, because that would just be a waste of money...

So some help would be appreciated!

Now when you don't know what parts you actually have makes the whole process more complicated. It's actually not that easy to upgrade a graphicscard unless you know what m-board you have and what powersupply you got.

What you could do is download CPU-Z and then do a screendump on all the different pages, under the Graphics-tab you can see what card you have too

Wow, that's some old parts(for me)...let me thinker a little...

EDIT: As I can see if I'm looking at it correctly, you have an intergrated graphic card in your motherboard. Upgrading from such an old motherboard is going to be a pain.

I'm not even sure they sell graphics cards that is compatible with your computer.

She has a PCI-E x16 link, which means any modern video card should work.

The Radeon HD 6850 is probably a good choice. You may not get full use of it due to your older motherboard, but it'll still be a big step up from what you've got. It'll set you back about $120.

Also worth considering is buying a new computer. You could get one much better than your current one for circa $700. (Ars Technica system guide: December 2011 | Ars Technica has some excellent recommendations for budget hardware that still packs a kick).

Oh, I missed that! Silly me.