Important questions regarding to upgrading of graphics card

[Phurrior]

I'm using a Core 2 Quad Q8200 (Y) 2.33 GHz (95W) 1333 MHz front side busSocket 775 processor. 

[Big_Dave]

Review the ATI and NVIDIA performance specifications. Look at the memory bandwidth specifications and the DirectX level support.

How to replace a power supply.

How to replace a video card.

As you can see, there are much better cards than the older NVIDIA 9800.

[Phurrior]

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Big_Dave wrote:

Review the ATI and NVIDIA performance specifications. Look at the memory bandwidth specifications and the DirectX level support.

How to replace a power supply.

How to replace a video card.

As you can see, there are much better cards than the older NVIDIA 9800.

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Thanks for the links but can you teach me how to choose graphic cards which BEST suits my current processor and 4GB RAM ?  Sorry but I'm not very good in computers.

[Big_Dave]

This is your motherboard. It's the same as the one in my m9200t system.

This NVIDIA 220 may work with your current power supply if your power supply has the correct 12+volt amperage rating.  It needs 18 amps on the 12+ volt bus and 300 watts total.  Open up ypu PC and read the label on the power supply.  What is the amperage on the 12+ volt bus?

After that it's either going down in video card performance or replacing the power supply which would open up many video card as choices. A power supply will cost less than $100 and a good gaming video card would be less than $150.

Are you capable of changing out a power supply? You could ask your local PC repair shop for a quote to do the PSU and the graphics card.

[Phurrior]

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Big_Dave wrote:

This is your motherboard. It's the same as the one in my m9200t system.

This NVIDIA 220 may work with your current power supply if your power supply has the correct 12+volt amperage rating.  It needs 18 amps on the 12+ volt bus and 300 watts total.  Open up ypu PC and read the label on the power supply.  What is the amperage on the 12+ volt bus?

After that it's either going down in video card performance or replacing the power supply which would open up many video card as choices. A power supply will cost less than $100 and a good gaming video card would be less than $150.

Are you capable of changing out a power supply? You could ask your local PC repair shop for a quote to do the PSU and the graphics card.

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I checked my PSU and here are the ratings: 
+12V / 19A, -12V / 0.8A 
+5V / 25A, +5VSB / 2A 
+3.3V / 18A 

From what i can tell, the amperage on the 12+ volt bus is 19A. So does this mean that I'm able to use the NVIDIA 220?
If I upgrade my PSU to 1000W and upgrade my graphics card to a GeForce GTX 480, will anything in my computer system be affected? 

[Big_Dave]

The NVIDIA 220 should work.

You need to consider the possible heat and air circulation issues if you should install a 1000 watt power supply and the NVIDIA GTX 480. The typical HP mini tower does not lend itself well to good air circulation. Don't over buy on the power supply size.  Bigger is not always better. So some research on power supplies and pick a high efficiency modular power supply that has the amperage for the video card.  What is hotter, a 100 watt light bulb or a 300 watt light bulb?  The other consideration is that the GTX 480 may be too much card for your memory and bus speed, meaning that you will not get full potential from the card due to performance bottlenecks.

[Phurrior]

Ok, that really answered most of my questions.. Thanks again for your patience and help Big_Dave! 

[1366-768]

1366-678

[Big_Dave]

1366-678?  We need a lot more information.