GA-8IEXP graphics card upgrade advice

[Goatface]

Guy's

I wondered if anyone here can help me answer a few probably simple questions and save me loads of time. I purchased this board when it came out and spec'd i tbest I could afford at time.

Its running 2Gb RAM and the P4 2.6Ghz CPU with a Radeon 9500pro graphics card.

I dont have any reason to overhaul the whole sytem but figured for a small cost I probably coul dmax out its potential and maybe see the difference in the likes or World of Warcraft :-/

I'm guessing that upgrading to a 2.8Ghz CPU will have no noticable difference but figured plenty of room for improvement with my Graphics card. So would someone kindly advise me on the best compatibel card I could get. All advice welcome. I want to buy a little time before upgrading the whole lot.

On a whole though, I have to say I have never had any problems with this system and will def choose Gbyte again.

Oh and its Windows 7.

Kindest Regards

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.
 

As you have a motherboard with an AGP slot you are a little more limited in the GPUs available.
See here for ATI:  http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/products/list.aspx?s=43&p=52,53&v=2,7#1
See here for nVidia: http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/products/list.aspx?s=43&p=52,53&v=1,7

The only problem you will face is by upgrading the GPU it will be an AGP version which will not transfer to your new machine when you build it.

You are already running the full compliment of RAM so you are stuck there.

[Goatface]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look at the links later when I have more time. Looks like a catologue of all cards though. So have i got to narrow it down to AGP 4x for my board. If anyone wants to recomend any of those cards from experience that would be great. I have a couple of hundred spare but not enough for overhaul. So fire away at the RAM options I have although I thought I was maxed and suggests or recomend good cards.

Much appreciated. Bascialy and being totally honest I am coming to the experts to save me the legwork as I havent got time to throw myself in to it this time :-/

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I appreciate that and your honesty. If I am going to be totally frank too I would have to say I wouldn't waste your hard earned on this setup. It is a technological dead end and any money you pour into it is going to be wasted. You will not be able to use any thing from this system in your next build(well maybe the drive). I would be inclined to hang on and save until you can afford to buy new items.

If you do decide to go ahead I would advise you to look on Ebay as it is quite an old spec AGP4x.

[Goatface]

Mate, that is exactly what I needed to hear.

I will hold of until I have done sufficient homework and rebuild completely, rather than expect a miracle from a quick win

A lot has changes since I built this machine lol. But I will buy a Gigabyte Mobo again for sure. Hummn, so am i off down the i7 route then.. here we go again.

[Dark Mantis]

Well we are here for any questions or problems you might have along the way. I really do think that is the most sensible approach.