Would a new graphics card be worth it?

Jimmy_Scythe

Okay, so I'm buying a new laptop here in a couple of weeks and, while I'm throwing money around, I thought it might be a good idea to pony up to a new graphics card for my desktop. I'm not quite sure if that's going to do enough considering how low powered this system is however. here's a (very) basic rundown of what I have:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2GHz)

2 Gigs Ram (DDR 2)

nVidia GeForce 7300SE

I'm not really sure if I have a PCI Express or a PCI Express 2.0.

I don't want to buy a shiny new GeForce 8800 only to find that my processor and memory speed is holding it back. Given, the laptop that I'm buying will have 4 gigs of memory, an AMD X2 and a GeForce 9600M GT, but I'd also like a little more omf in my desktop as well.

Would it be worth it? Or would it be like grandma's boob job?

Cleffy

It would be like Grandma's boob job.  A descent graphics card requires atleast a 350w power supply.  A higher end one requires a 500w supply.  Also your processor will hold it back.  Memory won't be an issue since AMDs memory controller is built into the processor, and the bandwidth on HT is much higher then on most Intel systems.

Right now I am using an AMD 5000+ and planning to upgrade my system this month.  The 5000+ holds back my HD3870 which isn't really a powerful card.

g.killram

2.0 is compatible with x16 so no worries. a 8800 would be a waste. i would go with a hd3850.

Swiftblade13

the 7300 is VERY weak, so an upgrade would benefit you... but ... it sucks to spend money on such an outdated system. 

Just for the fun of it check out my post labeled "post your high performance budget build" and consider what you can get for a few hundred dollars more.  PM me if you have questions about building your own rig. 

If you DO decide to upgrade the vid card.... well get something decent enough that you can continue using it when you upgrade the rest of the computer... I just got a 9800GT for $91 after rebate.... thats a great deal and it should last a good long while.  Only problem is you will almost definitely need a power supply for whatever upgrade you do....  gaming cards suck power, and the 7300 is not a gaming card... so you probably dont have a decent PS.  I just got a good PS on ebay for $45... but dont buy blind.... ask someone who knows what power supply to buy.. again you can PM me.