What kind of GPU?

[Jawz II]

I got a new PC.
on the manual that comes with it says VIA®P4M800CE + VT8237R plus chipset based.

what im trying to figure out is what kind of graphic card i have right now,
since im gonna buy a new one tommorrow and dont have all that much money to spend, and dont want to end up buying something worse than the one i already have.

i checked MSI and all i found is this:

VIA® P4M800CE Chipset
- P4 processor FSB 800MHz
- DDR SDRAM memory DDR 333/400MHz
- 32-bit AGP (66MHz) for 8x/4x mode
- Supports 8X V-Link

• VIA® VT8237R plus Chipset
- Integrated Hardware Sound Blaster/Direct Sound AC'97 audio.
- Dual channel Ultra DMA 66/100/133 master mode EIDE controller.
- Integrated USB 2.0 controller.
- ACPI & PC2001 compliant enhanced power management

from: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=712

now, where dose it say which graphics card i have and how powerful it is?
i belive theyre measured in howmuch RAM they have?

also, could you kindly recommend a graphics card with 3D that wont cost alot? (im thinking around 100-120 US dollar)


ive looked for this info over an hour, or i wouldnt ask. also please dont use too many technical terms, i know very little about computers

 

[MarineCorps]

From the looks of it you don't have one. It appears all you have is integrated graphics, unless you added one which I get the feeling you didn't. Which means that it is pretty much the lowest of the low. Almost any card will be better then it.

This part
32-bit AGP (66MHz) for 8x/4x mode

Tells you what your video card slot is. When you shop for one look for one that says AGP 8x or AGP 4x.

 

[Jawz II]

From the looks of it you don't have one. It appears all you have is integrated graphics, unless you added one which I get the feeling you didn't. Which means that it is pretty much the lowest of the low. Almost any card will be better then it.

This part
32-bit AGP (66MHz) for 8x/4x mode

Tells you what your video card slot is. When you shop for one look for one that says AGP 8x or AGP 4x.

yeah an hour of searching i learned that much, (AGP= something something port, i looked it up on wiki ) and yeah i knew its integrated, my brother told me that when he gave me the computer.

so anything will be better huh? can i get anything decent within my price range?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

well, you can find out what kind of card you have by using freshdiagnose ( http://www.freshdevices.com/freshdiag.html ). And what exactly is your budget? 100-120$? Thats too little today. While you can get something worthwhile, even most of the 6xxx series for nvidia and the Xxxx series for ATi cost more than your budget..

 

[Jawz II]

well, you can find out what kind of card you have by using freshdiagnose ( http://www.freshdevices.com/freshdiag.html ). And what exactly is your budget? 100-120$? Thats too little today. While you can get something worthwhile, even most of the 6xxx series for nvidia and the Xxxx series for ATi cost more than your budget..

that sucks, i remember back in the days, you had your graphics card and bought your 3D card separately.

i bought my voodoo3 card for 100 dollars back in the days, and it was the sharpest there was (there was no geoforce back then)

i think maybe i can spend 150 dollars, but screw it, ill wait till next month, ive already bough too much crap this month, and i dont play computer games that much anymore anyway.

 

[bhsup]

Try this one maybe. It's at the top end of your price range, but it has 256MB video memory, is an AGP card, and has an nvidia chipset.

* NVIDIA® Intellisample™ 3.0 Technology
* NVIDIA® CineFX™ 3.0 engine
* Microsoft® DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0
* NVIDIA® nView™ multi-display technology
* NVIDIA® Ultrashadow™ II technology

 

[Genocidicbunny]

look on newegg rather. while that card does seem good, its not actually all its said to be.. This is a much better choice, and a bit of a better investment.. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150157)

 

[Jawz II]

Try this one maybe. It's at the top end of your price range, but it has 256MB video memory, is an AGP card, and has an nvidia chipset.

* NVIDIA® Intellisample™ 3.0 Technology
* NVIDIA® CineFX™ 3.0 engine
* Microsoft® DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0
* NVIDIA® nView™ multi-display technology
* NVIDIA® Ultrashadow™ II technology

thank you for your advice, everyone.

ive been thinking and ive decided to wait until next month, then ill be able to buy something better, maybe in the 200-300 dollar area.