Video card upgrade help?

Okay so i currently have a PCI Gefore FX 5500 series =

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-FX5500-Geforce…



I just bought a HD monitor, and im obviously not going to be able to use it to its full extent with this card, im a student so i have a low budget of around 60 quid for a card maby?



Basicly is it worth upgrading it or just leaving it be?

As i have PCI slots am i going to have trouble finding a good PCI card cheep?

Im clueless so any help is greatfuly appriciated =D x|||The immediate problems I can see is that you suggest your FX5500 is PCI not AGP or PCIx, trying to find a better PCI card that will give you better quality images on your monitor is not going to be simple, there are not many PCI cards available any more. The monitor will get the best out of the card you have but you are right, not the other way around and on the PCI bus any changes will not get you much improvement.

Does your computer have an AGP slot? To spend more money on an PCI card is not a good idea, you could possibly do better with changing the mainboard and get something with a built in VGA that will deliver better performance. But again you will run into difficulties finding a board to match both the CPU and Memory and it may not be cost effective. At least with an AGP Graphics card you will get enhanced performance over the PCI version, there are some very cheap AGP cards around that give good performance for your £60. All you need to look at is the connections available on the card and the monitor, DVI or HD is going to get you better clarity and performance and as long as your monitor has those connections then all will be well.

I would be inclined to wait a while, save a few more pennies and perhaps get a new PC that either has a better built in Video card or has an HDMI output to get the very best out of both the card and the monitor.

The danger is always getting a VGA card that exceeds the capabilities of the other components in your PC, higher performance from your PCI or AGP VGA card always has a knock on effect elsewhere that you don't always get with the more modern GPU derived PCi express cards. You may need more memory and a better PSU depending on the VGA card and the amount of memory it has and what is already available in your PC.|||okay, the "best" pci card is like 100 times slower then the slowest PCI express card, also cost around 1000 times more, so its better to leave it be and buy a whole new computer.