Momopi, is this a good graphics card?

[Winston]

At the store, I saw a Nividia G Force branded graphics/video card that says 256MB on it. Is that good? Will that run most new games? Even the latest Grand Theft Auto version?

What's funny is that the N64 Emulator that I downloaded can run a lot of Nintendo 64 games, even ones that normally wouldn't run on my computer in their PC version. It's like these emulators can run better games than my PC itself. lol

[momopi]

There are only 2 major performance graphics chip companies left, ATI and NVidia. Everyone else (Matrox, SiS, Intel, etc.) are in the gfx minor league.

Before you buy, go here and do a price comparison:
http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/

For performance reviews, read here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/us/

Also, make sure you buy the right card (PCI Express vs. AGP).

A good way to learn more about computer hardware is to bittorrent for "A+ certification" material. The CompTIA A+ certification test prep books cover most major computer hardware topics. If you study it and get the A+ certification (pass the test), you can qualify to work in tech support or helpdesk positions.

[Winston]

Well the store said they would install it for me if I buy it, to make sure it works first. My current graphics card is 32 MB, so I guess 256 MB would a huge step up?

The cost of that card is 1700p, which is about $35 to $40.

How do I know if I need PCI Express or AGP? If it gets put it and works, then it's the right one, right?

[momopi]

The physical interface for PCI-Express and AGP cards are different:
http://img.zdnet.com/techDirectory/PCXSLOTS.GIF
http://img.zdnet.com/techDirectory/_NVPCX.JPG