Help mr. poor old scouty (santas lil helper)

[XIR.Scout109]

Ok! Xmas is 2 days away! for xmas i have some money put aside for me to purchase a graphics card!
Im looking to spend no more than around £100 mark, nothing more... tbh..

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 so that you know,
its P4. -

erm upgraded bits within it, nothing visual or audio... upgrades..

What or hwo si the best way of going around getting a card?!
what should i be looking for?

I need it for gaming, (runs ut3 smoothly) and for my university 3d rendering programs..

I currently have an ATI x300 - shocker!!!

Is it safe to change to a Nvidia if i have to?! and how or is it easy as 1,2,3 for a noob?

whats difference with 128mb, 256mb and 512 etc?

Need a card that won't be too big for my case! although i think i have room for a good sized one with 2-3 slots free in my pci case.../mobo

Links would be helpful!

[XIR.[L7]]

Gavin, Radion X1950 PRO should do the job with UT3, it gives a 2 point higher score than my last card, and my last card played it ok

the more onboard memory you have on the card, the quicker you will render scenes in big maps,

this is the cheapest rad X1950 PRO card i could find £80

http://www.yanex-store.com/products.asp?partno=11095-01-20

providing your processor is up to it this card should be fine for all your needs

P/S i have gone from nvidea to radion on my older pc with no problems, just make sure you uninstall your old card drivers before you put in your new card

[XIR.Scout109]

thanks clive mate! awesome!

still got time before i finally buy it thats beg of jan so might come down in sale other places too

[XIR.Scout109]

Well today..

i bought my new graphics card and psu! all is well... i see a fair bit of difference.. havn't tried any top games out yet...
I got the ATi Radeon HD 3850


and a 550w psu to power it as says on the 'tin' needs a 450w psu, and my current is a 300w.

A little skint with money at this moment due to going shopping day before for clothes!
SO waiting for a week or two then shall purchase the all soo mighty UT3

Its in shops like 'Gamestation' for £15 on sale, and in GAME they have the limited edition for £25 or standard copy for £20.

Thanks arne, and mac for advice on cards!
1950 would of been my choice infront of 7900gt couldn't find 1950xtx anywhere within reeasonable price, and was unsure about going nvidia incase of any problems..
HD 3850 beats the 1950 pro on benchmarks and is newer so went with that

[~XT4S3R~]

good choice Hope u'll have fun with ur new card

[XIR.[L7]]

Glad you made the right choice Gavin..