Help please getting a new video card.

[Bill in NH]

I have a HP computer that meets or exceeds all the requirements to run the REAL FLIGHT BASIC r/c flight simulator but one. It looks as if I need to upgrade my video card. Loading the simulator fails with the message that my video card will not accept/support 'shaders'. My current card is a nVidia GeForge MX 440 AGP 8x. Any ideas as to which video card I can buy to upgrade my computer? The basics of my HP are P-4, 2.8GHz, 512MB DDR SDRAM, 160.0 GB hard drive running windows XP. Thanks for any help. I feel I can swap out a video card OK just as long as the plug-ins do not change.
Bill

[jagabo]

There aren't many AGP video cards made these days:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609639&na...=AGP%204X%2f8X

Check the power requirements too.

[edDV]

The AGP bus is going to limit your choice. Not many being sold new anymore. NVideo topped out around the 7600GS which was a nice card.

R/C System Requirements

Minimum:3D Accelerated Video with: 32 MB Dedicated Video Memory Full Windows DirectX® 9 compliant (Pixel Shader 1.4 support)

Optimal:3D Accelerated Video with: 512 MB dedicated video memory Pixel Shader 3.0 support

NVidia FX series cards had Pixel Shader 2.0b support
NVidia 6xxx and 7xxx cards had Pixel Shader 3.0 support
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_shader

Yes power consumption may overload your power supply. HP was known for weak power supplies.

PS: I checked my older P4 machine which uses an AGP bus NVidia 7600GS and the power supply is an Antec 350W. I used that machine fine with MS Flight Simulator 2004 and X-Plane.

[johns0]

NVideo topped out around the 7600GS which was a nice card.

The 7800gs(256bit interface) is a much better agp card which nvidia topped out with,the 7600gs(128bit interface) isnt a very good gaming card.

If you can try and get a 6800gt or 6800ultra if you cant get a 7800gs.About the same performance.

[edDV]

Yes the 7800 is better. I didn't know they made an AGP version.

[Bill in NH]

Thanks for the replies. So I take the 6800 GT, 6800 Ultra and 7800 GS are all nVidia cards that will support 'shaders', correct? I am sorry I am not up on video/graphic details as what a AGP card is. I will try to find the video cards recommened. One last question, will using any of these cards require/ or recommend any othe upgrade?
Bill

[edDV]

Thanks for the replies. So I take the 6800 GT, 6800 Ultra and 7800 GS are all nVidia cards that will support 'shaders', correct? I am sorry I am not up on video/graphic details as what a AGP card is. I will try to find the video cards recommened. One last question, will using any of these cards require/ or recommend any othe upgrade?
Bill

Those would be the most powerful NVidia AGP cards but you must check the power recommendations for each card and see if your power supply is up to the load. If not you need to use a less power demanding card or upgrade the power supply. As I said, my 350 Watt supply is sufficient for a 7600GS.

You may need assistance from a computer service shop if you can't do this yourself.

[Bill in NH]

edDV,

I tried reviewing my computer's spec sheet and I find no mention of power supply, as named 'power supply'. Is there another name for the power supply or a way I can check it out through the control panel?
Tks,Bill

[edDV]

edDV,

I tried reviewing my computer's spec sheet and I find no mention of power supply, as named 'power supply'. Is there another name for the power supply or a way I can check it out through the control panel?
Tks,Bill

You need to open the case and read the label on the power supply.

Look for total wattage plus the 12VDC amp number.

[jagabo]

You're old MX 440 get power only from the AGP slot. But many modern cards have a connector for more power directly from the power supply. If the card you get has that be sure to connect it.