Video Card Recommendation for The Sims 3?

** I WILL CHOOSE BEST ANSWER!!!***



I need a better video card for gaming....specifically for playing The Sims 3...Read my PC's info and any advice or Video Card Recommendations (that are compatible with my PC would be GREATLY appreciated!!!)



My PC is pretty outdated...

Compaq Presario SR1720NX

Currently my PC is using ATI Radeon Xpress 200 series (I know, it's bad lol)



I recently added 1 GB of RAM so my PC meets all the requirements of The Sims 3 EXCEPT for the video card...I'm able to play the game, but it crashes often since I desperately need to update my video card.

The power supply for my PC is just 250 Watts...so that might limit me to the video cards out there...what's the best I can do with 250 Watts?



I would like to get another ATI Radeon Video Card...but I need some recomendations from people who know a little more about computers than I do....I need a video card that is compatible with my PC of course, but I have no idea how to tell if one is compatible...help please??



(Also I don't want to spend too much...less than $200 would be best...I need best (most decent lol) graphics for cheapest price)



The Sims 3 Requires:

Graphics card with 128 MB with support for Pixel Shader 2.0



Here's a list The Sims 3 Recommends:

ATI Radeon 9500 series, 9600, 9800, X300, X600, X700, X800, X850, X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950, 2400, 2600, 2900, 3450, 3650, 3850, 3870, 4850, 4870, Intel ® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) GMA Series 3 Series 4 GMA.



Based on my PC...power supply, video card compatibility....& best $price$ what would you recommend for me??|||Your motherboard has 1 pcie slot so that means it can support todays newest and greatest graphics card!



But your power supply is only 250 watts so you are very limited in your choices...



Also I am assuming you cpu is Sempron (P) 3500+ 2.0 GHz which is very old so you should not buy the most expensive card you can because your cpu will potentially bottleneck your graphics card. I got your cpu info from this link below



http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/Tec…



I would recommend this card. It is from the ATI 4000 series which is their newest models. $35



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



System requirements for the card are provided in the link below and it says 300w required but you will be fine with your 250 watt power supply.



http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/g…



If you think you might want a new power supply to "play it safe" then this one should be more than enough. $30



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



I would just buy the card I listed if I were you.|||Geforce 7300GS 256MB Pcie

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F4P…



XFX GeForce 7300 LE Graphics

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sk…



Power Requirements:

7300GS models

Minimum of a 250 Watt power supply.

(minimum +12 Volt current rating of 18 amps)

http://www.evga.com/support/faq/?f=58058|||hmmm, i have the same pc sitting here as a back up...i have never upgraded it becuz of the power supply...it has an open pci-e x16 slot...



here is a 3450 for 42bux that will run it a lot better than the integrated video...



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



thats really about the only card worth running in that system...might get medium settings....upgrading to 2 gigs of ram will help you out also...



in order to get a really decent card in there you would need to upgrade the power supply...not to mention the pc is at the end of its life cycle really...might wanna look for or start pricing a new pc....jmho....



Scott