Video Card suitability ?

I'm not a big gammer but I do play the odd one., I just ordered a new card, a Gainward 9800GT 1GB Green Edition. Sure I know it is pretty much the same as the 8800GT, but the 9800GT doesn't have the W7 driver issues that the earlier 8800GT card often has. I needed a card that can run on either XP or W7.and the 9800GT has no issues with W7. I don't like being an early adopter of Cards, Processors or Ram, so I tend to by hardware that was first released about 2yrs before I buy any of those items. The main reason is cost and I'm always short of it (Oz hardware prices are about double US prices). 2yr. old dated hardware can still be found new, but at about a 1/3rd. of it's original price and being a couple of yrs. behind the hardware 8-ball, is fine by me. The card I'm replacing is a 7600GT which just isn't up to the task of handling recent games. I only use a 17" screen and moderate resolution settings, so the 9800GT should be good for most games around. What I'm worried about though and am trying to avoid updating yet, is my processor or having to buy extra ram. The PSU is fine and will handle the new card no worries. The board is MSI K9N Platinum that is a good board, ready to upgrade to 64bit when I am. Proccessor: AMD Athlon 64X2 4600 (2.4MHz) Ram: Cosair TwinX 800 2x1G DDR2 I really don't want to overclock the Processor, although I know it can be and how, very easily. Then heating issues come into it beyond a 10% overclock. Not worth the effort. Would the chip handle the card and is 2 GB of ram enough for my moderate screen size and settings?

Would the chip handle the card and is 2 GB of ram enough for my moderate screen size and settings?

I think there's some confusion here as to how the CPU and the RAM interact with a graphics card. In effect, they don't really at all - not in the manner you are thinking, so it does not matter what CPU or how much RAM you have. It is the job of the motherboard to "handle" or support the graphics card, not the CPU. And since graphics cards come populated with their own RAM, 1Gb in your case, your 2Gb of system RAM don't affect the card either.

So if your motherboard supports your graphics card, and the motherboard supports your CPU and RAM, they will play well together.

The only concern you need to worry about is your PSU having the right connectors and enough horsepower to power the card - and you indicate that is not a problem. And of course drivers, which are for the operating system, are crucial too, and which you also addressed already.

Actually, in today's graphics oriented world, upgrading the graphics solution is a very effective way to increase the overall performance of a computer. This is because the more capable the graphics solution, the more tasks the CPU can hand off to it. And it takes very little CPU horsepower to hand off tasks.

BTW - for future reference, "chip" is slang for integrated circuit or "IC" and note there are dozens of ICs on a motherboard. A single RAM module will typically have 8 or 16 ICs mounted on each stick. The CPU is an IC, and so is the GPU on your new graphics card. The integrated sound device is an IC, and the other devices on the motherboard (network interface, drive controllers, USB controllers, etc. ) consists of ICs. The "chipset" - the brains of the motherboard is an IC, as is the BIOS module and the CMOS module. So to avoid confusion, if you mean the CPU, you should say "CPU", and not "chip".

OK from now on I won't refer to a CPU as a 'chip'

That was a very fascinating reply Digerati.

Except for some faily basic knowledge of how all those bits of hardware inside of a PC effect and react with each other, it's all a bit of a mystery to me.. I am going to spend some time from now on doing a bit of reading about it though. I'll try to avoid sites full of myths and legends.

As you mentioned, the two items of greatest importance seem to be the PSU and the mainboard.

So on that account ….

Antec Neo 550w High Efficency PSU.
This one: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/361

MSI K9N (nVidia 570 Ultra chipset) specs. and review:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware…k9n-sli-deluxe/

I only very recently installed the latest Bios from the stock one that originally was on the mainboard. Everything seems very stable.

So, good to go with the more powerful card arriving here soon?

PS:
As I earlier said, I'm not into gaming in any big way, so my knowledge about gaming 'rigs' is very limited.
Why do people (gamers especially) go on and on about super powerful CPUs …"Got to have a 3.0GHz CPU at least!" ?
And all this business about over-clocking (a big no,no for me) to 'improve' gaming performance? Plain Ignorance?

I'll try to avoid sites full of myths and legends.

That is not always easy - so you need to check multiple sites.

I have used Antecs PSU (and cases) for years.

As I earlier said, I'm not into gaming in any big way, so my knowledge about gaming 'rigs' is very limited.
Why do people (gamers especially) go on and on about super powerful CPUs …"Got to have a 3.0GHz CPU at least!" ?
And all this business about over-clocking (a big no,no for me) to 'improve' gaming performance? Plain Ignorance?

Pretty much, it is all about bragging rights. The problem is some folks don't understand, as I say in my sig, heat is bane of all electronics. And overclocking puts a huge burden on cooling.

What I think is a shame is motherboard makers build in overclocking abilities in their motherboards, and even the CPU makers talk about overclocking. And many of the HW review sites concentrate on overclocking abilities as a criteria for this CPU being "better" than that. BUT, the problem is there is no motherboard maker that will cover damage caused by overclocking. And neither Intel nor AMD cover damage from overclocking.

BUT, the problem is there is no motherboard maker that will cover damage caused by overclocking. And neither Intel nor AMD cover damage from overclocking.

Nor should they, IMO.

But since they don't and won't, they should keep their advertisements focused on stock performance specs, instead of inviting the wonders of OC.

I'm sure it is not uncommon, but I have an old ASUS MoBo, of which the first item in the BIOS is OC adjustments.

Thanks for all your help Digerati. .My case is an Antec too, but came without a PSU. I like to choose my own. The K9N board has overclocking facilities, but I'd never use them anyway. Like the reg. cleaner software myth, I'm long past the overclocking one too (I did go there once a couple of years ago though). Through ignorance more than anything else. Yes, I see were you coming from regarding the 'bragging rights' bussiness. Cheers, Lee