New Graphics Card help

[razor23uk]

Hi guys n gals.......first time poster(regular shopper!)here so please be gentle.
I am wishing to up-grade the old Dellboy here,I know I know,but it was a deal from work.....and am looking for some advice on a graphics card. I am completely confused with what to get. I like the sound/reviews of the GF 9600gt cards,and have used GF cards in a few of my previous builds over the years. Would the 1024 have an advantage over the 512??. The 512 reviews look great,and trying to do it on a budget,it does draw me to it a bit.
There are so many options when I start looking I just get totaly confused with choice.
I am running a Dell dimension 5150 with a P4 3.5ghz and 1 gig of ram,to be upgraded to 4 gig.
I am not a hard core gamer and shake with fear at the thought of overclocking anything!!
Currently playing games like Killing Floor, and some retro shooters like Half life2 (retro!!),but looking to play the new Wolfenstien and maybee Crysis??
Any help/pointers much appreciated........
Thanks.

 

[baked188]

Something like this or this could work if your Power supply is up to it.

The graphics card ram is fine with 512mb upto 1650x1050 imo, if your playing in a higher resolution go for the 1gb

EDIT: after looking around it seems your pwer supply is 305watts, That probably isnt gonna be enough for any of the 2 cards above, especially the 4850, maybe this

 

[manic111]

This might work...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-194-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1274

 

[razor23uk]

Thanks baked188..........from your comment,is there a chance the PSU may not be up to the job??.......not a real problem I guess,just another upgrade I did'nt plan on.

 

[coupe69]

This should work fine as it doesn't require any external power, it takes all the power it needs from the pci-e slot. It's about the fastest card you're going to get without upgrading your psu.

 

[razor23uk]

Thanks for all the help guys. The "greeny" looking fave at the mo.......some good reviews and a blinding price too.
Is it just peoples personal preference,or is there a difference between Radeon cards and Nvidia cards??
Or.......is it safe to say,that on a tight budget for a not as keen as mustard gamer like me,there is realy no difference between them for what I want to achieve??

 

[baked188]

There's not that much difference, Recently ATI tend to offer better performance for the price than nvidia but this is more with top end cards like gtx285 & 295 are way overpriced imo.
Mainstream cards I think the performance/price between them is pretty much on par so id go with personal pref.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Another vote for that green 9800 GT, still decent cards today those.

 

[razor23uk]

Thanks once again guys.........too much pondering and not enough spending!! Off to order my "Greeny" now