I need to renew my graphics card. Anyone able to give me any idea which would be the best for my system?
Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz
512MB RAM DDR333
Mainboard MD-5000 M-ATX with SIS 648&963 Chipsets
AGP 8X
Current grapics card is an NVIDIA 4200 ti 128MB
I was thinking on the lines of an ATI Radeon 9600. Any help would be most appreciated.

Well, opinions will vary on that.
I have a P4 2600mhz with 512mb DDR333 that I just upped to 1 gig last week. But, two months ago I got an NVidia 6800GT by Evga, and I have to say this card is outstanding! My eyes have have not seen a noticable difference from the RAM increase.(I should bench marked it) The 6800GT costs about $300. For about $100 less you could get the 6600GT or the 6800. I seriously considered getting one of those instead.
I'm having a great time playing FarCry. You'll find that you can play most anything on max settings at a high resolution. In fact, it was going so fast I had to enable the vertical sync in FarCry to stop the constant tearing that I saw. All I can say is that the 6800GT really pumps out the FPS.
Games will be smooth as silk.

The 9600's are decent cards for the money, but you may want to consider something just a bit more beefy. The Radeon X700's, and the Geforce 6600's would be a pretty good fit.

This is a 6600GT. A bit overkill for your system, but at this price after rebate, it's definitely worth considering...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135160

A 6800GT is overkill, as is a 6800.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

I would add another 512M of RAM, if you can.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

A 6800GT is NOT overkill. You'll have loads of fun with that card

Yes, he'll have loads of fun with that card, and loads of fun with a 6600GT. The difference in performance is next to nothing since his CPU can't keep up with a 6600GT, let alone a 6800GT. Difference in price? $170.

Don't believe me?

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2330

Towards the bottom of the article, the author begins manipulating the clock speed of his Athlon 64 and benchmarking with the various cards. Notice it is an Athlon 64, which are more efficient per clock than Intels. (1.8GHz clocked Athlon 64's perform equal to a 2.8GHz P4 for example).

Let's compare the overall scores of a 6600GT and a 6800GT on the same speed of the Athlon 64, 1600MHz, which is the best equivalent to a P4 2.6GHz like the poster has, and a 6600GT at the same clock speed. (This is the best CPU scaling article I could find.)

6800GT = 71
6600GT = 71

That says precisely what I stated. His CPU isn't fast enough to see any difference between those two cards.

Therefore, it IS overkill. Sorry!

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

Nice artical herosycho!
I was unaware that the performance disparity was so great between a P4 2.6Ghz & 6800GT.

No problem. I just don't like seeing people waste their hard earned money. :-)

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

Thanks for your opinions guys! Really appreciate it! I don't play games all that much, but when I do I like to play without any graphics related problems! The games I play are a little dated, Battlefield, Operation Flashpoint and Medal of Honour. An ATI Radeon 9600PRO should be good enough for me shouldn't it?

Which Battlefield - 1942 or 2? If 2, it's gonna be a bit slow but yes.

OFP - Yes (There are people who play that besides me?! :-) )

Medal of Honor - Which one? The old one, yes. The new one, it's gonna be a bit slow, but yes.

I again recommend getting another 512M of memory while you're at it.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

You may want to consider a 9600XT instead of the Pro. Shouldn't be much more...

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

Just been checking prices out and I'm going for the ATI Radeon 9600XT. Thanks again guys for your opinions!