Need Good Single-Slot VideoCard Upgrade

[Guest ordmr]

HeyI own a HP m9340f. Overall, it's a good PC: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU @2.66Ghz, 6GB RAM, Vista Home Premium. I'm running FS9.There's a shortcoming on this PC, though: Nvidia Geforce 9500GS.I really need to upgrade this videocard. However, as I've been digging here and there, apparently the mother board only admits single-slot videocards PCIX-16.Could you suggest me the best single slot video card available for FS9? I was thinking of the 8800GTX or ATI 4370 but I better trust the experts.Thank yuo!

[Art_P 6]

I suspect getting a motherboard with a PCI-E slot may be as important an upgrade as the video card if it indeed has a PCI-X slot for video. Surely it has a PCIe-16 slot for that video card. I don't understand what you mean about single-slot video cards. There is only one slot required for one video card. The high-end cards, however, cover up a second slot (usually a PCIe-1 slot) for the cooling fan.

[TechguyMaxC 516]

What do you mean by "the motherboard only accepts single slot PCI-e x16 cards"?Unless you have a small case and the PCI-e x16 slot is at the bottom, there's no such limitation. I find it more likely you are misinterpreting the specs which state there is a single PCI-e x16 slot. This does not mean you need a single slot card. You will find your PSU is a limiting factor, though. Likely it is not spec'd to output more than ~25A maximum on the +12V rail, which severely limits your graphics card choices. You could fit an "Eco edition" 9800 GT or a GT 240, but anything higher than that is likely to be too much for your PSU to handle, also possibly too big for your case.

[Guest ordmr]

Oh, ok, guys. Yes, you were right and I was wrong, thanks for clearing it up for me. The specs mean they occupy the other PCI space with the fan! :)Thanks y'all

[Tabs 2,790]

Very happy with my GTX260 - they're cheap and perform well in FS.