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[hornacek]

how do I know if a video card will work with my computer

[debaser17]

Generally what you need to check for compatibility is the motherboard and the power supply. Check the power supply to ensure it provides enough wattage to match the card's power rating, and the motherboard to ensure it has the proper port(s) (AGP, PCI) to fit it. 

If you can provide more specific information on what kind of computer you have or what specific card you are looking at, you can probably get a better answer from someone here  

[debaser17]

...depending on how old your system is you also need to keep in mind what kind of monitor you have and ensure the card has the proper output or adapter for that too...

[RogerD2]

HP Pavilion Elite m9510f pc, os VISTA.  THE PRESENT GRAPHICS CARD IS NVIDIA GE FORCE 9500 GS.  THE FAN IS SHOT. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT I USE A RADION 6450, 1 GB.  ??????  ROGER

[hornacek]

How do I check the power supply to see if it matches the card's power rating?

According to my computer manual (which I downloaded from Dell's site, it didn't come with the computer), my computer provides the following slots for PCI and PCI Express cards:

• One PCI Express x16 card slot (SLOT1)
• One PCI Express x1 card slot (SLOT2)
• Two PCI card slots (SLOT3, SLOT4)

I have a Dell Inspiron 530 desktop computer with Windows Vista.  According to my System Information window I currently have "ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series" as my video card.  It is 512MB and I am looking at replacing it with a better video card (i.e. 1GB).

I went to Dell's support site and entered my computer's make/model and it gave me a list of video cards that would work with my system:

- Vision TEK Radeon HD 4650 PCIe 1GB HDMI SFF-Short + Tall brackets

- Vision TEK Radeon HD4650 1GB DMS59 SFF-Short + Tail brackets

- Dell Dell 512 MB Radeon HD 4670 Full Height Graphics Card for Select Dell Alienware / Inspiron / OptiPlex / Vostro / Precision Workstation Desktops

- Vision TEk Radeon HD4350 PCIe 512M DMS59 Dual Monitor SFF-short + Tail brackets.

Those are all over $100 so I was hoping one of the cheaper video cards FS offers would be compatible.

[debaser17]

Power supply should have a sticker or something on it that will show how many watts, you just have to open it up and see. If you were able to find the specs for your specific pc on the dell website though you should have been able to find it there too.

Why are you upgrading? Depending on what you are hoping to do (gaming?) a card cheaper than what you listed might not really offer the improvement you are looking for...