I've just bought a new PC (Intel Dual Core 2.2GHz) and am looking for a graphics card to replace the on-board graphics.

I only play LFS and a bit of rfactor so I don't see any need to buy anything other than a budget card (I'm thinking about £35 should do it) as my current machine (AMD 1.7Ghz with NVIDIA 5900XT) can run both games adequately. I'd like to be able to play LFS on full detail without much drop in FPS with lots of cars around though.

Does this sound resaonable? Any specific card reccomendations appreciated.

What's your PSU, and is your PC AGP or PCI-e?

Sorry should have said. PSU is 300W and it's PCI-e. I did some reading and actually looks like I will need to spend a bit more to get a card that's as good as my old FX5900XT.

I thought this from HDUK looked pretty good for the money (£32 delviered) and should be a bit quicker than my old card:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113485

That's according to Tom's Hardware list anyway:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ ... aming,review-29792-6.html

If you spent a bit mnore you could get a 6800GT or 7600GT off ebay which are much faster cards.

I bought the 7600 GT for 85.67€ in december and i think its a pretty decent card. Makes F.E.A.R Combat playable even with my 2.6 ghz Celeron oldtimer and it works with a 290W PSU here.
So i guess it should provide some good LFS performance with your cpu.

i can sell you nvida 7300gts for cheap but you need to figure out some postage its has had a small repair on it nothing huge just the fan its a 256m model and looks new now that its being all fixed and overhauled will post up the frame rates of this later when i get my pc back.

http://images.google.com/imgre ... a:en-US:official%26sa%3DX

thats it almost just a tad diff design

Thanks for your suggestions.

Doonster - thanks very much for the offer but I'm not sure it would be a good idea to send a gfx card half way round the world by post so I think I'll go for a new one.

I'll keep an eye out for a good deal on a 7600GT, otherwise I still think I'll go for the X800 GT which I reckon should be just about fast enough for what i need.

Don't get an X800, they don't support shader model 3.0 IIRC, get the X1650 pro if you can, or a 7600GT.

The older technology will never be quite as good in the long run, despite possibly being a bit faster (but I doubt it).

Thanks, but according to android's post here shader model 3.0 is irrelevant to LFS:

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=442381#post442381

And I only play LFS (and a bit of rfactor). I don't really need the very best in detailed rendering for racing, but a decent framerate in LFS is important.

Quote from ajp71 :

If you spent a bit mnore you could get a 6800GT or 7600GT off ebay which are much faster cards.

These are good cards to look out for.

I picked up a new 6800GS triple X for £20 on ebay. The GS is essentially just as good as the GT and is so much better than the X800 and even the X850. It plays FSX like a dream and is one hell of a cool (temperature wise) card. + It loves to be overclocked (although i'm more than happy with the results at stock)