A lot of new home computers have integrated graphics built into the system motherboard. While this is fine for average use, it's not as good as a dedicated video card when it comes to 3-D gaming. But then some of these systems also don't have an accelerated graphics port (AGP), so your upgrade options are limited. Luckily, the major graphics companies are still offering video cards that fit into PCI slots (which all systems have). NVIDIA's GeForce FX line of cards is still close to the top of the their technology hierarchy, and you can get an FX 5200 that will fit into an AGP-less system. We took a GeForce FX 5200 card with 128MB of dedicated on-board video memory for a spin. The difference between using integrated graphics and a near high-end graphics board is amazing. The jaggies are gone in gaming, so characters are rendered more smoothly and look more realistic. And frame rates are up--the additional memory and graphics-processing chip just speeds up the whole rendering process while adding more of the 3-D bells and whistles on screen. Like the rest of the cards in the FX series, the 5200 offers full DirectX 9 support, meaning you'll be able to see all the latest effects that programmers are putting into their games (assuming the rest of your system can handle them as well). The installation process is fairly straightforward, but you do need to disable integrated graphics if you have them so there won't be a conflict between old and new drivers. Otherwise, putting the FX 5200 into a PCI slot is as easy an install as putting in an internal modem. There's also an S-video port on the back of the card, letting you output a video signal from your computer to a compatible TV for some larger screen gaming, and there's a DVI slot to connect it directly to a digital flat-screen monitor. Our board didn't come bundled with games, but we were able to find it for bargain prices, a plus for those would-be gamers who thought they were trapped with their system and its integrated graphics and lack of an AGP slot. NVIDIA's GeForce FX 5200 PCI graphics board is perfect for getting your hobbled system up to gaming speed. Pro: Fits into a PCI slot, great price and graphics. Con: Not the latest and greatest card. FOR MORE INFORMATION NVIDIA Corporation 2701 San Tomas Expressway Santa Clara, CA 95050 408-486-2000 http://www.nvidia.com

Warranty
2 years limited