help! finding the right graphics card for cg

I need some advice!

I have been running the non cg 0.655 for quite a while now, and I'm tired of not having shaders, and not being able to try out some of racer's cool new features. I have installed version 0.87 but it won't work because my graphics card is so bad. It's an Intel G33 express, the bottom of the line for my computer, only good for basic computing and not for any kind of gaming.
I use a Dell Inspiron 530 with a mid-level Pentium dual core processor.

And here are my three questions:
If my budget is $70 or less, what kind of card should I be looking at? (just for running racer cg and a couple other sims, I don't need something totally crazy)
How hard is it to physically swap a graphics card, and then get my computer to accept it?
Am I on the right track? :)
Thanks
 
I have a 9500 GT that's fine with new cg features, though it's a little low-end it is good on a budget.

The intel chip would be onboard, you'll need to check where your computer has a slot for a videocard - Dells generally have specs available online, you'd be looking for PCI-Extreme x16, preferably 2.0 or better. Installing a new card is just a matter of plugging it into that slot, then attaching the monitor to it.
 
When installing a new graphics card, first make sure it will fit, lenght, width and slots available.
Second, make sure you follow thw instructions carefully, you may have to delete your current graphics as the first step.

Any of the nVidia 9000 series should work just fine.
 
I have a nVidia GT210. It's quite good and only costs around £35, which is $55 :)

And on my other computer, I have a 8500GT, and it works pretty well too.
 
For the effortless v0.8.7 or v0.8.8 Racer play I would recommend 9800GT. You can even use it to get a decent play out of the newer Racer betas (v0.8.9+). I don't know where you live, but if you are in the US, you can get these within your budget ($59.99 with the rebate), link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=geforce_9800_gt-_-14-130-535-_-Product

Obviously, other cards that rest of the Racer community already suggested for you would work, but this one is more of a future proof. This card does require half decent power supply (400 Watt with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amps and a 6 pin power connector).

Otherwise, another nVidia card that is a notch under 9800GT would be a GT 240 and this one doesn't require a power connector and could use a 350W power supply. For the price of $35.99 after rebate and $2.99 shipping, this might be the best deal around, link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130531&cm_re=gt_240-_-14-130-531-_-Product

All the cards you buy these days come with installation instructions and if you are using Windows, drivers will be provided too. Hope this helps..
 
Thank you so much for the advice, I think I'll check out the GT240 first and then decide if I want to upgrade my power supply so I can get a more high end card. With a new monitor and the card I think my Racer experience will really improve. I can't wait to see the difference!
 
I just got an nvidia 8400 GS at Best Buy and installed it an hour ago. Now I can't get any version of Racer to work, and it just crashes. Before, I could at least get non cg versions to work fine. Anyone know why it might start crashing with a new card? And is my card up to the task of handling Racer cg?
 
I assume your card is fine.

What's the error you get? (if you do get an error)

And have you installed the nVidia drivers? They should have came with it on a disc, but if not, you can find them at the nVidia website :)
 
It was just a matter of reinstalling the drivers and restarting my computer. Some cars and tracks for my old non cg version of racer flash and have wierd textures, I kind of expected that with the better graphics though :). I'm really blown away at the difference between 0.655 and 0.88, it's just amazing how far racer has come. I tried the anniversary mod too-loved it, especially the driveable cake lol
Thank you all for the card advice!
 

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