I was first using an nvidia Geforce 9600 card, and the GECK would not work but game worked fine. I swittched to an nvidia Geforce 8400 card, and the GECK works fine, but the game is slow, with jumpy graphics and freezes a lot. Can anybody tell me what graphics card works well with both?

You want either an 8800 or a 9600 if you insist on using two and three year old cards, or you can use a GT 240 from last year. There is no Geforce in a Medium Performance level for this year, at least not for a desktop. The 9500 GT is a renamed 8600 GT from three years ago, and back that long ago, the 8600 was a Medium card, as shown by the "600". The 8400 was always only a business graphics card, as per the "400" in its name, and it still has the cooling fan control defects in its firmware that all the 8n00 cards had when new.

You do not want a G.210 or a GT230, both of which are basically the same as the 8400. If you are dedicated to using Geforces, are in the US, or Canada, here's a page to choose one from:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709+600030348+600007321+600007605&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=48&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=


Gorath

There are many video cards to choose from and they're not all from Nvidia....ATI has a very healthy selection of cards as well. The big questions are:


1.) what does the rest of your PC look like spec-wise? No point in suggesting you a card only to have the rest of your system hold it back. Please post a dxdiag so we can see the rest of your specs:
Start - Run (if Vista or Win 7, the search box acts like Run) - type dxdiag - hit Enter - "save all info" button - open txt file and copy/paste EVERYTHING here

Picture of process: http://www.windowsresource.net/cimages/gotodxdiag.jpg


2.) What power supply do you currently have in your PC. Depending on what the dxdiag will show, we may be able to figure it out, but if not....you will have to open your case up to view the specification sticker on the power supply.


3. Budget. State how much you're willing to spend. If in another country other than the States, indicate your currency and hwat country.

1. Specs are:

operating system: Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002)
system manufacturer: Gateway
System model: DX4820
Bios: System Default Bios
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.5GHz (4CPU's), ~2.5GHz
Memory: 8156MB Ram
Page File: 1104MB used, 15261 available
Direct X version: DirectX 10

2. Power supply is 500W

3. Budget is anything within reason, at least up to 300-400.

Eventhough you have a stock 500W power supply from Gateway, I doubt it's anything special. Since you have such a healthy budget, you probably should replace the PSU as well to be on the safer side.

GPUs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477&cm_re=radeon_5850-_-14-150-477-_-Product....or....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&cm_re=corsair_650w-_-17-139-005-_-Product

Eventhough you have a stock 500W power supply from Gateway, I doubt it's anything special. Since you have such a healthy budget, you probably should replace the PSU as well to be on the safer side.

Ill give that a try thanks!

The 9500GT I use can run the game at high settings with no lag. It can run it on ultra settings with a little bit of lag. All you need is a 300W PS and 60$

Wattage doesnt meant too much when comparing different brands. You want to make sure its a quality brand 300W PSU. OCZ/Corsair/Thermaltake are some of the noteworthy brands.

As already noted, if all you have is some semi-generic 300 Watt PSU, then you are gambling on losing everything in a shower of sparks and a cloud of acrid black/gray smoke that really stinks. Cheap power supplies do not handle being overstressed at all well, and too often fail in the most unfortunate manner. The 9500 GT is a three year old design, being the 8600 GT with a new name, and corrected firmware for control of its fan (which was defective on most of the Geforce 8n00 generation). The 8600 GT wanted a quality PSU with a 350 Watt selling number, and it was the amperage of the 12 volt circuit that is / was critical. The 9500 GT will use almost exactly the same amount of current, such that it would need a "340 Watt" PSU if there was one, but it does want more than the amperage that a 300 Watt unit offers.

I do not consider a recommendation for a 9500 GT as a current purchase to be a good value compared to newer and more efficient designs.

Toms Hardware has a monthly update to its "Bang for the Buck" value comparisons that everyone wanting to buy a new card should consult.

Gorath