DDR and DDR2 Graphic Cards

Im currently running a geforce 7200gs 512mb pci-express ddr graphic card.
Im hoping upgrade again to a geforce 8 range, but almost all of thier cards state ddr2 or ddr3 on them (O_O), if my motherboard can only hold DDR Ram, can it hold ddr2 or ddr3 graphic cards.


Also:

My Pc

AMD Althlon 3000 64X
1g of ram(ddr)
Nvidea geforce 7200 512mb

FPS: 20ish


My friends pc:

AMD Althlon 3000 64X
512mb of ram(ddr)
Ati Radeon 9550 256mb

FPS 35-40

... we tested on same quality settings,
thing is my pc in general is faster, but his had much better fps, but slower loading....

My Questions:
Does this mean that his graphic card is better than mine? (its much cheaper too, i would get it)
I have a Ati motherboard and originally had a Ati Radeon Graphic Card (burned out), does this mean my nvidea card is not working as well as it should because of my motherboard?


And Finaly what should i do out of these 3 to help performance.

Upgrade to 2gb ram £60 (crucial)
Upgrage my graphic card £60
Buy a whole new pc £400-600 (base unit only)

which would be best.

The RAM type on the graphics card has nothing to do with what RAM your motherboard is compatible with. As long as the motherboard has the right connector for the graphics card(AGP or PCI-Ex) your all good to go.

FTW /excited

Just a couple of things to check before you buy:
*Your PSU- does it have the power. I have a 580w PSU which is good enough for me (8800 GTS 320mb) but better safe than sorry.
*Is your case big enough? I'm not a 100% sure but I think the 8800 series cards are longer than a 7200, so it might be a good idea to check before parting with your cash.

hmmmm... I feel so stupid my 7200gs is ddr2....... thanks nyways, and yeah also another thing: (Changed OP)

Yes make sure that your power supply can pull the graphics card on a recommended level not just the minimum as it will put strain on it. Another thing is that the 8800 series are bigger in size than you're average cards (if you want an example look for a picture of an 8800 GTX or an 8800 Ultra :P )

Most modern cases are big enough to fit one such card into but if you have an older case then you will have to upgrade or think of another option..

hope that helps

thanks alot, yeah i might just get a new pc, ermm can someone reply to my added part to the post?

Neither card is that great I'm afraid and no, I wouldn't even think of getting the same card as your friend. Personally I wouldn't buy anything below 7900 series or X1800 series card but then I like my eye candy and I'm willing to pay for it
And also the motherboard chipset has nothing to do with performance of the card. My old X1800XT card had no problems with my NForce 4 motherboard.

One last thing to mention is that your CPU and RAM will be a bottleneck for an 8800 series card.

hmmmmmmmm thatnks alot for the info, real eye opener on what to do, i've posted my final part on the OP so...

You load faster because you have more memory. Your video card sucks. His sucks, but sucks less. Not being rude, just saying the truth. That's why he still has higher FPS. Anything and everything you'll ever need to know about relative performance of video cards can be found here:

http://techreport.com/gpu/

Last-generation's high end cards (79xx or 19xx) are still good and awesome for guild wars (still running a 7900GT myself and play at 1680x1050 beautifully), and aren't too expensive anymore. Never go low-end. Either today's mid-range or yesterday's high end are the best values. I'd take a dang 9800 Pro (5 year old tech) over some of the crap they make today on the low end.

1 and 2 I would say are needed if you want to maintain a good gaming pc, then again if you can get a computer that includes both those and it's affordable on your budget then I would get it, all depends really...

Thanks! , i shall look into a new card ^^

TBH I'd get a new pc. Looking at it you've probably got a 939 skt mobo, AMD don't make cpu's for that socket anymore and besides ebay they're becoming hard to find. Get a nice Core 2 Duo pc with at least 2gigs of ram and you'll wander how you ever survived before

yeah i was thinking about that, but not for a fewmonths, so i just ordered a new card, i cant afford too much so i got a mid range Ati Radeon X1650 pro 512mb 128bit Graphic Card , should improve some things, and by loooking over This Info its alot more powerful than my current one. thanks alot i think im ok now