Just a couple of quick thoughts:
First, check your motherboard's chipset. If it is an Nvidia or ATI Chipset, the matching video card chipset will
probably run with fewer problems. For XP, hold the
Windows key and tap the
Pause key, (
Windows key is between
Ctrl and
Alt;
Pause key is to the right of
PrtScrn and
ScrollLock, usually far top/right of a keyboard) click
Hardware tab, click
Device Manager button, click the + to the left of the words
System Devices. If you have Nvidia or ATI chipset, several entries in the list will have the brand name.
Second, you can benchmark your current setup with 3DMark.
The 2006 free home edition is here:
http://www.3dmark.com/download/3dmark06/Try to get as few services and processes (system tray, background tasks and programs) as are truly needed before running the benchmark. The score will give you a generalized overview of the performance of your card with your overall hardware. Then get some screenshots in MxO with /netstats running to get an idea of how your card is performing on the specific task; we all know nothing is more important than how MxO runs!
Now, install the other card and the best drivers for it, then repeat the 3DMark benchmarking and compare scores, and compare /netstats MxO FPSs. Be sure to follow all safe computing procedures when installing hardware and video cooling devices; no one can be held responsible for anything resulting from any information posted here.
