Thanks all for the responses, they've been very helpful.

Can a 350w PSU run a 256MB ATi 9600XT? Alternatively, would a 128MB ATi 9200 run LFS alright? I don't care if I get around, say, 30fps...anything's better than this

"Yes" to those questions

I'm going to go for the 9200 because it's cheaper and...well, I'm cheap

Thanks again.

noooo its not worth wasting ya money on old technology, I would say 9500 as an absolute minimum. ebay is full of bargains, choose wisely.

I have a 9550, you can probably find it in a bargain bin somewhere, but I advise getting something better.

I have a 9200 in an old system, it will certainly manage 30fps so long as the CPU can keep up, but I wouldn't recommend getting one now.

I paid £25 for my 9200 three years ago. Gives you an idea just how out of date they are.

Yeah they basically have no value.. I hope you got it for a symbolic sum of one beer or similar...

The video card didn't quite work properly, so I've returned it for a refund. I did play a bit of LFS with it, though, and the frame rates are "OK". I think I'll get a 9600XT, instead.

I'm running LFS with a
P 4 2.8 Ghz
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
1 GB Dual DDR-Ram
and works pretty well (since the "V" patch I have almost twice FPS as before)

This is a good thread as I have been contemplating a Video card upgrade also.

I have a noob question for you...How do you determine what your actual frame rate is?

Quote from fourwhls :

I have a noob question for you...How do you determine what your actual frame rate is?

Well, what do you mean by "actual framerate", because there is the rate at which your monitor reads lines from the frame buffer called the refresh rate.

I think I answered my own question. The frame rate while playing the game is what I was looking for. The number on the top left of the screen.

I am having issues playing online. I am getting 45-60 fps offline, but drop down to 15-20 when numerous cars are on track. Especially T1. It gets very jumpy and unbearable.

My PC is pretty much new (AMD athlon dual core 4600+, 2 gig ram, on board geforce 6150). Would a video card solve my issues?

Quote from fourwhls :

My PC is pretty much new (AMD athlon dual core 4600+, 2 gig ram, on board geforce 6150). Would a video card solve my issues?

Quite likely yes. You're system is way faster than LFS needs, but those onboard GPU's aren't really great especially concerning memory bandwith and speed.

Alright I went out and bought a video card today. I bought a Geforce 7300 GT. I know its not the best, but I didn't want to spend more than $100 and it fit the bill at $99.

The only concern that I have is that the system reqs on the box state that a 300W Power supply is needed. If I am not mistaked, my pc only has a 250w power supply. I will know for sure tonight when I get home.

Will I have issues running this card with a 250w power supply?

That really depends on what other hardware you have and on the power supply itself. But I don't think that a 7300GT should be too hungry, so I wouldn't give too much about what it says on the box. Afaik, you won't damge your system by trying it, but you better wait for someone more knowledgable than me to confirm that.

I had a 6600 and it failed within 6 months and I suspect it was because of an unsufficient power supply, although I'm not entirely sure but the symptoms were there (highly unstable system while it was always rock stable). It was an AGP card though. It had an extra power connection to the power supply (so not just through the AGP slot). GPU's consume a lot of power these days. So it will certainly work, but I wouldn't be surprised if it would cause problems in the long run.
So I wouldn't take any chances. Besides, a decent PSU won't have to cost too much. Just don't go for the really El Cheapo™ stuff.

I had to buy a new power supply when I got my radeon x800pro. Older cards, atleast ones I've had, didn't attach directly to the power supply. New ones usually have a plug on them so the power supply hooks up directly to the card to run the fan and stuff. If your stock power supply doesn't have an extra hook up then you'll need a new one. Plus it's better to have available extra power to your components than to run them under-powered.

Quote from Jakg :

Hey, i spent £166 on a graphics card JUST before DX10 cards came out!

And if this current rate continues, you will spend £1770 more on other hardware (propably including g-cards) before decent DX10 supporting games are out

It looks like I am good to go. My PC has a 300w PS not a 250W

My All-in-wonder 9000 (AGP4) got 60+ FPS consistantly on Multipalyer with V2 at 1600x1200!. but then I downloaded the high ress blackwood textures and my texture usage went up from an est. 32.4mb (everything on max)
to an est. 63.6mb and the in the end I am now running at 1280x1024 with just as high a frame rate! (no FSAA in LFS but I didn't need it at 1600x1200 anyway, and I was to lazy to set up a profile for LFS)

BUT my system specs are as follows:

P4 presscot HT @ 3.2ghz (its a work and play computer)
512mb pc3200 ram (was 1gb, but I had a ram failure )
onboard surround audio (Simulated 3d sound if running 2 speakers)
AGP4x AIW 9000

Im using a 256 mb 9550 Radeon and i get 45-60 FPS with 4xAA and 4xAF.. Its overclocked to 350 mhz up from 200mhz tho...

You could probably pick up a 9550 for about £7.50 on ebay, and if you overclock it the burning smell stops after the first few hours.... Been using it OC'd for 6 months now and never had a problem...