$150 Budget for Card

[StephenM30]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next 2 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: $150 before rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming - WoW mainly

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: 9500GT, 550W Corsair

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Gigabyte MOBO, Intel Core 2 Duo OC'd @ 3.1ghz, 4gb RAM, PCI-e 1.0

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg or TigerDirect

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Prefer NVIDIA, but willing to give AMD a shot if highly recommended

OVERCLOCKING: Doesnt matter

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: NO

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680 x 1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Needs a warranty and be from a reputable company

 

[purple stain]

What is the make/model of your 550watt PSU?

What are your full system specs?(CPU,RAM,etc.)

I would say the best bang for your buck would be a 6870.Here's one for $150 after MIR.

XFX 6870 $170=$150 after MIR + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

 

[StephenM30]

Sorry, just edited the post as per the forum rules, should've done that first but at least I learned

 

[purple stain]

The only problem is that their are issues with 2.1 cards and 1.0 slots.With 2.1 cards and 1.0 slots it's like a 50/50 chance of it working or not.Although sometimes mobo manufactures will supply a BIOS update.I see that tigerdirect is selling 2.0 versions of the 6870 but they are all out of your price range.

What is the model number of your mobo?

 

[StephenM30]

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P rev 2.0

 

[purple stain]

Well here's all the BIOS updates for your mobo.They don't list any updates pertaining to 2.1 cards but it's possible it's in there.Now all you gotta do is decide what you want to do next.

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2625&dl=1#bios

 

[StephenM30]

Yeah, I'm already running this BIOS update. I suppose I can just get the card, and if it doesnt work, return it. I'm not sure I see any other options other than buying a new mobo, and that's not an option for me currently.

 

[purple stain]

Yeah, that sounds like the best option.

 

[Djentleman]

6850.