Best graphics card with 500W PSU

[ephraim3]

Hi. I have a 500W PSU (Cooler Master eXtreme Power RP-500-PCAR).

What is the "best" graphics card that I can get for $100-$150. I currently have a powercolor Radeon X1950 Pro with 512 mb of DDR3 RAM. Is there any point to upgrading to something within the $100-$150 price range?

My current X1950 pro card has a "core clock" of 594 mhz and "memory clock" of 648 mhz.

 

[rolli59]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150441
A great deal for under 150.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858
Little more expensive but newest tech supports directx11

 

[Deleted member 217926]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150441
A great deal for under 150.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858
Little more expensive but newest tech supports directx11

^ +1

Either of these will crush your old one. What are the rest of your system specs?

 

[ephraim3]

Thanks for the help so far.

My motherboard is Gigabyte P35 DS3R.. I'm not entirely sure if this allows PCIe 2.0 or if it is limited to 1.0, or if this even matters to use the card.

CPU is a dual-core Intel, I think at either 2.4 or 2.6.

4 Gigs of DDR2 RAM @ 800 (but because I'm running XP, only 3.5 gigs are available).

As explained above, 500W eXtreme Power PSU by Cooler Master. I think I only have one connector for a graphics card from the power supply.

Windows XP.

22-inch widescreen monitor.

Thanks again.

 

[ephraim3]

Actually, if I recall correctly, the CPU is an E6550.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

My motherboard is Gigabyte P35 DS3R.. I'm not entirely sure if this allows PCIe 2.0 or if it is limited to 1.0, or if this even matters to use the card

Good MB and I think its PCI Express 2.0 but that will not matter. Even now no cards except the most high end use all of PCI Express 1.0.

You can buy an adapter to make another 6pin connector like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887001&cm_re=6pin_adapter-_-12-887-001-_-Product

You should be able to overclock at least some even without an aftermarket cooler....an excellent guide is here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

You sure do not have to overclock but you will use the new graphics card better to its full potential if you can get that processor to 3ghz or so.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

but because I'm running XP, only 3.5 gigs are available

That is due to it being 32bit XP. There is a 64bit XP ( it sux though) that will make full use of all your memory. If you upgrade to Windows 7 get the 64 bit version and you will not have a problem.