Sub 170$ Graphics Card?

[squallypie]

My bro's 3 year old build's current config :-

E6750 Intel Core 2 Duo Stock @ 2.66 Ghz ( i hope to OC this processor to about 20-25% )
MOBO GA-P35-DS4
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_platinum_dual_channel ( 4 x 1 GB )
PSU currently is some generic 400W ( Going to get an extreme series PSU from cooler master at 600-700W )
8600 GT 256 MB ( so i'm not spoiled by high resolutions or high settings, im just casual )
case :- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233033
Storage Devices :- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152173&Tpk=samsung%20hd103si
and some other 2 devices ( seagate and western digital )

Now my bro has done some upgrades on the RAM and hard-disk from time to time and i think they look good. The mobo and processor, as far as i've read, are capable to OC the processor to 3.3-3.5 ghz. I also have an OCZ cooler for the cpu so the idle temp on it is below 40*C.

Please do correct me on all the points that i've mentioned above like OC'ing the CPU and RAM and hard disk quality. Should i remove 1 or 2 hard disks just for efficiency sake? the seagate is 160 gb and wd is 250 gb... only samsung is 1 tb and i have 75% free space on the computer right now.

Now, back to the most important topic.. Graphics. So i want a graphics card below 170$ that wont be bottlenecked by the cpu and be able to survive in the case that i have now ( it was 75$ when i bought it :$ ) I do not want all the fancy features like DX 11 and eyefinity... i just want a straight forward gfx card that delivers the best bang for the buck in terms of performance. I play at resolutions ranging all the way down from 800 x 600 to 1680 x 1020 right now although i have another monitor capable of 1920, which i will use if i can. Settings, Low - High... can live with it. But the 8600 is way too outdated now so i want this PC to live for another few more years after which i hope to build another PC using the 650W PSU from this build. The new build will preferably have 5850, which wont fit into the current build i think. I had recommendations for the 5770 on another topic but then i remembered the 4xxx series.. so this topic is for more recommendations

 

[squallypie]

The 400W PSU is not really generic but from a company called Delta http://www.delta.com.tw/product/ps/sps/sps_main.asp. not sure how good they are though...



P.S. Completely off topic, 2 x 5850 requires a 600W PSU or a 700W PSU ? just choose the most suitable.. ( Processor is Phenom II X4 955BE )

 

[jyjjy]

The HD5770 is the obvious answer to a video card under $170 at the moment. It's also quite power efficient. Delta is an ok brand and a 400w from them can likely power the HD5770 fine although more info on the model number would be good just to be safe.
As for the second question a 600w from a good brand(Coolermaster generally isn't really considered to be one btw) should be enough.

 

[squallypie]

well coolermaster's psu was like the "cheap and best" one... could u provide other 550-700W PSU recommendations

 

[jyjjy]

This is a pretty nice 700w at a nice price, especially after the rebate;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

 

[Onus]

+1 @jyjjy. Any older and/or low-end Coolermaster PSU will be overrated at best.