What is the best graphics card for an Intel Pentium D @ 2.8 Ghz?

[2SQ]

(I posted this as well in the Overclocking [Graphics Cards sub-category] section of these forums. Please forgive the redundancy )


Being WELL AWARE that today's graphics card will be completely dragged down by my computer's CPU, I know that I should be upgrading the processor first (if not overhauling my entire computer) to maximize the raw power of the current ATI/NVIDIA cards. It actually makes me sad reading all these threads about users having the Radeon 5870's of the world, lol.

While I do plan on doing that in the near future, for the time being, I just want to change out my outdated NVIDIA GeForce 512MB 7900 GTX graphics card to run today's current computer games a little bit smoother to say the least. When I play COD: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer, I play it under the "optimal settings" option (a resolution of 800X600, which is quite sad) since any higher will be choppy and slow.

So basically, what would be the best graphics card out there to upgrade over my current card but not so much cause a bottleneck?


Here are some of my computer's specs:

Model: Dell XPS 600
Processor: Intel Pentium D, 2.80 Ghz
OS: Windows 7 Home Edition 32-bit (upgradable to 64-bit)
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 667 MHz (upgradable up to 8 GB)
PSU: 650-W DC power supply (fixed-voltage power supply — 110 V at 50/60 Hz)
Hard Drive: 160 GB
PCI x16 slot holding my current graphics card


Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

5670 ~$80 (slightly better than a 9600GT)
4830 ~$70
4670 DDR3 ~$50

I recommend something around a 8800/9800GT or 4830 in terms of power.

If you can find a 4850 for $90 or so, go for it. It is equal to the 9800GTX/GTS250. It will be bottlenecked by your CPU, but it's a great card for the price.

 

[ntmhoang18]

5670 is ok. it has great performance and consumes low power.

 

[wa1]

HD5770, so you can bring it for your next PC later...
Get another 2 GB RAM, that should help more.