GPU Recommendations?

[thegreenguy]

My computer is a dinosaur..it will be three years old on Saturday. I'm running an AMD 939 socket with an ATI X800XL and I intend to get 1-2 more years of use before I completely start over.

To breathe a bit of new life into this thing I've decided to do a cheap upgrade:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 89W Single-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

I want to get a new GPU as well, and I'm willing to spend a bit of cash on it (up to $250) but I don't want to go overkill.

I will not be buying a whole new system now so please don't try to convince me to do so. It's a matter of affordability...thanks.

 

[bkolk]

Is ur mobo graphics card slot agp or pci-e?

 

[thegreenguy]

It's PCI-E. Here's the system:

CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Memory
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2.0GHz Socket 939 Single-Core Processor
Thermaltake Silent Purepower 480W ATX12V Power Supply
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
Rosewill RX8XL-256PX Radeon X800XL 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

 

[veg1992]

Ok sweet, you could get a 8800gt or 8800gts g92 or 9600gt for around $130-$170 (depending on the GPU), however two things to consider are the Single-Core Processor bottleneck, and idk if the PSU could take it or not (please show a pic of your PSU's side [the sticker])

So try to find an Opteron 165 or something Dual-Core for Socket 939 to remove the bottleneck effect as much as possible (even though there will still be one, but today's games you just need a Dual-Core + a decent GPU)

and a PSU side pic

 

[thegreenguy]

A pic...umm well, does this provide the info you're looking for?

Model
Brand Thermaltake
Model W0014RU
Series Silent Purepower

Spec
Type ATX12V
Maximum Power 480W
Fans 1 x 80mm, Two Ball Bearing,
Temp. Auto Control
1300 rpm at 25C ~
4800 rpm at 90C
1 x 80mm, Ball Bearing, 2400rpm
PFC Active
Main Connector 20Pin
+12V Rails Single
NVIDIA SLI Support No
Modular Cabling Support No
Power Good Signal 100-500ms
Hold-up Time 16ms min.
Over Voltage Protection +5V trip point < +6.8V
+3.3V trip point < +4.5V
+12V trip point <+15.6V
Input Voltage 115/ 230 V
Input Frequency Range 50/60 Hz
Input Current 10A @ 115V, 5A @ 230V
Output +3.3V@30A; +5V@40A; -5V@0.3A; +12V@18A; -12V@0.8A; +5VSB@2A
Approvals CUL ,CB , FCC ,CE

Features
Connectors 1 x Main connector (20 pin)
1 x 12V (P4)
9 x peripheral
2 x SATA
2 x Floppy
Features Designed for AMD K7 and Intel ATX +12V 1.1 and ATX 2.03 version (Fully Support Pentium 4)
Peak Output : 550W
2 adjustable manual fan speed control in the front and rear side of the case. (from 1300 rpm at 25C~ 4800 rpm at 90C).
Temperature Automatic Fan Speed Control
Xaser badge on side panel
Black / Silver color printing

Apparently the 4000+ is the only 939 chip Newegg carries nowadays...they used to have a dozen a few months ago, including dual core opterons.
I'm all about Newegg, but if I have to go somewhere else, where would you recommend?

 

[veg1992]

18a on the 12v Rails... ouch man.. not enough...

Newegg.com - Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 550W ATX12V Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TÃœV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Power Supplies

Thats a good deal on a PSU

Heres a decent one:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV, FCC - Power Supplies

 

[Sora]

The Antec TPT is a better deal right now...actually one of the best if not the best deals considering it's price and free shipping.

 

[Prototype]

it depends on where he lives for free shipping

 

[gurusan]

even so, three 12v rails with 18a each is plenty of power and he probably won't find a better deal unless you get a cheapy which is not recommended.

 

[jonny_uk]

Let me tell you from experience, there is no point getting anything better than say a 7900GT or X1950 pro, because your cpu(even the one in your link) will not be able to unleash the full performance of the GPU.
A 8800GT or similar, on your system would be a waste of money.