What should I upgrade?

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I spent all night reading reviews and comparing cards. If your looking at spending in the $250 range I would recommend either a gtx570 or gtx580. Both cards outperform the 6950 and 6970. They also seem to be generally recommended over the 6950 and 6970. Since reading extensively on all 4 cards I can see that the 570 and 580 run cooler and quieter also. Here is a link to a 570 with a lifetime warranty.
Newegg.com - PNY VCGGTX570XPB GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

You can find these very close to $250 However I recommend this one because of the warranty.
 
If you're going to spend closer to $300, then I would certainly suggest getting a GTX 480/570/580 as any of the 3 provides better performance than the HD6950 or 6970.
Unless you're partial to AMD cards regardless of performance, in which case go for what you picked.

A 650w should still be fine in your build, but nothing wrong with a little more juice.
Not sure if you care about modular cables, but here are some options:
PC Power and Cooling 750w, not modular, $89.99 w/ MiR.
Thermaltake Toughpower 775w, modular, $119.99 (no MiR).
Corsair HX750, modular, $125.25 w/ MiR.
 
I spent all night reading reviews and comparing cards. If your looking at spending in the $250 range I would recommend either a gtx570 or gtx580. Both cards outperform the 6950 and 6970. They also seem to be generally recommended over the 6950 and 6970. Since reading extensively on all 4 cards I can see that the 570 and 580 run cooler and quieter also. Here is a link to a 570 with a lifetime warranty.
Newegg.com - PNY VCGGTX570XPB GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

You can find these very close to $250 However I recommend this one because of the warranty.
The reviews on that one are terrible. People also complaining about it not being the product shown.

Also I'm looking for something near a 580.

If you're going to spend closer to $300, then I would certainly suggest getting a GTX 480/570/580 as any of the 3 provides better performance than the HD6950 or 6970.
Unless you're partial to AMD cards regardless of performance, in which case go for what you picked.

A 650w should still be fine in your build, but nothing wrong with a little more juice.
Not sure if you care about modular cables, but here are some options:
PC Power and Cooling 750w, not modular, $89.99 w/ MiR.
Thermaltake Toughpower 775w, modular, $119.99 (no MiR).
Corsair HX750, modular, $125.25 w/ MiR.
I might just stick with my 650W. What 580 card do you recommend?
 
@1yoyo105, quit double and triple posting. If you have something else to add to the conversation and no one else has replied since your last post, use the Edit button (looks like a pencil) to add the new info to your last post.
 
GTX 580 recommendations:
This one if you want to OC it yourself.
This one if you want it to start with its own boost.

2 problems with getting a 580 though. 1) a 650w PSU won't cut it. 2) They are way out of the budget you listed.

The 570 is closer to the budget you listed, and EVGA offers the same choices for the 570.
Stock.
Factory OC.

The Corsair 650w I linked on pg1 isn't modular either, personally would grab the PC Power and Cooling 750w I linked for $15 more just to give yourself some headroom.
 
GTX 580 recommendations:
This one if you want to OC it yourself.
This one if you want it to start with its own boost.

2 problems with getting a 580 though. 1) a 650w PSU won't cut it. 2) They are way out of the budget you listed.

The 570 is closer to the budget you listed, and EVGA offers the same choices for the 570.
Stock.
Factory OC.

The Corsair 650w I linked on pg1 isn't modular either, personally would grab the PC Power and Cooling 750w I linked for $15 more just to give yourself some headroom.

I checked out his specs, "if" he is getting a QUALITY 650w unit it will be suffecient for a single 580.

Also of note, if your not running an i7 or a phenom over 4.0ghz then buying a 580 is not advisable. as you will only be able to get 60 to 70% of what the card is capable of. I think your suggestion to get a 570 is wise. Even a 560ti would be a good choice with a mainstream cpu.
 
System Requirements: Minimum of a 600 Watt power supply. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 42 Amps.)
Obviously they probably pad that number a bit, but even so on a 650w PSU it leaves what... 100w (+/- 25w) for the rest of his system.
Just doesn't seem like a risk worth taking, in my opinion.
 
Obviously they probably pad that number a bit, but even so on a 650w PSU it leaves what... 100w (+/- 25w) for the rest of his system.
Just doesn't seem like a risk worth taking, in my opinion.

What you have quoted total system power requirements.
That is what Nvidia says you need to have in your pc to use the card.
The card itself uses somewhere in the vicinity 300w. that leaves 300 watts for his cpu that's likely only 65 watts. So a 650 watt quality unit would be just fine.
 
This thread is full of LOLz.

With your budget of $400, this is about as good as it gets.
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CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

XFX HD-695X-CDFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity


I have both AMD and Nvidia cards on hand right now, and both works fine. no issues whats so ever. just make sure you use the latest drivers from both camps.


if you have a legal key of windows 7, you can obtain a copy of windows 7 64 bit anywhere and use the same key. or order a disk from microsoft directly for $15 bucks?

btw, you cannot "upgrade" windows 7 from 32 bit to 64 bit. you must perform a clean install. There is a way around it on the net. I did it previously with windows vista, but the result was buggy. so I ended up doing a fresh install anyway.

a gtx 580 + a core i7 920 @3.3
a "good" 650w is PLENTY.
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Sapphire only have 2 year warranty, not lifetime.
PNY's "lifetime" warranty is a joke, its the lifetime of the product. if they discontinue the product for whatever reason, you are SOL.


but honestly, anything from AMD's HD 5770 and up or Nvidia's GTS 450 and up is going to blow your current intergrated graphics away.
Nvidia's GTX 460 1gb (non- SE) can play "most" current games maxed out at 1080p with at least 30 fps, with a few exceptions like Crysis and Metro 2033.
 
A 7600GT is roughly equal to integrated HD4200 graphics, so anything above that on the Nvidia side. I would have to look at the list to see what that translates into on the ATI side.

Like Clown said, as long as you use the new drivers either camp will work fine. And a big 10-4 on the lulz. Sometimes you just have to shake your head and chuckle...
 
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