Need a graphics card - what does this forum recommend?

For any decent GPU in that price range, you're going to need a better power supply.

Gigabyte GeForce 7600GT 256MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI S/Pipe 2

would this be ok with my power limitations?

No. To answer your question on the Gigabyte 7600GT working with that PSU. From nVidia's specs you need at least a 350W PSU. Check out the specification section on Newegg for the video cards.

One thing you don't mess around with is the PSU. You definitely need a better one. Even a 6600GT spec suggest a 350W PSU with a minimum of 18A.

If you keep that 300W PSU you are looking at a 6200 or equivalent for your system. And with a 4800X2, this would be a sad state of affairs indeed.

Since you were willing to spend $200 for a video card, I suggest getting this BFG 7600GT and this FSP Group 450W PSU.

This 450W PSU will even handle one 8800GTX.

The combination of the two is $176 after MIR for the video card.

Hmm... If you can fit the card into the case, it MIGHT work. However, power-wise, it's likely going to be close to a tight fit; only 8A on the first +12v rail would mean that the Athlon64 might be using up more than just that. However, most mid-range cards should be able to fit within those power parameters. The 7600GT might work, though if you can go up to $200US or so, I'd recommend something like the 7900GS or X1950pro instead. Contrary to what has been said on the X1950pro, it consumes FAR less power than the rest of the X1900 and X1950 cards; the RV570 chip it uses has about 1/4 the hardware completely removed, and switches to the smaller 80nm process, yielding a far smaller chip, that hence consumes less power.

As for the power connector, any PCI-e card that requires an external (6-pin PCI-e) power connector will ship with an adapter that will plug onto a 4-pin molex connector, which all PSUs tend to have in spades. (or at least, a number of) It's slightly messier than just a plain, straight cable, but it will work.

You didn't read about their PSU, didn't you? Remember, wattage rating means next to NOTHING, even when factoring in the brand; my 600w Tagan provides less +12v current than my little brother's (cheaper) 400w FSP.

The PSU they mentioned is an Antec; Antec is pretty much the only maker of cases that also makes good PSUs and packages them in it. (which is why the Antec Sonnata II is so recommended, coming with a GOOD PSU)

it says I will need 358 watts

does that mean that I have to have 358 watts or will my existing 300 watt unit do the trick?

Are there any video cards that are

PCI-E
Nvidia
and with a high clock speed

that would have a low wattage requirement?

Yes, I took a look at the specs of the PSU. I do truely apologize that I didn't add the amps in my discussion on the 7600GT. I thought that by stating the 18A requirement on the 6600GT was enough.

I will admit to the fact that I took the 350W requirement from another 7600GT card since it wasn't listed for the Gigabyte model. I downloaded the manual and it says that a 300W PSU is minimum but it doesn't list any amp requirements. Maybe the fan on the other model caused the requirement to go from 300W to 350W.

Even though this is the eVGA 7600GT model specs, it was the only one I could find that specifically mentioned it needed 18A on the 12V rail, here. This model also mentions that 24A is required for SLI.

I did see two other models state Amps requirments for SLI. One stated 24A also while another one stated 22A. So if you take the difference between Amps requirements from the eVGA card, which is 6 and subtract it from the 22A, you still get a minimum of 16A required for the 7600GT. Though, I would err on the side of 18A.

I am re-taking a look at the specs again on the 300W PSU from that review he mentioned. 2 12V rails. One is 8 Amps (which btw is completely pathetic for a PSU) and the other is 14.5 amps (still not sufficient for today's hardware). And this is maximum.

Comparing the above requirements to these specs:

To quote dean7: "The bottom line is: no."

In fact, the SU300 that comes with the case isn't even listed on Antec's website as a stand alone PSU. Normally Antec is good as I have a 6 year case that came with a 350W PSU. Not being able to purchase this PSU by itself throws it in suspect.

Btw, check out the 450W PSU I recommended. The amps on it can even handle the 8800GTX.

Mowers: I hope my above statement convinces you to get a new PSU. Get that 450W FSP Group PSU. Like I said, it will even handle a 8800GTX. So when you want to upgrade to a better video card in the future, this will be one less thing to worry about.

Thanks everyone I bought a nvidia 7600GT and my FPS for WW2 online went from 12 to around 80, spiking at 162.

The wattage isnt an issue at all.

I am really pleased - your help really made a difference

have a great weekend

Mowers