Graphics Card

I was told here to come by a friend because he said you all know a lot about these kinds of things. I want to upgrade my desktop computer, bought it from cyberpowerinc.com last year, about 18 months ago in fact. Played WoW fine on that comp and the other one I bought from them for 3 years, and now Warhammer just came out and my computer shuts down, or shuts down to desktop when graphics get intense.

I have a 450 total wattage output power supply, 2 DDRII 512 667 sticks, and an Nvidia 7300 GeForce video card. I want to upgrade my ram to at least 2 gigs, and obviously the video card. I have an ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard. Any recommendations on which route to take on newegg.com? I don't really want to spend more than $150, but if it's a drastic increase for just $200 I could part with the cash I suppose. I'd appreciate any insight, thanks.

Seems like a good idea to go with the 8800GT, especially since you have an SLI motherboard.

You might want to list the specs of your 450W PSU, such as brand name and the combined 12V rail. Generally, if it's a good brand, 450W is more than enough for the 8800GT.

I would recommend the HD 4850, but seeing as you already have an nvidia based board (sorry to hear...) getting an nvidia card is not necessarily a dumb move.

If you're going for an nvidia card and think about doing SLI down the road, be sure to get the 9800GT and not the 8800GT, because the 8800GT is bound to reach EOL sooner than the 9800GT, making it more difficult to find when you want to add a second card.

your video card is definitely the problem...upgrading that and your ram will also definitely help...

that 9800gt that dirtmountain found is a pretty good deal...the 9800gt and the 8800gt are practically the same card but it should be easier to find a 9800gt down the road, whenever u want to SLI them

even sweeter

If the OP was going for a single card solution, the HD4850 would be the top choice, however he has an SLI board so it'll be better to get an 8800GT or two.

9800gt is identical to 8800gt, Nvidia renaming scheme.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] te_9800gt/

There are two major misconceptions concerning 9800gt:
1) It supports tri-sli:
No it does not. The PCB only has one connector, only dual sli.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] 00gt/2.htm
2) It's 55nm:
No it's not. 9800gt is 65nm, like 8800gt. Planned 55nm models will come later, likely named 9800gt+, using the same naming scheme as 9800gtx/9800gtx+.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] 00gt/4.htm

Identical g92 chip with 112 stream processors, 600mhz stock core clock, 1800mhz vram. 9800gt is identical to 8800gt, only cost more.

It's $20 more expensive than 8800gt without mir, and even if you count in mir, it's still $5 plus $9 shipping more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133232
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814145149
8800gt comes with free shipping, while 9800gt cost $9 for shipping.

4850 is a bad choice. It's a very good card, but does not fit every system. Recommending it in each and every case, regardless of individual circumstances is a sign of fanboyism.

4850 cost at least $60 more than 8800gt, counting or not counting mir in both, and is limited to single card due to sli motherboard. It's a dead end in term of upgrading. Dual 8800gt outperform gtx280 while costing $210-220 total.

What issues? I only said it does not fit the needs of every system. 4850 works fine with any chipset motherboard, Intel or Nvidia, as far as I know.