Looking for some insight on buying a new video card.

Hello people, i recently started looking at prices all over the net for a new video card, my budget is limited to around 250$ cnd, i live in canada so the prices are slightly higher here. The card that caught my attention is the GTX 260. My knowlege on computers is limited so i figured this was pretty much the best place to ask for help.

My current system is:

Intel e8400 cpu(Stock)
Asus p5k-e motherboard
4 gigs of kingston 800 mhz ram
Power supply OCZ 600w
Egva 9600 GT 512 mb
Audigy 2 zs sound card
320 gig western digital HD
LG dvd burner

I think overall the system still run games pretty damn good, but the video card is showing its age as it was already a budget card when i bought it last summer.


My main concerns are my power supply and my actual case, as i heard the GTX 260 is a huge card. I will probably have to buy a larger case for it to fit.
Also i know the card takes quite a bit of power, will my 600w psu do? And does my psu have everything needed to run the gtx 260?

Thanks in advance, i am looking forward to replies.

Thanks, what about my power supply, will it be enough to run one of these gtx 2xx cards?

I agree with gkay09 about the GTX 275 which should be released in the next week or 2.

What is the native resolution of your lcd and what games do you plan on running?

Here is the 216 core version of the 260 that gkay had mentioned.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6814143155

I can tell you first-hand EVGA is a solid brand with excellent support. Just remember to register your EVGA products within 30-days or the "Lifetime" warranty of their -AR suffixed model # cards becomes a 1-year warranty...

I'm not certain I would bother replacing the video card until you're going to replace the monitor, too. Current high-end video cards are aimed at resolutions of 1680x1050 and above, though you'd get great performance at 1280x1024. I'd suggest waiting a little while to do them both at the same time. It could save you shipping costs and it might just completely "WOW" you if you did it all at once.

I'm all for "WOW" factors when it comes to upgrades. The more the merrier in my book And in that case, I'd probably lean towards a GTX 275 or HD4890 for any monitor with 1680x1050 or greater native resolution.

I agree on the new monitor issue. Until you have a monitor capable of higher res for games, A new gpu wont give much buyer satisfaction.

Thanks for all the replies guys, i really appreciate. From what i could gather the GTX 275 is going to release next week. I'll look into getting that one. If its too expensive it might just make the gtx 260 go down in price anyway.