Need help with graphics upgrade

[mmk92]

I have been running low on my PoV 8500GT graphics card for about a year, only but recently i accuired the money to buy a new graphics card, so I got hung up between "pov GTS 250 512MB DDR3" and "inno3d 9800GT 1GB DDR3".

My current gpu is DDR2, and my biggest worry is that a DDR3 gc wouldn't work on my mobo.

So my questions are, which graphics card is better between the two? will a DDR3 graphics card work on my current specs? Will the new graphics card run at maximum power with my specs?

450Watt PSU
E4500 2.2GHz c2d cpu(oc'd to 2.93GHz)
945GCM-S2L mobo http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=2669
64bit vista os
2gb ram(upgrading to 4gb pretty soon)

Thanks in advance


PS: What's with the PCI-e 2.0? Should I worry abt it? or is it simply a power managment solution?

 

[alikum]

Do not worry. You can even use GDDR5 cards without a problem. What's the brand of your 450W PSU? You do not have to worry much about PCI-e 2.0. It provides double the bandwidth of PCI-e 1x. However, in practical, cards do not use as much. Assuming that you have a quality PSU, and I mean real quality like Corsair VX450, get an ATI Radeon HD4850 or even HD4870 1GB. What's the amps on the 12V rails?

 

[outlw6669]

Welcome to the forums!

Of the two, the GTS 250 faster and, assuming the 9800GT is not tons cheaper, your best choice of the two.

Do not worry about what type of RAM the GPU uses.
The RAM used by the GPU has no bearing at all on anything else used in your system.

PCIe 2.0 is the latest PCIe specification.
It offers twice the bandwidth of PCIe 1.x and more power is available through the slot.
All PCIe 1.x and 2.0 cards/motherboards are compatible with each other.

As the current generation GPUs can not fully saturate a PCIe 1.x 16x connection, you will still get the full performance from a new card on your current motherboard.

 

[leo2kp]

My biggest concern would be the PSU.

 

[regi23]

You can also visit gpureview.com to compare both of the card to see wish one best for you