Upgrading Graphic Card

[Harunatsumi]

Currently, I am using the following rig:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
ATX Intel P35 Express
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512mb
PSU: Evergreen Silent King 550W

I want to change my graphic card to either
GeForce GTS250 1GB
Radeon HD5770 1GB

Would they be compatible with my motherboard?
As far i as know, my mother support PCI-e 1.1
GTS250 interface is PCI-e 2.0 while HD5770 interface is PCI-e 2.1 with GDDR5 memory type.

I am not sure what the different between GDDR3 and GDDR5, and not sure whether my motherboard can support GDDR5 or not.

Can anyone tell me whether either of them is compatible with my motherboard? and is there any other compatible recommended card in the same price range that doesnt require me to change my power supply(my maximum budget is around 200$)? (This is only temporary solution for me before buying a new rig next year)

Thank you for your response

 

[Maziar]

Yes your motherboard can support both of them,because PCI-E 2.0 is backward compatible with PCI-E 1.0.
Well since you are upgrading from a 8800GT,then i would recommend going with HD 5770 instead of GTS 250 because its a more powerful card and therefore will give you more boost in performance

 

[wa1]

1. HD5770 is better than GTS250.
2. HD5770 is more efficient and support dx.11.
3. Your PSU should handle that card just fine.
4. HD5770 comes with 2 version, 2.0 and 2.1, so choose HD5770 2.0 version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858&cm_re=HD5770-_-14-102-858-_-Product
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=HD5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product
5. As long as you have pcie slot then you can use any GDDR3 or GDDR5.

 

[unknown_13]

Agree with everything above

GTS250 is based on G92, which evolved from G80, and it's 4 years old technology. HD 5770 is much, much better choice in every field, performance, energy consumption, thermal output, has DX11 etc.

 

[Maziar]

1. HD5770 is better than GTS250.
2. HD5770 is more efficient and support dx.11.
3. Your PSU should handle that card just fine.
4. HD5770 comes with 2 version, 2.0 and 2.1, so choose HD5770 2.0 version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858&cm_re=HD5770-_-14-102-858-_-Product
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=HD5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product
5. As long as you have pcie slot then you can use any GDDR3 or GDDR5.

I think the 2.1 version will work fine too

 

[Harunatsumi]

Thank you for your reply.
I will be getting a HD5770 then.

 

[unknown_13]

Thank you for your reply.
I will be getting a HD5770 then.

Great choice!!

 

[Harunatsumi]

Best answer selected by Harunatsumi.