Best Possible Video Card for my System?

[luckygiant]

About me:
- First post on the forum, so hi!
- I'm not a hardcore gaming enthusiast, happy playing at medium settings
- Basic knowledge of computers, but nothing much technical (so no overclocking)
- I'm looking to upgrade my video card if it means I can delay upgrading my whole system for a while
- May upgrade my PSU if its needed to upgrade the graphics card

My system:
AMD Athlon X2 7750 Dual Core 2.7GHz
ATI Radeon HD4670 512MB DDR3 Engine 750MHz Memory 800MHz
2x2GB Dual Channel DDR2-800
AOC 2217V 22 inch widescreen LCD monitor (1680x1024)
Asus M2N68-AM Support AMD Socket AM2+
Western Digital 500GB 7200rpm SATA
Samsung SH-S223F DVD±RW
420W PSU

The questions:
1) which are the best cards my system could use?
2) what are the performance gains over my current card?

Many thanks

 

[omnisome]

Hello and welcome to Tom's Hardware.
First off, can you tell me more about your power supply (how many amperes on the +12V rail(s), what brand, how long have you had it?)

 

[omnisome]

Here is a rough idea of what could go nicely with your system:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150479&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-150-479-_-Product - XFX GeForce GTS250 512MB (Core Edition)
$110.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161309&cm_re=hd5750-_-14-161-309-_-Product - HIS Radeon HD5750 1GB
$110.00


Here is a couple of key points that make these cards better than your current HD4670:
*DirectX 11 (Windows 7 only) - Better "eye-candy"
*Faster clock speeds - Higher FPS


If you have to/want to upgrade your power supply then here is a good one for the price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035&cm_re=500w-_-17-371-035-_-Product - Antec EA-500D Green
$50.00

 

[Embra]

And how much you can spend.

 

[jaguarskx]

HD 5770 for $100 after $30 rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161338&cm_re=hd_5770-_-14-161-338-_-Product

A generic 420w PSU should be able to handle it especially since you are not overclocking. It uses the same amount of power as the slower GTS 250 recommended above.

 

[luckygiant]

Thanks for the replies
Seems I can't edit my original message, but heres some additional info.

My PSU came with the case which is an Easteck Case ET-3383BS
Its about 1.5yrs old

I'll try to hunt down some more information on the PSU, but probably just go on the assumption its just a generic one as the case was not expensive. Is there a way to test your power supply to check if its any good?

What I'm trying to establish is if I can get a bit more life from my system because I don't do anything too demanding and are happy gaming on medium settings.

So I guess now theres 2 parts to my question on the:
- Current power supply is a gpu upgrade worth it? or will there not be notable differences for the money?
- Upgrading my power supply whats some good card options for me to put in there, from what I've read researching it myself I'd assume at some stage my CPU will quickly become the limiting factor so the GPU price probably isn't an issue.

 

[luckygiant]

I managed determine the details from my power supply.

ISO Swithching Power Supply: Model No. ISO-500PP
DC output: +3.3V -- 22.0A. +5V -- 36.0A. +12V -- 18.0A.
+5Vsb -- 2.0A. -5V -- 0.5A. -12V--0.5A.
Fuse Rating: 5A.250~(+3.3V&+5V= 220W Max)
MAX.Output Power: 420W.

Graphics card maximum power draws seems to be the following according to the ATi/Nvidia website.

Radeon 4670 Peak 59W (current card)
GTS 250 512Mb Peak 150W
Radeon 5750 Peak 86W
GTS450 1Gb Peak 108W
Radeon 5770 Peak 108W

According to my power supply specs is it possible to determine which is the best card I can safely run?