Now what! So confused!

[littlered101]

I'm grateful for any help i can get.

About 3 weeks ago, my graphic card started showing artifacts and my comp started crashing. I realized i needed a new video card, but it seems that I can't simply replace the video card without replacing the motherboard.

Here is my spec (built this in 2007, played most games great until late 2010)

Intel quad core q6600 2,49ghz - (never overclocked it! The computer ran smooth...never needed to.)

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059&cm_re=Ga-p35-ds3l-_-13-128-059-_-Product

ATI Radeon HD 2900 Pro -

2 x Crossair 1 gig xms2 ddr2

Antec 600w psu


I want to be able to play Battlefield 3, COD4, Arma 2, X Rebirth, and Maplestory .
I am not interested in having 3 monitors or dual monitor set up...1 is good enough! *waiting until they make a concave monitor for that experience*
Display settings I usually play in 1400x 1050

Questions:

Can I simply replace the video card with the hd 6870, hd 6950, hd 6970 or the sapphire xtreme hd5850 without replacing the motherboard?
(I'm leaning towards the 6950 or the 6870 more, they're around the same price +/-$40.)

And if I replace the motherboard Do i Have to get a new processor?

And Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[crewton]

You won't have to invest in a new cpu if you get another lga775 board although I wouldn't recommend buying another board. Grabbing another gpu is fine and to lessen any bottlenecks from you cpu oc it! The Q6600 is a nice cpu and has some headroom to play with.