Which card is the best upgrade without bottlenecking?

[xaronax]

Hey guys, I'm pondering upgrading my 2 8800 GTX's that I have in SLI. I'm looking to spend under 300 and get the most bang without bottlenecking my fairly old Core 2 Duo. Looking to extend the life of my rig for a while longer before starting from scratch again.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 30 days. BUDGET RANGE: Under $300

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, 1920x1080 max.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:2 x 8800 GTX SLI, Power supply 800w Rosewill

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 Ghz., EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Motherboard, 4GB Corsair RAM.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg or TD/CompUSA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Prefer Nvidia, but open to suggestions.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes / No / Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes / No / Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 monitor and 1920x1080 TV.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Lifetime warranty preferred.

Thanks!

 

[commandermuffin]

I would say the GTX 560 Ti should fit your needs:
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Superclocked-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B004KZHRAM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1301096571&sr=8-1

 

[Guest]

honestly, 4gb of ram and that cpu is FINE today still. I still argue against xfire/sli because of microstutter issues. This is what you want to order right now...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476&Tpk=xfx%205870

5870 for $170... performs at about the same as a 6950, and you run at a lower res you have no need for more than 1gb vram.

no more microstutter, no more sli, i just upgraded from a q9550 to a 2500k i5 and i really feel like i didn't need to.