What GPU is best for me?

[Chicken-Select]

Hey all, I'm planning to purchase this bare-bones kit:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=281588&Sku=B69-1316

and I plan on buying another 4GB ram stick to add up to 8GB of RAM total (x2 4GB DDR3 sticks)
also, a MSI cheap CD/DVD drive.
I also have a CoolerMaster 500W PSU ready to go in my closet.

I play games like Crysis, Crysis 2, Battle Field game, The half lifev series, Left 4 dead 2 etc and I would like to what graphics card would be best for me with in a 100-200$ price range. Preferably something modern. Thank you for any help!

 

[Au_equus]

your setup comes with a H61 nb and 1 PCIe x16 slot. do you know if the efi bios will allow you to oc the 2500k? A 500W ps didn't cut it for me with a single 5770. 550w ps might, but I'd get a 600w ps JIC. you can try an evga gtx 460/5 ($170-180 after MIR) or a HD6870 ($180 after MIR)

 

[shrkbay]

500W PSU will easily run HD6850 and GTX 460, but you won't be able to OC that 460 much, because it has very high power consumption, but imo this one will beat 'em both and run head to head with highly OCed (which 500W PSU can't make) 460:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=199805&CatId=3669

, but highly OCed 6850 will beat it (only by a bit), also you can find cheaper 6850's on newegg

 

[ethel]

A 500W ps didn't cut it for me with a single 5770

That's amazing - I run a 4870 with a 430W PSU no problems at all.

 

[ethel]

The 5850 is a super deal at the moment:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102932&cm_re=5850-_-14-102-932-_-Product

 

[Au_equus]

That's amazing - I run a 4870 with a 430W PSU no problems at all.

yeah, considering the 5770 uses less wattage. Turns out it was an OEM psu pos. it was no better than the 300W psu I was supposedly upgrading from

 

[Onus]

The problem you'll have is the included PSU and your Coolermaster PSU are both overrated junk, not capable of outputting what's on their labels. A quality modern PSU has full range active PFC (no little voltage switch) and 80+ certification for efficiency. For a single GPU, 500W-550W should be enough. Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, and Enermax are among the quality brands with models in that range.
At TigerDirect, the cheapest ones I'd consider (XFX or OCZ) are $70. At Newegg, however, you can get the much better 500W Earthwatts for $60 shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035 leaving you with $140 for a GPU.
Also at Newegg, you can get a 768MB GTX460 for that price if you play the rebate game and win; or the slightly weaker (but check benchmarks, as they overlap) HD5770 for as little as $95.

Edit: It's a little more, but if you can stretch your budget to get the HD5850 that Ethel linked, that's a much stronger card.

 

[manu 11]

A hd 5850 extreme requires only 500w psu and is really dirt cheap.only 140$,it should be the best card and even beats hd 6850 and gtx 460 in some benchmarks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102932

Good Luck!

 

[shrkbay]

manu 11, in some benchmarks? highly OCed 460 *probably maxed* runs head to head with stock 5850 *460 is a bit behind*, while max OCed 6850 beats it only by few FPS, and when compared stocks then 5850 is over 10% better, and we are talking about Sapphire Xtreme with good cooler, very high-quality components etc...

 

[manu 11]

i am not considering an oced card.
i simply dont get you.

 

[shrkbay]

^An OCed card performs better than stock. I compared 5850 stock to 460 OC, while you said that 5850 OCed beats 460 stock by not much, just like it and HD6850 were much stronger than 5850.