Replacing my nvidia 9600GT

What 450 W PSU do you have?

Its an ASUS standard -- nothing special

Ok, whats your budget?

5750 or 5770 if you want to risk it. If you insist on staying with Nvidia, then the GTS450.

about 200$

what is the difrence between say a:
GTS450 from MSI
GTS450 from SPARKLE
GTS450 from ASUS
What do these different company's names stand for?

The performance difference should be nothing. Usually the difference is in bundle or warranty. Who do I trust? Asus, MSI, Uncle Jim down the street, and then Sparkle. I have no idea what the names stand for, probably nothing.

Overall, the HD 5770 is a little more powerful than the GTX 450 and it also uses a little less power than the GTX 450; 77w vs 84w under typical gaming conditions. However, the GTX 450 uses a little less power than the HD 5770 when idle and when playing back HD video.

See following review:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidi...

I can attest to the 450.

I've got this one...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I got mine at microcenter, you pay more up front, but if you take a chance with the rebate, it's supposed to bring the card to 85. I came from a 9600gt also, mine didn't die, sold it. But the 450 is great for it's price.

As far as brands, MSI is good, Sparkle not sure on. ASUS is supposed to be good.

On the Galaxy brand, I've had good luck. My 9600gt was a factory overclocked card. I had that for about 2-3 years, then sold it to my buddy who built a system, but didn't get his video card yet. He was puttering along on a gt220, so I sold it to him as a holdover until he gets a better card, but it's still running fine for him also.

What about the GTX 460 would it be a good step up from the GTS 450 or is it not worth the money - also would I have to get a more powerful Power Supply Unit(450W)?

Depends on the 460, but even if you had an SE 460 it would probably be faster. Either of the normal GTX460s would be faster.

Unless you have a very new 450W PSU you'll need a new one for the 460.

Thats what I thought my PSU needs an upgrade too.