New graphics card!

[hoeper]

Here are my specs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
ASUS M2A-VM
2 GB RAM
Geforce 8400 GS
CODEGEN 450W PSU
Windows XP

So I'm looking for the best video card i can get under $200 without bottlenecking my GPU. My motherboard only has a PCI x16 slot so I'm looking at getting a Nvidia card since they use PCIe 2.0 instead of PCIe 2.1 which I have heard can be incompatible. I'm also looking at upgrading the power supply to some kind of Antec efficent 450W supply.
I think my best option at the moment would be the Geforce 550 ti but I'm afraid it might bottleneck
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

So what do you think?
Cheers

 

[Memnarchon]

Hello.

From what I know it will be bottlenecked. And I see two options:

1st option: Buy a 450/550 and a couple more ram so you will have at least 4GB (I know that you have XP and possible 32 bit but we want at least to cap this). cost: around $150.

2nd option: Keep your money and wait a bit till you could spend around $300-400.
Then you could buy an ivybridge cpu (i3 for around $110), a new mobo (H67 or similar for around $80), 8GB RAM (around $40) and for around $150 a new gpu (maybe HD6850/GTX460) they should cost around $350-$400

 

[de5_Roy]

you should save up, add $400-500 to the $200 you already have and can get a whole new decent gaming pc - one much better than the one you have now. the cpu will likely bottleneck the gfx card a bit. for example, check out this $600 gaming build
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html
you can move some parts around to suit your needs.
if you must stay with your current config -
psu:
CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply. $60, after mir $50. $2 shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&Tpk=corsair%20cx%20500%20v2
gfx card:
ASUS ENGT440/DI/1GD5 GeForce GT 440 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card. $95. $75 after mir. $8 shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121426
you can use this hierarchy chart to compare 8400 gs and gt440 gddr5
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[hoeper]

Best answer selected by hoeper.