What is the best graphics card I can get for my machine with a $250-$400 budget?

[CaesarSalad]

I am planning on purchasing a new monitor (switching from 720p to 1080) and would like to update my graphics card on my gaming pc. Should I wait for nVidia's new 800 series cards to come out. What's the best card I can get without bottle necking due to my psu or cpu. Is my motherboard too old for the newer cards?

Here are my specs:

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

RAM:CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

CPU: Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket LGA 1155 Boxed Processor

Graphics: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready

PSU: SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active

Storage: 1 TB WD Caviar & 120 GB Kingston SSD

Thanks for your advice and if anyone can recommend a good monitor that would be appreciated as well. Are those 1440p Korean monitors any good?

 

[Calnin]

I'd suggest a GTX 770 or maybe a r9 290 if its down in that range.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

 

[CaesarSalad]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Helpful, but I guess I didn't ask my real question. Will a PCI express 3.0 card like a gtx 770 be bottlenecked by a 2.0 motherboard? How do I make sure my power supply is sufficient (520W)?

 

[ThatVietGuy]

No, using a PCIe 3.0 card in a PCIe 2.0 slot makes very little difference.

You make sure the PSU is sufficient by going to the manufacturer's website and look up its system requirements. Typically, in the $250-400 range, the PSU you'd need will range from 500W to possibly 650W, but this is entirely dependent on the card you choose.

 

[Nascentubiquity]

I am planning on purchasing a new monitor (switching from 720p to 1080) and would like to update my graphics card on my gaming pc. Should I wait for nVidia's new 800 series cards to come out. What's the best card I can get without bottle necking due to my psu or cpu. Is my motherboard too old for the newer cards?

Here are my specs:

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

RAM:CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

CPU: Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket LGA 1155 Boxed Processor

Graphics: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready

PSU: SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active

Storage: 1 TB WD Caviar & 120 GB Kingston SSD

Thanks for your advice and if anyone can recommend a good monitor that would be appreciated as well. Are those 1440p Korean monitors any good?

 

[Nascentubiquity]

I have a QNIX qx2701 2560x1440 monitor which I picked up on eBay for $379 and i love it, no problems and price can't be beat.

 

[CaesarSalad]

I have a QNIX qx2701 2560x1440 monitor which I picked up on eBay for $379 and i love it, no problems and price can't be beat.

Nice. I was too afraid to spend that much money and possibly end up with a defective product so I just found a deal on amazon and went with that. I ended up getting an asus PB278Q and an r9 290 that are working great so far. BF4 and the new wolfenstein are beautiful games in 1440p.