Card died, need Upgrade Advice fast - info on rig listed

[Mc1gamer]

I built my rig in 2007 and I'm not in the position to replace with a completely upgraded new one. However, my EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS failed on me so I need to get a new card. I figure I can at least get the best card that will help me with my current specs till I can afford to do a complete rebuild. I'm also concerned about getting something too robust till I do a full upgrade. So I'm worried about bottlenecking and basically getting too much card for what I have in my rig for now.

I need to know how I can get the best bang for my buck. Here's my full rig:

1) Windows XP (not ready to spend the $ on 7 yet)
2) Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
3) EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (This is now dead)
4) AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor ADAFX62CSBOX
5) ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler (Ultra-Quiet my a$$ - sounds like a rocket ship)
6) X2 - Corsair XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Desktop Memory Model CM2X1024-5400C4
7) KINGWIN ABT-600CW 600W ATX 12V Ver.2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supply
8) Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-SV Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
9) I have two monitors so I need a card that will allow this.

So with my graphics card now toast and my budget on the thin side for the time being. I was told don't bother with a GTX 460 b/c of bottlenecking and I won't get much out of it on this rig. I'm looking at the Geforce GTS 250 1Gb (please note if you suggest something else though) but I have a number of questions:

Do I have a PSU (600w) to handle it?
Is my MB and CPU appropriate to fit anything that is suggested for a replacement?
IF there's another graphics card that will give me some better bang for mid-level buck expenditure, what might that be?
Should I get 2 more gig of Ram of what I've got or scrap that RAM and get 4G of something new? Does XP even see the extra RAM (meaning I just stay with the 2G I have right now)?
Can my case handle any of the suggestions or am I also looking at that as a replacement?

Any help or suggestions would be MOST appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mc1

 

[Theocnoob]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873&cm_re=5770-_-14-102-873-_-Product 5770 $114

faster than 8800 but not so fast that you're wasting money.

 

[Mc1gamer]

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked and it looks like there's not support for two monitors. I use two Am I wrong? If not, got an alternative? Thanks!!

 

[stool]

What is the condition of your warranty on the eVGA card? Not sure on an 8800, but eVGA is quite good with support and coverage.

 

[Mc1gamer]

Great question. I don't know but I'll have to check. I wonder if it will extend out 4 years though. I purchased via newegg in 07 but I guess I can check with EVGA.

 

[Theocnoob]

5770 definitely does two monitors. I would try to see if EVGA will warranty your 8800, even if you still get the 5770. That way you can sell one or something and come out even, $ wise.
If they warrantied it you'd get something equivalent current gen. Maybe a 450 or something?

 

[Mc1gamer]

No dice on the warranty with EVGA. 4 years ago, well past what this would be covered for. It's a brick and I'm sol. I'll just have to purchase a new card.

So with the one you recommend, it's says that it's PCI Express 2.1 x16. My MB is: ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

Says 2 x PCI Express x16 slot at x16, x8 speed
Support NVIDIA®SLI™ technology (both at x8 mode), and 3 PCI Slots.

Is the card recommended above compatible?

Thanks - Mc1

 

[Mc1gamer]

Also, does it make sense to get more RAM? Will Windows XP even see more than 2gigs? I can't find more of the old Corsair sticks I currently have (see my specs in the original post), so any suggestions on a low priced Ram that'll fit my mb and be of use?

Thanks!

 

[Badbonji]

I take it that is XP 32 bit? If so it can see around 3.25-3.5GB depending on components such as the gpu (in total a 32 bit OS can address 4GB of memory). I would definitely get more RAM if there is only 1GB installed, hopefully you can find a cheap 2x2GB kit (not sure on prices being from the UK).

PCI-e is backwards compatible, ie any pci-e card will work in any pci-e x16 slot. PCI-e 2.0 and above just offers more bandwidth per lane than 1.0. This will not make any difference in performance unless using a dual-gpu card, even then it is only a very small difference.

Hope this helps!

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

Win XP 32bit will limit it to 4 gigs but you will only have around 3.2gigs availible/recognized. A RAM upgrade would be a good one in your current set-up, especially if you play games. 2-4 gigs of DDR2 800 would be a nice addition.

 

[Ethan E]

Win XP 32bit will only "see" 3.5 gigs or so of ram. So you could upgrade to 4gigs and use most of it.

Have you tried the "oven trick" on your 8800. It might fix it and since it is out of warranty it wont matter if it doesn't

I wouldn't be so concerned about bottlenecking. All it means is that the CPU will be limiting the performance of your comp. If the plan is to do a full rebuild in the next 4-8 months, I would simply buy the card you would put into that build now. The rumor mill has NVIDIA releasing the 6xx cards in december, so if you are holding out that long to do a whole rebuild, then I would buy the cheap and cheerful card you need to get you through till then.

As far as the GTS 250 goes, its a fine card. Roughlly comparable to a 9800gtx. I had one before I got my gtx 560, and it played all my games fine at 1440x900.

 

[Mc1gamer]

Thanks everyone! I got the BFG GTS 250 card and another 2gigs of the same RAM I already had. Wasn't terribly expensive. Yeah, I'm holding off for at least 6months on a full rebuild. I planned to get a totally new rig end of the yearish or maybe into next year, depending on how much disposable income I have. Trying to be frugal and keep these 4 yr old pc's chugging till then. I like my cases but those need an update too so I'll go windows 7 and start from ground up. I'm sure what's hot today will be discounted by then.

Cheers!