Hi all... My main computer (its not working right now, does not turn on) is a ASROCK 775i945GZ, and I installed a Nvidia 7800 GTX 512 on it not too long ago... I play GRID on it, but I only seem to get 45-60 fps usually, at mostly Low settings, with car detail set to High... I wanted to upgrade my video card on my computer, but as my MB only has a AGI port, (think PCI-E x16 sized, but essentially PCI-E x4), I'm severely limited in my choice... I'm looking for something better than my current card, so basically 8 series and up... Or should I stay with what I have?

Well depending on the game, a newer graphics cards could give you about 20-50 fps more. Your motherboard and cpu are going to be the bottleneck then. I recently (christmas) changed from 7800 GTX to 9800 GTX+ (still got an old AMD 3800+ 64 X2 system) and it really isn't as much as i have expected but it was worth the buy for several reasons. One of the main reasons would be that i can still use it once i get another, newer rig. Games are running slightly smoother now but as i've said, now the system is the bottleneck .

I would look at upgrading your motherboard to one with a pci-e 16x slot.
This will give you a much wider choice of graphics upgrades. If you are running 7 series now you may as well jump straight to the 9 series. Depends what your budget will allow.

Ati or Nvidia?

You should get a new PC. I think you don't have a Core2Dual, at least..

Yes, thanks for replying, I am going to upgrade the motherboard eventually, just when I actually get it working. (Must be a power supply issue) To be honest, I don't discriminate/favour any specific side (I own a ATI 9550 in the computer I'm typing on now, a spare Nvidia 6600GT, and the 7800 GTX 512...) So any card in the price range of $150-250, that would be of great value.. @BoyGTA, you're right, the CPU in the computer is a Intel Pentium D 805 at stock speeds.

Quote from WSR :

Yes, thanks for replying, I am going to upgrade the motherboard eventually, just when I actually get it working. (Must be a power supply issue) To be honest, I don't discriminate/favour any specific side (I own a ATI 9550 in the computer I'm typing on now, a spare Nvidia 6600GT, and the 7800 GTX 512...) So any card in the price range of $150-250, that would be of great value.. @BoyGTA, you're right, the CPU in the computer is a Intel Pentium D 805 at stock speeds.

Well for 150 U can get a 4850 or a 4870 (im not familiar with dollars) but those are both pretty damn good cards. But remember that ur processor will be bottlenecking ur videocard

Quote from TheFlexican :

Well for 150 U can get a 4850 or a 4870 (im not familiar with dollars) but those are both pretty damn good cards. But remember that ur processor will be bottlenecking ur videocard

Sounds great... Although my MB unfortunately doesn't support those cards (according to the board manufacturer anyway), I calculated somewhere I has almost $3000 spare...

But the budget will be about $300-500 for a new system instead... So the MB won't be a problem, nor will the CPU, so it's all set.

There aren't much better cards there right now on the AGP port (if that is what you have). Ultimately, any true card would be bottlenecked by such P4 like CPU - that you have. Prescott?

If you are keen on getting a new card without upgrades, i believe the best that you can do is 3850. Besides that, nothing else. At that price, you can get a 4870/90 at the range in a regular 16x / 2.0 flavour. I doubt that you need a new card though. Personally I'm still running on a 7600GT, playing LFS, CS:S. Again, the games I play aren't demanding, and quite old in specs. You might have a different case.

A new computer should be thought of. A decent quad core intel with a decent dedic. GPU costs merely $4-5-600 prebuilt. (L775). I believe it was a 9600GSO (not sure if the 768 / 384 or 512 variant). Any case, the card will destroy the 7800GTX anywhere, with old 8800GTS performance, or sub - par 8800GT performance.

Any how, most of us recommend you to get a new PC. Or at least wait until newer 40 / 32nm come out (have they yet) such as the new (not really anticipated) Core i5s, the newer AMD Fusion and whatever whatever.

Good Luck. I'd think that the good old 7800GTX would still have some good gas in it. Maybe you are running on a 150hp engine, but you know what, you know how to race.

GenesisX, Good Luck to you~ it's up to you to decide

EDIT: Just read your last post - ahaha - anyways, anything between the 47-- - 48 -- series, or any GTX 27- 28-m variant will do just fine. You will be better off with a decent 775 CPU as the newer 1366 suck at gaming - no really.

mobo - P35/45 or some older 680i etc. - will do you $100
CPU - e7400 - ~$120 - ish or so
RAM - 4GB - can probably get for ~$30
PSU / Case - may choose to use old one or buy a new one ~ lets say $100 for both =D
HD - $50
Others $50
GPU - 4770 - I've seen for around $120, 4850 - $150 4870 - $180 or so. They are your best bet for now =D

Quote from GenesisX :

PSU / Case - may choose to use old one or buy a new one ~ lets say

That right there is how computers get fried, $100 for both? more like $60 for a good case and at least $80 for a seperate PSU. I payed $80 for my Xblade case and $100 on a 500w power supply.

NEVER use the PSU that comes with the case, its always going to be absolute garbage. Instead buy a good case without a PSU and buy a seperate unit.

PSUs are extremely important and many people overlook them. If you get a shit one it will be cheap now, but later it could cost you many times it's own price, like when it nukes everything in your system when it dies.

Thanks for all of your help.

Just to clear up some more confusion of my currently not working system (good for its time, even now as decent/good) the specs are:

CPU: Intel Pentium D 805 (stock speeds as I haven't overclocked it) (Smithfield)
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 (notice its the 512, not just the standard GTX, and its a pain to find the newest compatible nvidia drivers that actually say my card is supported)
MB: Asrock 775i945GZ (it does not have an AGP port (otherwise how would I fit a 7800 GTX 512?), but an AGI port (Asrock Graphics Interchange something (PCI-E x16 sized, can accept AGP, but when in PCI-E, the port lanes are the equivalent of a PCI-E x4))
PSU: Antec 450W (don't know the model) (Probably on its last legs, as I tried using short circuiting the jumpers when I tried to power on outside of the case, but didn't work)
SND (sound card): Creative SB Live! Player 1024

Again, thanks everyone for their help, and I'll be looking out for the new parts in the near future.

I've found a couple of potential motherboards: Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 Asrock Penryn1600SLIX3-WiFi Any word on these? Oh and soon dropping by the computer parts store to get a good quality PSU to replace the non-working one... (550W-600W for use in upgrading?)

As long as it is 75+ efficiency and has at least 30 amps on the 12v rail(s) a 500-600w PSU should be good.

I got a 500w PSU made by thermaltake, it is rated at an efficiency of 80% and my system runs nice and smooth even with my three hard drives and power hungry CPU and graphics card.