Best "Best Buy" card for me

[imported_KungFuHamster]

I'm so confused concerning video cards nowadays. It's hard for me to tell which cards are best, and which ones might be upgrades for me. It used to be so much more straightforward...

Anyway, my current setup:

Windows XP Pro SP2
Core 2 Duo E6600
4GB RAM (yeah, I know, Windows XP doesn't see all of it.)
1680x1050 widescreen 20" monitor
nVidia 7900 GT 512mb card
450-500w power supply (I forget offhand exactly, but can look it up if necessary)

My goals:

I play games like Half Life 2, FEAR, Fallout 3, racing games, the GTA series, and MMORPG's. I tried GTA4 recently and it was a slideshow. I want something that will let me play GTA4 at reasonable frame rates with reasonable graphics settings.

So I've got a $300 gift certificate to Best Buy, but I'd like to upgrade my wife's video card at the same time (we have identical machines), but I don't want to spend a lot because money is tight.

Are any of the video cards currently available at Best Buy worth getting (significant upgrades) for their prices (given a budget of up to $200 for a card)?

Our motherboards support SLI, but our power supplies are not monsters; only like 450-500w. Will we need to upgrade them?

Please help me figure this out!

Thanks in advance.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Best Buy has a PNY 9800 GTX+ for $219 or a Visiontek 4870 for $239. Both have only 512MB of memory btw.

Either would be a significant upgrade from the 7900 GT.

What PSU do you have because that will be the limitation.

 

[zerocool84]

To play GTA4 with stable fps you either need an insanely high clocked dual core or a quad.

 

[Bman123]

Best buy have the 9800gt online right now for $139.That is gonna be your best bet since you can buy 2 of them and be right at your budget.

 

[Denithor]

Visiontek 4670 $150

or

BFG 8800GTS (G92) $160

Second is much stronger card. Waaay more powerful than your current 7900GT and won't use too much power (easily work on a 450-500W PSU). Probably the best performance value you're going to find at BB.

Otherwise go in-store and see if you can find a 4830/4850/4870 that doesn't break your wallet.