Whats a good upgrade from x1800xt 512MB ?

[gsethi]

Whats a good upgrade ? Its been a while since I have been out of the video card loop. Looking to spend ~200.

or should i wait couple of months to see whats coming out / price drops ?

EDIT: My system specs right now are:
E6400 CPU
2GB Ram
24" Dell 2405wfp LCD (1920 x 1200).

Do I also need to upgrade my CPU and if yes, then which one ?

Thanks

 

[AVP]

I would wait. There isn't anything for $200 that is going to do it for you. I would wait for November to see what comes out and if the GTS 640 or 2900pro 512 drop enough in price.

 

[gsethi]

Bump now that it is end of November.

 

[Syntax Error]

Much has changed since AVP's post in the beginning of October. There is the $200 market which would consist of the HD3850, which I believe would probably be more powerful than the X1800. It seems to thrash the 8600GT, which is roughly the same I suppose. A good HD3850 should cost around $160-170 I believe.

For a bit more (if you can find one), an 8800GT would be best, its MSRP is $250 for a card roughly 85-90% the power of an 8800GTX. However, the problem is that this card has such a demand and such limited supply, prices have inevitably went up since. You could try the Dell 8800GT deals thread, which has an MSI 8800GT for $208 and an XFX 8800GT for $235, that's about the best deals so far. Other e-tailers such as Newegg have since raised prices on these cards to $270~300+.

You can also try the ATI HD3870, the HD3850's big brother. It's about 80-80% the power of an 8800GT, but it beats the X1800 considerably. It should go for around $220? I'm not sure of the prices now, as I didn't follow the HD3870 as much as I had the 8800GT, but AMD claims to have made a LOT more HD3870s and HD3850s to mitigate the ridiculous supply problems the 8800GTs been facing.

Good luck!