video card died...

[Motherland]

My trusty NVIDIA 8600GTS died last night. I really haven't been paying attention to hardware at all in the past couple of years so I'm unfortunately clueless at what to replace it with. Basically I at least want a card a bit better than in was, or at least the best I can get with like... $80-100. I don't need anything really great as I'm sure ill be running into other bottlenecks. Any help would be appreciated...

[titanic3]

Motherboard? PSU? Radeon or nVidia?

[Motherland]

I didn't think the motherboard mattered as long as its got a PCIE slot....but its some crummy Intel Cortez something or other. Upgraded my PSU when I got the 8600 its a 500 watt if I remember correctly.
Couldn't care less whether I get an ATI or NVIDIA

[titanic3]

A Radeon 6670 would be a huge step up from your 8600 for $100. It's not the best card, but it will run AH completely maxed out.
If AH is the only game you play, then you can settle for a 6570 or a 5570 for ~$50-60.

They're simple plug and play cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442 6670

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121441 6570

[Motherland]

Thanks! I'm gonna looks around some local ops before I order from newer, so encased they don't have those do you by any chance know the more-or-less equivalent cards from NVIDIA?
The 430 it looks like?

[titanic3]

Most stores sell it for much more than what you can get online. With mail-in rebate, these things are the best prices you'll most likely see. The GT 240 is more or less the same as a Radeon 5570, which is just a teeeeny bit slower than a 6670. And it's dirt cheap. I'm not so experienced with nVidia, but yea, it seems like the 430 might be close. I'd go for a Radeon though, that's just me.

[Getback]

The 8600 should die. I had one of those and it was nothing but trouble.

[Bizman]

With your 500W PSU I'd recommend a Radeon, they are built to use less power.