A few months ago all i heard was that my ti 4200 was underpowered to play todays games and that dx9 was impossible.I had to have a 5700 ultra or 9800xt(budget,best card).well i played madden 2004 with my ti 4200 and it played with alot of the settings turned down ,did'nt satisfy me so got 5700 didn't like got 9600xt hatededed it so igot 5700 ultra but it ain't all that reall not much better than my ti 4200. So for 230 busks about all i really got was dx9 not much of a performance bump.S if you want a better card you need to spend 500 dollars or else just keep your old card right?

Well, for about the same price, an FX5900 or R9800 would have been a much better upgrade. A Ti4200 is still a pretty decent little performer, and in the right situations, FX5700U isn't *that* much faster. An FX5900 or R9800, otoh, both have a 256bitDDR bus and awesome performance, making the upgrade considertably more noticable.

The FX5700U is a great card, but not a great value, a little too pricey and underperforming when compared to an FX5900 or R9800..

I don't think you need to spend $400 on a shiny new X800PRO, but shopping and comparing usually end up saving some $$ and being happy w/ your upgrade