Hi,
I've had an AMD 939 system for a long time. I recently upgraded my CPU from amd64 3200+ to amd64 4000+ (single core) (also so I could build a PC for someone out of spare parts). Next to the 4000+ CPU I also have 2 gigs of DDR400 ram and a really lame XFX 8600GTS that I got from XFX as an RMA replacement for a broken 7900GT (R.I.P.). The 8600GTS is has noticeably worse performance, especially in TF2, and I think I need something else.

Also, SLI doesn't seem like a good option because even 8600GTS SLI gives only marginal performance increases. So what I'd like are recommendations on what GPU would go along nicely with my CPU, so neither is bottlenecking the other.
Some games I play are: TF2, CoD4, BF2142. With a better GPU I might also like to play a game like GRID..

EDIT: also, my optimal resolution is 1280x1024

Hmm...

XFX 9600GT 512MB, should be much better than the 8600GTS and use just about as much po.wer

And you don't think the CPU might be bottlenecking the 9600GT?

There may be a little bottleneck on it, but not too much. My current pc can even run Crysis at 30fps on high with a 9600GT and it has an AMD X2 4000+, one of the weakest AMD Dual cores.

I should note that my amd64 4000+ is single core..

But think, If you get the good gpu now, when you upgrade the motherboard and processor, it will be even better. Think of it as planning. But you can enjoy what you planned in BF2142 and such at the moment.

True, but I think that in light of THIS deal, I might be getting a lot better price/performance ratio while still somewhat future-proofing myself.

The 8800GT and 9600GT are so similar, but the 9600GT takes less power and since you had an 8600GTS I recommended something that uses a similar amount of power, so as not to overload your current psu. The 9600GT scores only 2-3fps lower than the 8800GT and uses Nvidias new G92 chipset. It's a bit more future proof. The 9600GT has the best price/performance ratio, but before the 9600GT the 8800GT was the king.

You're very right. I hadn't realized that 9600GT's have such good pricepoints already.

theres gotta be a bottleneck here. I say the max for that system is a 8800 GT , and the cool thing is, once one dady you upgrade your CPU , you will see even more FPS increase as youll get the cards full potential !!!