well I wouldn't invest in a new last gen card atm but if you can get it a 9800/8800GTX (+ i you can) or GTS250/240 if you can afford it they are mostly the same lol. it will still be a chunk of change anyway.
http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html

could be worth a look

ati 5870

My suggestion is to wait until late Q1 2010 to purchase your new card. Direct X 11 is something which will give you better performance or better image quality and your DX 10 Nvidia cards will tank performance wise in newer games when they try to emulate Direct X 11 effects.

Since you need all the performance you can get even an enthusiast class DX 11 card based on their new Fermi core (GTS class) which should run you $200-$300 given AMDs strong price competitiveness should be perfect for what you're looking to do.

Very good advice. I think Ill see how my search goes this boxing day...if I can score a decent card for ~100 dollars I may buy one now then another one later. I'll do some research about Nvidias 2010 cards and when they should be out...

Do you have a monitor which is 3D ready?

Also what resolution are you looking to run your titles at? I think this is especially important as it determines how much video ram you need and what kind of shader architecture you need and the overall performance level of the card you require.

Im sure you would be very disappointed to learn that you had bought and inadequate card for the job. It would be effectively a waste of money, right? By the way all cards which are equal or less than the GTS250 have relatively less or the same performance as the HD 4850 you removed from your computer. To have effective 3D with the same level of image quality and the required doubling of framerates you would need a card which was from the high end of Nvidias range (GTX 275+) However these cards I hear are in short supply and to purchase now could net you far less performance for your dollar than a purchase in early 2010.

This is the reason why I felt that waiting a few months in your situation would be highly recommended

Yeah. I have a 67 inch "3d ready" samsung dlp. I want to try 1080p but wih the 8800GS all I could do is 720p on most games. I never got to try the 4850 with 3D since its ATI's and that won't work.

I completely agree with your reasoning and will most likelt wait. Unless I can score something current for like 100 bucks... Im looking on craigslist too, hopefully some clown in my area has a videocard that was incompatible with his system or something and is giving it away drit cheap. I'm good at that...finding unused stuff on the used market for cheap :)

A GTX 260 should be plenty

get 2 250s in SLI

The only Nvidia card worth buying in that price range is the GTS 250. Certainly don't go lower. Framerates will be unreliable with 1080p and 3D on though.

Nvidia's 2010 cards won't come before mid-year. The earliest they could have their $600 card out is February (given the A3 stepping has just been put in to the fab) and they won't do $100 derivative parts until a few months after because they need to get the final stepping of the flagship card fixed first. My guess is about July.

There's no concrete information out there, but the more plausible rumours say Feb at the earliest for Fermi and that derivative parts won't be set in motion until they're sure that's fixed. up

Is 3D really worth that much to you? The GTS 250 is a good card but would you rather have more FPS, or higher resolution (by not enabling 3D), or (by using say an HD 5750) lower temps/noise and DX11?

thanks for the info.

I've owned these glasses for 4 months now and I still haven't given them a fair shake. 8800 that I had worked fine with some games in 3D...like FEAR 2 and older stuff like Halo. Crysis however barely works without 3D.

I don't mind turning off AA or things like that to experience a game in 3d. Its more of a novelty than a regular gaming experience. Like I heard Avatar and Resident Evil 5 are kickass in 3D. I'd want to play that in 3D... Left 4 Dead 2 as well.

If a game is chugging in 3D badly, I guess I won't bother.

Like I said, its more of a once a week novelty than a regualr gaming obsession.