Graphics card help

[Xylune]

Months ago I tried to update my Sapphire Radeon x300 card to a Radeon x1650 pro, but when attempting to play TS2 or World of Warcraft, the computer would go into hybernation after only a few minutes of play.  I chalked this up to a power supply issue and put my old card back in until I could upgrade my power supply.  

The other day I put in a 600w power supply, a further gig of RAM and tried installing the newer card again.  I had the same problem.  I've tried everything from updating my chipset to running temp checks and I've found nothing that would explain this issue.  Someone made a suggestion to me that so far is the only thing which makes sense: it's possible that my motherboard isn't capable of supplying the 450w of power that the new Radeon requires, so my expensive uber new power supply isn't doing me a lot of good on that front.  I know it's not a corrupted motherboard because I have no trouble when I use my old card.

So now I'm looking at other cards, possibly less powerful ones to upgrade to.  Either that, or a graphic card that has an external power supply and thus doesn't rely on the motherboard for its juice.  What I need is for some of the good folks here at InSIM that are good with computer parts to advise me on which of the cards supported by Maxis I should be looking into.  I need something better than the x300 Sapphire I'm using, but one that either does not require 450w or more OR is not reliant upon the motherboard for power.

Here are my computer specs, followed by the list from the official TS2 site of supported video cards.  Any advise from video card gurus would be greatly appreciated!

Computer specs:
NEC Pentium 4, 3.00GHz
2 gigs RAM
Windows XP home
600w power supply
PCIE slot


Supported Radeon:

·  ATI Radeon(TM) series 8500 or better (9600 or greater required for Vista)
·  8500, All-In-Wonder 8500
·  9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
·  X300, X600, x700, X800, x850
·  X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950

Nvidia:

NVIDIA(R) Quadro(TM) series
Quadro, Quadro2, Quadro4

NVIDIA GeForce series GeForce2 GTS and better (GeForce 6200 or greater required for Vista)
·  GeForce 2, 2 GTS
·  GeForce 3, 3 Ti
·  GeForce 4, 4 Ti, 4200, 4600, 4800, MX 420, 440, 460
·  GeForce FX 5200, 5500, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950
·  GeForce PCX 5300, 5900
·  GeForce 6200, 6600, 6800
·  GeForce 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
·  S3 GammaChrome
·  S18 Pro
·  S18 Ultra Intel(R) Extreme Graphics (see note below)
82865, 82915 and above

[ancienthighway]

Before running out to buy yet another new video card, check to be sure all the drivers from the previous card and any on-board cards have been removed from your computer.  Could be something as simple as a driver conflict.

[Xylune]

That's been done, but thanks.  I've given up on that card and just want advice on which of the supported cards I should look into trying next.

[Xylune]

I caved and took the chance on a Geforce 8600 GT, figuring that if my problem with the Radeon x1650 was caused by my computer, we could put the new Geforce in hubby's machine.  Lucky me, it's running great and I haven't had any problems, so obviously the fault of the issues with the last card was with the card itself.

It's a pity because I always picked Radeons first, before.  Now they've lost a customer in me for their lack of support when I was having problems with their product.

There's no point in this thread anymore, so if the mods want to close it, go for it.