oh and for reference, i've been gaming on this 22" with my system 'mini' (check sig) with its 8800GT 512, and it handles cod4 maxed out with AA off. 2x AA caused occasional lag in multi, but mostly with lots of light/smoke on screen (and easily fixed by turning the smoke/lightign settings down)
i am unsure about how EVGA's step up program works, but i'm pretty sure it'd cost you more than just saving for a new card would. Also, the 8600GT... lacks performance. the one in my storage PC is quite slow compared to a similar priced ATI card (2600XT) - i dislike current ATI cards, but i must admit that is the better card to get in that price range.