Well, if it is new enough, could you return it and just pay the restock fee?  If past 30-days, and if you registered it within 30-days and bought the extended warranty to get the option to Step-up, then you can Step-up to a 650 Ti or whatever EVGA offers within 90-days of your invoice and you only pay the difference.
 
You cannot practically overclock the GTX650 to even get close enough to the 650 Ti; it has twice the cores, you'd need twice the frequency and that isn't possible on air or water cooling.
 
Also, though budget dependent, "best-bang-for-buck" is actually the 660 Ti, as any faster requires way more money for less incremental gain.
 
Also, most importantly, you CPU runs your game and tells your graphics card what to draw; meaning you can't just upgrade the graphics card as if nothing else needs to be changed.  What is your CPU and is it overclocked?  There will be a limit to what you can upgrade to based on the fastest single-GPU equivalent to whatever multi-GPU setup was possible back when your processor was popular.
 
Lastly, if you have the 32-bit version of Windows, you won't be able to access 4GB+ of RAM, and installing a high Vram card basically taken space from RAM so you'll have less usable RAM for your system.  It may be time to consider 64-bit and maybe move on to Window 7, which people regard as the true successor to XP as few enthusiasts like Vista.

It may not b covered for Step-up because you didn't buy the extended warranty, that is the only way to buy the option, so to speak.  Still, if it is barely a week old, return it; save your money up for a better EVGA card.
 
Don't settle if you can still salvage.  I got into reading about computer DIY but still got my first desktop as a Gateway with a Pentium D only to change the case and PSU for my first EVGA 7600GT, which I Stepped up to a 7900GT.  Unfortunately, three months later the Core 2 generation of Intel parts arrived and obliterated both AMD at the time and my old Intel system.  Looking back, I could have read up on rumors or even salvaged the system that summer, but I didn't; I choose to teach myself a lesson for not paying attention and kept it as is for 3yrs, only to upgrade to a self-build PC 4yrs ago.
 
I don't suggest my route in humble PC building since you're way early in your GTX650 purchase and can still salvage it.

You discovered the hard way, but that doesn't mean the advertising was misleading.  No company makes the promise that their product can do whatever we want and/or based on a name, they only guarantee that it runs per warranty.  What you achieve with the graphics card is up to you.  
 
Just so you know, most frequent members of this forum buy more expensive graphics cards, and since a card like GTX650 cannot possibly maintain their preference, they don't regard it as a gaming card.  But you can game with any graphics card, you just can't assume a high-bar of expectation from paying so little-- that is the catch.  
 
As for the 90-minute drive, that sucks and must be +$40 in gas round-trip at least, I can understand the apprehension.  

for under 200 id say the 650 ti 
for just over 200 (around 220) you can get a 660
and if you find yourself having almost 300 to blow id go with a 660ti
you can pick one of those up for around 275

keep in mind all of my prices are coming from newegg, not a local store like frys or microcenter 

I am in the same boat of trying to put a new GPU in a 5+ year old system that although it meets the specs just did not want to play nice at all.
The 660 I installed consumes less power then my 8800 so power is not the issue, the 650 pro I have can easily handle it, fact it does not even hit 50% load with the system maxed.
Often when updating a major piece and not the rest of the system, well problems can arise.

My cousin and I both bought GTX 650 cards. His is a GTX650ti 2gb ssc. Mine is a GTX650 2gb sc. Over the holidays, we had a week long gaming marathon, and we're grown men in our 50's lol. These cards ran approximately 15-18 hours a day for a week. We played many of the newer graphic intensive games like BF3, MWF3, Far Cry 3, Sniper Elite V2, Black Ops2 ect. as well as some classics. Both cards usually ran in the 50-62C range. We both have mid tower cases, his a cooler master 912, mine an old antec. I have 4 120mm fans cooling it, he has 2-120mm and 2-200mm fans. His ran about 5-7 degrees cooler than mine, with his fans at about 50%. Mine were cranked out, but I never went over 62C. Perhaps I should have spent the extra $30 bucks and got the same card, but I usually try to stay in a budget. I'm happy with my purchase, but am having a problem of the card crashing sometimes. I'm working with a EVGA tech now to try and sort it out. Enjoy your card, but to maximize it's full potential, you may have to update your system. I built mine with a budget of $600, and managed to stay pretty well on budget. I went a little over on the RAM because the 16g was on sale for like 60 bucks. Originally, I was going to use the 8 gigs that I already had, but I couldn't help myself, lol. Good luck.

I've run a stress test using OC scanner since my last post. I had a "GPU throttling detected 649 MHz" come up. The rest of the test was fairly normal....GPU load 94%....fan speed 26%.... temp 70C, and I checked the voltage in the BIOS-12.320v. I've relayed this to the tech, but haven't had a reply yet. Should I go ahead and do what you suggested, or wait for the tech to reply? Thanks a million for your interest and suggestion. Nice crowd here on these boards.
 
Thanks, tank2

Well, that certainly might be good news. I looked to see if I could do this yesterday, but when I looked under "my products" it says that my card is NOT eligible for the step up program. This is what I read:
 
Step-Up Information:
The EVGA Step-Up allows you to upgrade your product within 90 days of your original purchase date. For details, look over our section under Support.
This product is not available for Step-Up. Please read the terms and conditions of our Step-Up program.

If there is information to the contrary, I'd certainly be interested in stepping up. I don't have much time. Your reply is much anticipated.

Thanks, tank2

tank2

Well, that certainly might be good news. I looked to see if I could do this yesterday, but when I looked under "my products" it says that my card is NOT eligible for the step up program. This is what I read:

Step-Up Information:
The EVGA Step-Up allows you to upgrade your product within 90 days of your original purchase date. For details, look over our section under Support.
This product is not available for Step-Up. Please read the terms and conditions of our Step-Up program.

If there is information to the contrary, I'd certainly be interested in stepping up. I don't have much time. Your reply is much anticipated.

Thanks, tank2

The second, third and 15th posts say that you must purchase an extended warranty before you can qualify for the Step Up program. The 15th post even shows you were to go to purchase that.