Looking for a suggestion to replace my failing Radeon HD4870

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jtl63

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My graphics adapter is failing and I need to replace it as soon as possible. Since my system is 5 years old I don’t want to invest a lot into a new GPU. My budget is $125-$225 and I would prefer it to be on the lower end.

I need two DVI ports because I use dual monitors while playing WOW and other games. Also, I’ll watch youtube or a movie sometimes while playing WOW so I need an adapter that can handle that as well. Does anybody have a suggestion that will be as good replacement for the Radeon HD 4870?

Lastly, a cool quite card that is an upgrade would be preferred.

Thanks

My system is:
I7 940 Nehalem 2.93GHz LGA 1366
Intel BOXDX58SO LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX MB
MSI R4870 MDIG Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Exp 2.0 x16 HDCP
128 GB Intel SSD Drive
1TB HD
8GB Ram
TX650W Power supply (Corsair)
Windows 7 Ultima
 
Solution
coozie7
TBH, you've got quite a capable setup so any of the cards listed by Scampi will be fine and the installed PSU is more than capable of feeding them.
Two cards he missed was the GTX750/750Ti, both of which run very cool and very quiet, largely because they draw a tiny amount of power-just 60 Watts at full load.
Either the R9 280 or GTX 760 would benefit from a little overclocking of the CPU to get the best out of them, and either can run even demanding games at high/ultra settings smoothly.
You're shopping in and around the most competitive part of the market and both AMD and Nvidia have released updated cards recently so with a little searching you may be able to bag a bargain by looking for older parts (GTX650/650Ti/650Ti Boost or...
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Scampi

Scampi

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coozie7

coozie7

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TBH, you've got quite a capable setup so any of the cards listed by Scampi will be fine and the installed PSU is more than capable of feeding them.
Two cards he missed was the GTX750/750Ti, both of which run very cool and very quiet, largely because they draw a tiny amount of power-just 60 Watts at full load.
Either the R9 280 or GTX 760 would benefit from a little overclocking of the CPU to get the best out of them, and either can run even demanding games at high/ultra settings smoothly.
You're shopping in and around the most competitive part of the market and both AMD and Nvidia have released updated cards recently so with a little searching you may be able to bag a bargain by looking for older parts (GTX650/650Ti/650Ti Boost or HD7850/7870) but be aware that the AMD cards tend to run a little hotter/noiser than their Nvidia rivals unless they've got good coolers.
Here's roughly how the cards relate to one another: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html
If you're after cool/quiet I'd go for a GTX750Ti in a heartbeat if you want more performance either the R9 280 or GTX760 offer better high resolution performance, the the R9 280 having a slight edge, just again be aware it needs a decent cooler to run quietly.
 
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jtl63

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Thanks both of you I’ve narrowed the choice down to these two:
R9 270X or GTX 750i

Two quick questions:
1. If I go with the Radeon is PowerCooler a good brand or which brand has the best support I guess I’m asking?

2. Is it simple to remove Radeon drivers to install the Geforce drivers? I’m asking about the drivers because I’ve run into difficulty simply updating my Radeon drivers in the past and the last thing I want to do is a complete system restore.

Thanks for the chart reference I can see that both cards are better than the one I have.

Right now I’m leaning towards the GTX 750i.
 
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Scampi

Scampi

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1. Fortunately I've not had to contact a manufacturer to date, so I'd go with the card you like the look of TBH. Generally though, Powercolor are more of a value brand. Sapphire however are more like the house brand for the red team, they would be my first pick. Then Asus, MSI, IceQ, XFX.

2. If you want to be sure, use this tool: Driver sweeper :http://www.guru3d.com/content_page/guru3d_driver_sweeper.html
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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1: Agree with Scampi.

2: If you're staying with an AMD card: Go to the main AMD site, download and save the latest WHQL drivers for your card and OS, shut down, swap cards, restart normally then uninstall the old drivers through the Control Panel, restart and install the saved drivers.

If you're going to move to an Nvidia card, then use the driver cleaning software.
Driver Sweeper should be used like this:
Set a Restore Point-you know it makes sense. ;)
Go to the main Nvidia site to download and save the latest available WHQL certified drivers for your card and OS.
Uninstall the existing drivers through the Control Panel add/remove programs option.
Restart in Safe Mode.
Run the software.
Check EVERYTHING it's going to remove before allowing it to do the delete, deselect anything that looks wrong.
Do the delete.
Restart normally.
Install the drivers you downloaded.
Restart.
Done.
 
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