$150ish Max Budget, What GFX Card?

[nmeseth]

My girlfriend wants to get me a new gfx card for my 18th birthday, and I currently have an ATI Radeon HD 4670.

This is my current set up, feel free to search newegg for each time for more details.

1 x Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
1 x ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
1 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
1 x HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
1 x Antec Basiq BP500U 500W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.01 Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
1 x AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail
1 x SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black EIDE/ATAPI Model SH-S222A - OEM
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Monitor:
1 x Acer P235Hbmid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
And a 19" AOC monitor, I use it dual screen a lot, but normally the 23" is enough.

These are the cards I have been looking at. Give or take $15 on the $150 budget because I can pitch in some of my own money to get something better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339&cm_re=EVGA-_-14-130-339-_-Product

My friend suggested the first one, but in the benchmark tests I've seen the second one is worth my cash a lot more.

 

[copenhagenlc]

Get a used one on ebay, you can get a 4870 for around 100 bucks now

 

[nmeseth]

I really don't trust buying used GFX cards, too many bad experiences.

EDIT: Would a 4870 be that much of an improvement for spending $100?

 

[nmeseth]

I have been getting ATI Radeons my whole life, and I'd rather not switch over as the driver swap might be complicated.

But I'll check out the GTS in comparison.

Is there any performance difference?

Is the 9800/GTS 250 a generation lower than 5770? From the benchmarks I've been reading I think thats the case but I'm not sure.

The benchmarks for the 5770 handled crysis WAY better than the 9800

 

[nmeseth]

Yet the 260 are way more expensive...hmmmm

Is my motherboard compatible for a 5770? I'm pretty sure it is, but you can never be too careful with these things, considering there isn't a refund option for the card.

Edit:
I can always throw $25 more into the budget and go for this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150464

Thanks for the advice ct.

 

[nmeseth]

I can always throw $25 more into the budget and go for this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150464

 

[duk3]

I would get the 5770- best performance at 150$ without a doubt.
Also, might want to look at a PSU upgrade- I haven't heard a lot of great things about the basiq series.

 

[nmeseth]

Hmmm, my bank account is running low atm, any suggestions for something on the cheap side?

I haven't encountered any problems and I don't forsee any with the 5770, because it says minimum of 450 and the rest of my stuff isn't very PSU demanding.

 

[nmeseth]

I still want a little bit of input on whether my rig can run this gfx card, I don't trust my own research.

 

[nmeseth]

Alright sounds good.

Oh, I had another concern about my motherboard and RAM, but I decided I'll make another thread for that.

Thanks for the help CT, I've decided I'll tell my GF to help me buy XXX edition of the 5770, because of the slightly ramped up stats for only $25. (On sale as well with free shipping).

If you have anymore input on the XXX edition (any downsides, but I don't think there are any) that'd be great, but otherwise I'm satisfied.

 

[jyjjy]

There's no reason to get the XXX version. You shouldn't pay someone else to OC your video card. You can do it yourself easily and you will almost definitely get better results.

 

[nmeseth]

Oh thats what that is, I'll get the cheaper one then.

I thought it was better hardware.