Help With Graphics Card!

[burwang]

I built a new system a few months ago with a brand New Sapphire 5870 and it completely died on me. I have tried the RMA route but it sucks and have made no progress replacing the card. I have heard these cards dying sometimes and am wondering If I purchase a new card what are some good alternatives bang for the buck. I know i spent abut 400 the first time round, looking for something of similar quality but for less cash now obviously. Any ideas? Looking for a good alternative in the 200 dollar range and then the 300 range. Thanks so much

 

[WR2]

Hello burwang;

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: February 2011
$200 or less: Radeon HD 6850 / GTX 460 1GB
$300 or less: Radeon HD 6950 / GTX 560 ti

 

[arges86]

i'd go w/ the GTX 560 ti
a great card
the new Fermi architecture is the way to go

 

[JackNaylorPE]

At $250, I'd do 560 Ti or 6850
At $350, I'd do 570 or 6970

Both are pretty evenly matched as single cards, if your MoBo is capable for SLI / CF (twin GFX cards), then I'd lean nVidia

The 570 scales better in SLI than the 6970 does in CF (178 to 161%)
The 560 scales better in SLI than the 6850 does in CF (189 to 171%)

 

[WR2]

If you don't mind tweaking your own GPU for a bit more performance the GTX 560 ti is a really good overclocking video card. An example:
Galaxy GeForce GTX 560 Ti GC Overclocking Review