New GPU, Bang for the Buck

[CookinMT]

Hi guys,

I need to buy myself a video card, and keep finding myself getting in over my head with all the options and information available.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I'd like to buy today, or as soon as possible. Max budget is $180, with no rebates to hit this mark please.

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: I play WoW a few times a week, intend on buying Diablo3 when it comes out, and occasionally play FPS games.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Integrated Radeon HD4250 on my ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO. CoolerMaster 600w Silent Pro Power Supply.

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: AMD Phenom II x4 @ 3.2 Ghz, 4GB of DDR3 RAM @ 1333mhz.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com preferred but not required.

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference. A few months back, a poster was kind enough to tell me that nVidia was better for WoW than ATI/AMD, but I don't know if this has changed at all.

OVERCLOCKING: I'd play around with it, sure.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Right now I game at 1280x1024, but would like to be able to upgrade to a 1920x1080 monitor eventually and not need another new video card.

I'm currently looking at this but am not positive it's the best "bang for my buck." Err, actually it looks like the price on that jumped up since I first bookmarked it. D'oh!

Thanks for any information or help you can give me,

Jacob

 

[Seany_A]

My set up is pretty darn close to yours, I was considering the HD 5770 actually.

XFX's has a double lifetime warranty, you sell it later on, new owner gets the warranty too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=XFX_hd_5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product


I hear Sapphire makes a great card too, very good if your energy conscience:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102898&cm_re=Sapphire_Vapor_X-_-14-102-898-_-Product

You can also look-up the benchmarked cards score here: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

As far as bang for buck goes it looks pretty good to me.

 

[Seany_A]

If you were wondering my set up is:
ASUS M4A89GTD Pro | AMD ATHLON II X4 645 3.1GHz | Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9A 4GB | Antec EarthWatts 650w | Windows 7 64-bit | Coolermaster HAF 912

 

[g00fysmiley]

"Right now I game at 1280x1024, but would like to be able to upgrade to a 1920x1080 monitor eventually and not need another new video card. "

this tells me a 5770 probably isn't going to cut it well if you wanna play in high settings WoW at that resolution

nvidia does do better than ati/amd in blizzard titles so probably nvidia, for 180 i'd go with this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551

actual gtx 460 not the se model on sale for 179.99 free shipping, and 20 dollar rebat so even cheaper after rebate (but below your requrment)

shoudl match your system well and will work with your current psu

 

[Seany_A]

Sorry I overlooked the wanting to upgrade to 1920x1080

 

[wolfram23]

At $180 you can get a 6850 or GTX460. Both would be great and perform very well at 1080p.

Gigabyte 460 1gb ($175): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125361

Powercooler 5850 1gb ($170): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131386

MSI 6850 1gb ($180): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127548

In terms of performance, the 5850 would be fastest on it's own but they're all fairly close.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4002/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overclocking-roundup-asus-xfx-msi/6

 

[CookinMT]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. How does the 5850 perform better than the 6850? I'll believe the benchmarks but it seems to defy classic "numbering" systems!

I'll spend some time going back and forth between the options you've given me so far. Really appreciate the links!

 

[wolfram23]

it seems to defy classic "!

Got that right. I don't know what AMD was thinking, but yes they decided to "change the numbering system" with the new ones.