New gpu $100-200

[bmur]

Hi, my 8800 GTS 640 recently fried, so I need to buy a new GPU. I've been reading quite a bit about current cards, but it's a bit much to wrap my head around so I'm here for some guidance.

Specs : ASUS Striker Extreme mobo
Intel Q6600
1000watt PSU

I was originally looking for a price of around $100, but I'm willing to go higher if the performance increase outweighs the price increase. Absolutely under $200. If recommending a card over 150, would still like alternative cheaper suggestions. I prefer nvidia, but if the ATI equivalent is just plain better I'll go for it. (Will ATI work flawlessly on my "nvidia system"?)

SO, I found this 465GTX open box for $106, but it was out of stock (prob the best deal I'm gonna find, right?)
I'm liking the 460GTX(looks like I can get one for ~$150), but I feel a GTS 250/450 might suit my needs as well (gaming, sc2, want some futureproof as well, if possible)
Also, radeon HD 5770 looks like it has decent bang/buck.

I could even go for a really cheap card, as long as it's an improvement over my 8800GTS, because I plan to build a new pc at some point, just don't have the money.

Anyways, I'm really not sure what I want. Is there a big difference between 128bit and 256bit? What about the 460GTX 1GB vs 768MB?

Any US retailers will do.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I'm willing to OC to a safe degree (so if you also want to suggest boards that are particularly apt to OC).

 

[robbiep28]

Personally I'd reccomend the hd 5770 if you're planning to overclock. Otherwise you'd be better off with the gtx 460 HAWK

 

[abswindows7]

GTX 460 > 5770

+1 for hawk. You can go hard on them and they will last

 

[17seconds]

There are several very nice GTX 460's in that price range. In addition to the MSI Hawk, look for the Gigabyte SOC, ECS Black, or EVGA FTW.

 

[bmur]

Thanks for the replies.

I found an asus DCU 1gb 460GTX for $200(170MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121391

msi 460gtx HAWK 1gb for $200(180 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518

radeon hd5870 for $190(170 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 5870 better than the other two cards?
If so, is there any reason to get the 460s over the 5870?

 

[17seconds]

Correct, the 5870 is a faster card, with a few notable exceptions. First, the 460's overclock like crazy and can even up the performance levels. Second, the 5870's do not do DirectX 11 tesselation very well, and not as well as the 460's. This will make a performance difference in the latest games and most games being released this year. Third, if it matters to you, the 460's can do PhysX, while the 5870 cannot.

This is for the Hawk at its standard speed before overclocking. It is, of course, designed for extreme overclocking, and they have a Talon Attack model that is even better:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_460_HAWK/1.html

 

[bmur]

Is the 460GTX Hawk factory overclocked? Because it's core clock is 780mhz whereas the asus dcu 1gb is at 675. Also, is the hawk going to be safely overclocked to much higher of a speed than the asus dcu(how effective is the direct cooling design)?

 

[17seconds]

The Hawk is factory overclocked to 781 mhz, but 950 mhz with an overclock is well within reach. The Hawk will be a better overclocker than the Asus, due to the specialized board components.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-460-hawk-review/
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-460-hawk-review/20

The Nvidia cards have a secret weapon when overclocking: they scale better because their shaders are clocked at 2X the core speed, while AMD shaders are clocked at 1X the core speed.

 

[shrkbay]

go for HAWK if you want better cooling,OC and Physx, the 5870 would be better than 460 HAWK even when it's OCed, but it's DX11 tesselation could be better...

 

[bmur]

Best answer selected by bmur.