Looking for a high-value card for casual gaming

[dleavitt]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week.

BUDGET RANGE: $100-150ish After Rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Dual-monitor productivity, Gaming (Half-Life 2 and all Episodes; Portal; Portal 2; Team Fortress 2; Battlefield 2142, 2, Vietnam, 1942; Homeworld 2 and mods, Star Trek Bridge Commander: Kobiyashi Maru mod), Home Theater

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: This is part of a new build. Old computer had an ATI Radeon X1300. New PSU is an
Antec BP550 Plus 550W

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
Phenom II X4 955
ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+
ADATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com, but I am open to other vendors.

PARTS PREFERENCES: None really.

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not likely

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm looking for value over the absolute lowest price. I want this card to last a long while (5-7 years), so it needs to be durable and have good support. Of course, a lot of the games I play and will play are older and not terribly demanding. I'm not opposed to spending money for a better product, but only if I will actually utilize it.

I would like the HDMI-out to support 5.1 surround (DTS-HD, Dolby True-HD), but I don't know if that is possible in the price range.

Some cards I am currently looking at:

SAPPHIRE 100338L Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready

HIS H679F1GD Radeon HD 6790 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready

EVGA 01G-P3-1371-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) FPB EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready

This is obviously not comprehensive, but a sampling. My main question is whether the GTX 460 is worth the added cost over the HD 6770 for my needs. Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT: Quieter is better! Gotta keep the wife happy.

 

[wintermint]

Avoid the 6790... get the 6850 instead if you're willing to pay a bit more. The 6790 uses more power but have less performance value compare to teh 6850. The 6770 is enough for casual gaming. My friend uses a 5770 and he plays his games just fine.

 

[starravier]

Honestly, get the GTX 460 for the extra money. Is produces alot better frame rates and should max out most of your games without a problem.

 

[starravier]

now that i think about it get the 6850 or 6870
they're faster and cost about the same

 

[dleavitt]

Which card manufacturers would you recommend? I've been out of the game for several years, so I don't have a good idea of who builds a good card.

EDIT: How about this one?
SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready

 

[wintermint]

The pros of going nVidia here is better drivers, better tesselation support, and physx. Cons are that only about 3 games or so allows you to use physx and power consumption. If you want.. there's a cheap 460 after MIR free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500202

 

[starravier]

That one is just fine. Stick with Sapphire,XFX or HIS in my opinion

 

[pckitty4427]

As mentioned before, the GTX 460 may be a bit over your budget but it should be just right for your games.

 

[dleavitt]

Best answer selected by dleavitt.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey