Help replacing Radeon HD 4870

Greetings,

Recently my video crashed and after finally getting some uncorrupted drivers installed, I can manage to boot into windows without safemode.. however the checkerboard pattern of white and grey cubes is somewhat annoying. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is likely a hardware issue with my card?

So I am assuming it needs to be replaced. I havent kept up with computer hardware since I built this system almost 3 years ago, so I just need a little help. The card I need to replace is SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

My motherboard is: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128358

I have a 500W Antec Earthwatts psu.

Honestly, I really only play World of Warcraft anymore on the PC as far as gaming goes. I'd rather not 'downgrade' too much per se though.I know I don't need something beastly, just enough to get by. Cheaper is better.

All suggestions are most appreciated. Thank you so very much.

Well a AMD 6770 or even the 6850 would be plenty for WoW gaming. I believe the 6850 is similar to a 4870, but I'd have to look into it more. The 6770 is about $100-120 and the 6850 is about $125-160.

This would be a very nice upgrade from a 4870 provided your cpu can keep up.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161384

the 6670 is a bit less powerful than the 4870, not really worth it as its a lot less powerful than a 6770 which is only a few $ more.

the 6850 is much more powerful than the 4870 and should run wow ultra with 60fps. it is about 30% more powerful than the 6770.

Nvidia time if you play wow. 460 1GB 192 bit will do just fine and are pretty cheap.
or a 550ti can be found for 109 and will be just slightly better than what you have.

NV cards do better with the particles (it plain old looks nicer)
yes the 6850 is more powerful but the game plays better on NV
The 5770 is a slight downgrade from the 4870 in this game like it or not
( I have it ) A 10 dollar premium for a decent 550ti isn't so bad and as I mentioned a lot of the particles and effects just look better with NV.

I couldn't ever buy a similar card it would drive me nuts.

3 frames and better particles and effects 10 dollars sounds worth it to me.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161384

you are better off with this. also the 550ti AMP! has an rather large OC on top of it to give a better results than it should normally get, the normal 550 ti is just 10% faster than the 450.

Is it true Nvidia is superior to ATI for World of Warcraft though? As in noticeably?

The 550TI won't be faster then the 4870. They should be close, no way 30% faster.

I agree that for just a few $$$ more you should get the 6850. Looking at esrever's chart you can almost hit 60FPS with it instead of getting ~45. When you spend money for something you should at least get an upgrade, not the same that you had. (unless budget doesn't allow it.)

the cheaper one should be fine but the manufactures do offer different customer service and also warranties.

How do you guys feel about a GTX 460 768mb for $100? Since everyone was talking Radeon I havent really educated myself on the nvidia options.

Money is on the tighter side atm and I wouldn't have to deal with shipping, can just go pick this up an and get my system back up and running tonight. That card should still crush WoW on ultra settings I'd thin, right? The GTX 460?

It's still a significant upgrade from what I had right, the HD 4870?

Ok, well as long as it's an improvement. I only play WoW as far as gaming goes. Thanks for ALL of the input guys, massive massive help. Truly appreciate it.