Upgrading from a Radeon HD 4870 512mb, $100-120 budget

[PC-builder]

Hello everyone,

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: (Tomorrow hopefully) BUDGET RANGE: (100-120 before rebate.)

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: (Gaming, MW3, BF3, Crysis 2, Crossfire, Sims 3, stuff like that. Watching movies, stuff like that.)

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: (Diamond Radeon HD 4870 512mb GDDR5) (Raidmax 630W PSU)

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: (Windows 7 Enterprise SP1, AMD Athlon II X3 450 processor 3.20 ghz, 6GB DDR3 1333 mhz ram, MCP6P3 Biostar motherboard, 19" CRT monitor, I currently play at 1400X1050 res, will be looking for HD in future.


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: (Newegg.com)

PARTS PREFERENCES: (Doesn't matter to me, as long as it's fast, well as fast as it can be for <$120.)

OVERCLOCKING: (I would like to OC if possible. SLI/Crossfire in the future maybe.)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (1400X1050)

Think that's it.

Was currently looking at the

PowerColor AX6790 1GBD5-DH Radeon HD 6790 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131397

And the

EVGA 01G-P3-1366-RX GeForce GTX 460 SE (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card REFURBISHED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130690

Any other suggestions would be greatly helpful, thank you all very much for any and all advice given.

 

[supremeusa]

add another 20 bucks to your budget so you can get a 6870. no cards at the moment can realistically compete with 4870 in the 100-120 range.

 

[supremeusa]

6790 and 6870 have same memory bandwidth, but for everything else the 6870 is literally twice as powerful on. And a lot of those things will matter if you want to play bf3. a 6790 vs a 6870 in bf3 would be the difference between medium/low with zero AA, versus high/ultra with some AA.

 

[PC-builder]

6790 and 6870 have same memory bandwidth, but for everything else the 6870 is literally twice as powerful on. And a lot of those things will matter if you want to play bf3. a 6790 vs a 6870 in bf3 would be the difference between medium/low with zero AA, versus high/ultra with some AA.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I would love to add another $20 but it isn't my money, it's my parents and I don't think they would like it if I asked them for another $20, any other suggestions? I'm also open to Tigerdirect.

 

[PC-builder]

Bump! Any help at all? Should be ordering in a few hours....

 

[freddy1765]

Like someone already pointed out, there are no real alternatives in that price range that would be worthwhile upgrades. Why not just keep the 4870 while you save up a bit more money, then get a better card?

 

[swifty_morgan]

Here's my opinion............. ask mom and dad to save that money for you. You can't make a great enough purchase to make any difference at that price range. save, save, save................. posted above was close. another 20 or so dollars would make the world of difference.

 

[sanirudh]

I second swifty's opinion.

 

[ryan5609]

I agree with swifty. The upgrade at your price point doesn't seem like it would make much sense, sure you may gain a few FPS and be able to play at slightly higher settings. But if you are going to upgrade, why not UPGRADE in to something that you will be happy with for a few years. Mow a few lawns, do some extra chores around the house and save up to about $200, by the time that happens you might be able to afford a new GTX 560 or maybe even a 650 (when they come out). If you are Ebay savoy, they have tons of cards for sale at great prices. I sold my 6 month old XFX 6950 XXX Edition there last week for $150 it also came with a lifetime warranty, 6 months ago it was $260.

 

[drjiga]

used HD 6850. If mobo/psu permits you can xfire down the road.

 

[PC-builder]

Once again I thank everyone for their replies, I'm going to go with Drjiga here and get a used 6850, seems to be able to play everything well and with a bit of OCing it can just about match the 6870 from what I've heard.

The card's total comes to $107.48, thanks again everyone!