Gtx 260 replacement?

[niuzeta]

Hi. I've got a three-year old system with i5 662 and gtx 260.

For the last few days I've had the exactly same symptoms as the following thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/318796-33-possibly-meltdown

At first I thought it was software failure but after few diagnostics I think it's not. (tested running with few versions of driver, etc)

I believe that my gtx 260 card is at its life's end and that I need to replace it.

I do not believe the local store has gtx260 in stock as it is rather old card(checked as well).

Would someone please recommend a replacement card, in price range of 79~159 possibly with an explanation?
If not, a place to learn about graphics hardware / or computer hardware in general would be great help as well.
I've been asking my friends for computer builds and I think it's about time I started learning things for myself.

thank you.

EDIT:
I do plan to make a new system in a year and half, so it needn't be and shouldn't be the high-end system; I just want the similar performance as the last card in cheapest price range.
I could run dota2 and diablo3 in moderately high settings.

 

[mocchan]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
I would recommend a HD6850 for your price range. It's not too high end, and you'll get similar to better performance than your GTX260 with it.

http://www.hwcompare.com/5925/geforce-gtx-260-vs-radeon-hd-6850/ - Here's a site that will tell you what each card is capable of. They're just numbers, but they should give you a relative idea of how they perform.

 

[niuzeta]

looked at your link; thank you very much it was very helpful and I think I've got an answer.

 

[randomkid]

Hi. I've got a three-year old system with i5 662 and gtx 260.

For the last few days I've had the exactly same symptoms as the following thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/318796-33-possibly-meltdown

At first I thought it was software failure but after few diagnostics I think it's not. (tested running with few versions of driver, etc)

I believe that my gtx 260 card is at its life's end and that I need to replace it.

I read the thread in the link you attached & surprised that nobody there asked how much is the temperature of the gtx260 in question? One of the guys even said in his case, he let his card cool overnight but never suggested monitoring the temperature of the GUI. Unfortunately, the thread remain unanswered.

In your case, I would have suggested that the temperatures be monitored & if found overheating should re-apply the thermal paste. You might as well do the same monitoring for the processor. In any case, if you have not cleaned the PC, please do so.
Here's a good temperature monitoring tool:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html