nVidia GeForce ENGT440 1GB GDDR5 upgrade needed?

[Tyondai]

First, some other information:

CURRENT GPU: ASUS nVidia GeForce ENGT440 1GB GDDR5
POWER SUPPLY Antec TruePower 650 Watt
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 (Socket 1155-Intel Z68-ATX-DDR3 1600)
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K (3.3GHz) 6MB - 4 Cores - 4 Threads
RAM: Kingston 16GB (4x4) 1600MHz DDR3 HyperX Genisi
CASE: Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White

I am currently playing Far Cry 3 at medium to high graphics settings (high textures but low light etc). I am pretty satisfied with the quality of the graphics, but as Far Cry 3 is a 2012 game, I wonder, should I upgrade in order to play upcomming games (Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, etc) at a medium setting? To me it's more about gameplay then graphics, but i would hate to play a 2013 game with so low graphics that it feels like a game from 2010.

Should i upgrade now to a medium card with 2gb gddr5 (+/-200$) or wait and squize a bit more time out of my GT440 and later upgrade to a more powerfull card? (cause now i dont feel like spending +500$)

Thanks!

 

[Kari]

well for $200 you can get the 2gb version of hd7850, it'll be a huge improvement over your current card, like four times as fast, the rest of your rig is still pretty top notch, especially if you oc the cpu...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICED&PageSize=50

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_650_Ti_SSC/27.html

 

[Tyondai]

1980x1020 ( or is it x1024 or x1080) i guess. Not at my pc right now.

 

[Kari]

U can see the performance of this card in different games here
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/23.html

that is with old drivers thou, 12.11 the one i linked is using newer 13.1 whql version of the driver. Even if it is a review of a different card all the results have been updated so it is more up to date.

 

[Tyondai]

Is there any real difference between: (price difference is minimal)

ASUS Ati Radeon HD7850 DirectCU II 2GB GDDR5

or

Sapphire Ati Radeon HD7850 2GB GDDR5

or

Sapphire Ati Radeon HD7850 OC 2GB GDDR5

 

[Kari]

well not really, the cooler is different but both have bunch of heatpipes and 2 fans so there likely isnt a huge difference on cooling performance. Thou the DirectCu 2 cooler on 7870 seems to be bit loud
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7870_Direct_Cu_II/25.html
I think the 7850 has the same cooler, fan profile might be same as well but then again the heat output of the 7850 should be a bit lower... couldnt find results for the sapphire with a quick check.

edit maybe the warranty?