Upgrading Radeon 6770, $150 budget...

[mountain2012]

Please help me find the best gaming upgrade for my Radeon 6770

http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DESKTOP/GRAPHICS/AMD-RADEON-HD-6000/HD-6770/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6770-overview.aspx#2

I am using a Dell XPS 8300 desktop with:
16 gb ram
intel i7-2600 3.4 ghz

I won't be overclocking.

I'd prefer another ATi/AMD card from newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600100181%20600030349%204017&IsNodeId=1&name=%24100%20-%20%24200

thanks!

 

[ak47jar3d]

I would say 260x is the best you can get. I would advise to look for 7850 because the prices on that card have been falling and is better than 260x. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161450

 

[mountain2012]

Thanks. I don't know if it matters, but I won't be overclocking.

What are a few of the most important features to look for when comparing video cards? Memory size, 128 vs 256 bit, GDDR type, what else?

How important is the brand?

Also, is there any good software to determine what my minimum fps are in a benchmark test?

 

[ak47jar3d]

Yeah. Bandwidth is one of the most important becuase it effects the overall output of card and also constraint vram. For example, buying 4gb 760 makes no sense because of 256 memory bandwidth. There more Stats about cards than I can count, I just tell people to look for gaming preformance in benchmarks when trying to looking for new gpu. Other things to consider is pricing, power consumption, and generated heat. Generally the most important specs are architecture, core clock, memory clock, vram, and memory bus. In terms of brand, only two make pcb boards amd and Nvidia and both produce great cards. There many third party companies that make coolers for the cards and you will have to see temperature comparisons to determine which cooling solutions are better. There many software that can record you minimum, maximum and average frames. I have personally used Fraps and action. Some games like tomb Raider have a built in benchmark which I wish every game should have.