8800 GT died... need a new card for around $100

[minmaster]

so my 8800 GT which was a warranty replacement died last night...
i need to get a new card, for around $100.
i'm looking at cards like 5770 or GTX 260, which seems to be going around $100 used. which one would you guys recommend?

 

[happy medium]

gtx 260 or 4870 1gb for around 100$ is your best bet. You could score a used 5770 for 120$ if you look hard enough.

 

[minmaster]

is there much of a difference with 4870 and 5770? i looked at comparisons and i saw the 4870 score better in some of the tests. what's the deal?

 

[faxon]

5770 has DX11 and will be lower power draw than the 4870, while they will perform pretty close in current games. if you pay for power i would get the 5770 if the difference between it and a 4870 1gb is like 5-10 bucks, but if its much more than that, then i would just get the 4870 and then start putting your money away for a nice performance boost when you can afford it. whats the rest of your system btw just out of curiosity? since you're limited to $100 budget it doesnt really matter, the 4870 or 5770 would be my choice regardless, but if the rest of your system could also use a good upgrade then i would start putting away for a whole system upgrade, no point putting tons of money into fast GPUs if your CPU isnt up to the task anyway

 

[minmaster]

according to the benchmarks, 4870 beats the 5770's in almost everything. not by much but still. but 5770 has the dx11. i have a q6600 at 3.0 and 4gb memory. i'll be at 1680x1050 if that matters.

 

[faxon]

q6600 is still respectable, and in games which utilize quads it should still perform pretty well. i would say juts get whatever's cheaper for now, oc the shit out of it, and then put cash away for a full system upgrade in a year or so. since you're only at 1680x1050 it should still be a nice gaming experience all in all, definitely worth the money

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Try baking the 8800gt, who knows it may yet live!

Edit: Whoops... I'll be sure to link people to proper directions for baking cards from here on out and not leave them to their own devices.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

http://www.overclockers.com/forums//showthread.php?t=606658

This.

Otherwise the 260. Unless you want DX11. Wait, when are the lower end Fermi's coming out?

 

[minmaster]

tried the oven bake and all the transistors and stuff fell off the card...

 

[Acanthus]

tried the oven bake and all the transistors and stuff fell off the card...

baked it too long or at too high of a temp.

 

[Termie]

tried the oven bake and all the transistors and stuff fell off the card...

LOL. Looks like you need a new card for sure.

Did you fry the 8800gt with a bit too much BC2, by the way?

Given that I'm pretty sure you play that game, you might like seeing the DX11 effects it has. In that case, a 5750 or 5770 is your best choice. Here are your best prices:
Powercolor AX5750 1GB ($105): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131354
Sapphire 5770 1GB ($130): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102873

But if your budget is really $100 and you absolutely want the best bang for the buck, the choice is obviously this Asus 4870 for $100: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121376

The other cards probably aren't quite powerful enough to take advantage of DX11 anyway. The only caveat, of course, is that the 4870 uses way more power (like 50 watts at idle, 100 watts at load: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2856/13)

Edit: sorry, detonator is breaking all my links...

 

[Rifter]

4870 is obvious choice for $100, or wait a few more months for fermi's low end cards.

 

[Termie]

4870 is obvious choice for $100, or wait a few more months for fermi's low end cards.

Ideally, waiting is a good idea, but it doesn't sound like he has a spare card to use in the meantime. If he did just want a holdover card until the next generation comes along, a GT240 would provide nearly the same performance as his 8800gt for $50AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130533. Would be a handy spare in the future too, or a great HTPC card.

 

[RussianSensation]

according to the benchmarks, 4870 beats the 5770's in almost everything. not by much but still. but 5770 has the dx11. i have a q6600 at 3.0 and 4gb memory. i'll be at 1680x1050 if that matters.

The performance between GTX260, 5770 and 4870 are very similar at your resolution with 4AA or 8AA. http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...470/18/#abschnitt_performancerating_qualitaet

As a result, I would choose the 5770 because it is quieter, runs cooler and has lower power consumption. Otherwise, try finding a used GTX275 or a 4890 if you want something faster by about 15-20 percent.

Otherwise, the 4870 1GB for $100 on Newegg or a used 5770 are the best deals. I would not touch the 5750 at all as it is 20-25 percent slower than the 4870 and 40 percent slower than 4890 at 1680x1050 8AA!

 

[evolucion8]

tried the oven bake and all the transistors and stuff fell off the card...

ROFL, but if you want the best performance around, get the HD 4870 1GB with the links that Termie posted, because buying a cheap card to wait for next generation doesn't make much sense because I'm sure that brand new cards from new generations aren't gonna cost $100, and it isn't like other cards will fall in the $100 bracket, the only ones close to it is the HD 5750, HD 5770 and are a bit slower than the HD 4870, unless if the HD 5830 comes close to such low price point.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Termie obviously nailed the question you were asking, everyone after him came to the same conclusions!

So, I'll offer another alternative. If you have to spend money, consider an investment for the future (not that those ATI cards aren't an improvement over the 8800GT, they obviously are). If you want to stick with Nvidia, consider one of these GeForce GTX 460's:

Sparkle brand, $180 After Rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814187112

Or everyones favorite Nvidia vendor, EVGA: $200 No rebates, possible free copy of Metro 2033:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130562

Sorry for your loss (a GeForce GTX 460 would help you forget)

 

[Zargon]

ouch that sucks minmaster

 

[Termie]

Termie obviously nailed the question you were asking, everyone after him came to the same conclusions!

On second thought, why don't you put a 9500gt DDR2 in there: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121339. (gosh, that's an awful price, BTW.)

It might give me a shot at climbing the BC2 leaderboard: http://bfbcs.com/stats_lb/1006413.

In all seriousness, if you can afford it, you might take this opportunity to double your performance by buying a GTX460, as Gully suggested. It stinks that your 8800gt gave up the ghost, but consider it an opportunity to get a serious upgrade.

Edit: As an aside, Minmaster has 383 hours logged on BC2 since March. That works out to about 2.5 hours a day, on average. Sounds like cruel and unusual punishment of your 8800gt to me...

 

[evolucion8]

Termie obviously nailed the question you were asking, everyone after him came to the same conclusions!

So, I'll offer another alternative. If you have to spend money, consider an investment for the future (not that those ATI cards aren't an improvement over the 8800GT, they obviously are). If you want to stick with Nvidia, consider one of these GeForce GTX 460's:

Sparkle brand, $180 After Rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814187112

Or everyones favorite Nvidia vendor, EVGA: $200 No rebates, possible free copy of Metro 2033:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130562

Sorry for your loss (a GeForce GTX 460 would help you forget)

But you seems that you didn't read the topic, he need a card around $100, a GTX 460 at $100 is a steal!!!!

 

[GullyFoyle]

But you seems that you didn't read the topic, he need a card around $100, a GTX 460 at $100 is a steal!!!!

You are correct, as I hinted at, I wasn't answering the question he asked.


Just wanted to throw this in: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3809/nvidias-geforce-gtx-460-the-200-king/11

Benchmarks show GTX 460 vs 5770 for BFBC2. You have to estimate where the 4870 would fall. For these two options, looks like only ~20% difference in FPS for ~80% more cost.

More data points...

 

[Termie]

More data points...

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...igabyte-hd-5770-super-overclock-review-8.html

Yes, it's true that the GTX460 is only about 20% faster...but it could be worth it in a game like BC2.

 

[OCGuy]

New 9800GT for $60.

 

[Termie]

New 9800GT for $60.

Yes, you can get downclocked 9800gt's for $60AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130535

But we know the OP's a serious gamer, and he said he has a $100 budget, so why not step up to at least a 4870?

 

[evolucion8]

The HD 4870 is usually faster than the HD 5770, sometimes by 30 percent. But the GTX 460 768 costs almost two times more than the HD 4870 1GB and its far from being twice faster.

 

[tweakboy]

Simple. Just get a 9800GT 512MB