Best Bang for Buck at $150?

[alkemyst]

My dad's 5770 I think has been failing. He is getting video driver errors for a long time and it just passed it's 2 year warranty mark.

He has a Phenom 955 and a 650W Corsair PSU. 4GB of RAM. Windows 7 32bit.

edit: thought I posted I was looking at the 6870 for around $150ish after rebate.

 

[borisvodofsky]

Did you go through the motions yet: wipe down card fan, reapply paste, vacuum computer case?

and why does your dad even have a 5770, he games? LOL

but, yea, best replacement would be 6570 with ddr3, the cheaper version. on sale, it can be had for as little as $40

 

[alkemyst]

He plays the Far Cry series and really likes it on the 5770 over his old 6800

I am looking at spending around $150 for him.

He did clean the inside, outside, verify all fans are working, sweep old drivers and reinstall, I didn't have him pop the heatsinks/fan off yet and do new paste. I'd rather not do that.

Wouldn't the 6570 be a step down as well?

 

[zip1385]

You can get a new 6870 for $150 AR. If you are ok with used you can get a used one for even less. 6870 is probably the best you can do with $150.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

He plays the Far Cry series and really likes it on the 5770 over his old 6800

I am looking at spending around $150 for him.

He did clean the inside, outside, verify all fans are working, sweep old drivers and reinstall, I didn't have him pop the heatsinks/fan off yet and do new paste. I'd rather not do that.

Wouldn't the 6570 be a step down as well?

For $150 max you can do much better than a 6570 LOL which is an OEM card and is just not at all good for playing any game on. Yes it's a huge step down from the 5770 which 5770 is not a very powerful card to begin with. Many choices and all are good for your budget of up to $150 and in no particular order you will not go wrong with any of the following - GTX 560 SE $130, HD 6850 $150, HD 7770 $130, HD 6770 $120

 

[alkemyst]

You can get a new 6870 for $150 AR. If you are ok with used you can get a used one for even less. 6870 is probably the best you can do with $150.

That's what I was looking at, forgot to include that in my OP (I edited it now).

looks like a good deal. I wish they had something with a free FPS game...my dad likes those types but not driving games.

 

[alkemyst]

For $150 max you can do much better than a 6570 LOL which is an OEM card and is just not at all good for playing any game on. Yes it's a huge step down from the 5770 which 5770 is not a very powerful card to begin with. Many choices and all are good for your budget of up to $150 and in no particular order you will not go wrong with any of the following - GTX 560 SE $130, HD 6850 $150, HD 7770 $130, HD 6770 $120

The 6850 is $139 right now, but the 6870 I can get for $159 AR. What do you think about those two? For the extra $20 and a game the 6870 seems a no brainer.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

The 6850 is $139 right now, but the 6870 I can get for $159 AR. What do you think about those two? For the extra $20 and a game the 6870 seems a no brainer.

You can get a sapphire 6870 for $158 up front and $148 after a $10mir at superbiiz with promo code POPPA.

You still have to pay that $30 up front for the XFX on Newegg. I dislike mail in rebates personally. I also really like Sapphire.

 

[alkemyst]

ahh I like superbiiz. Forgot to check there.

So is 6870 the way to go at $150?

 

[SickBeast]

ahh I like superbiiz. Forgot to check there.

So is 6870 the way to go at $150?

It's certainly the most powerful card at that price. It competes with the GTX 560 Ti.

That said, you can also get a vanilla GTX 560 for that price and it will have better drivers.

It comes down to your brand preference.

I will tell you that in my experience recently nVidia has significantly better drivers than AMD. I switched from a GTX 460 about 2 months ago to a 7850.

 

[nenforcer]

Absolutely, for AMD, the current best bang for the buck (and which is an upgrade for your Dad) is the 6850 or 6870.

The 6770 is exactly identical to your Dad's existing 5770 and the 7770 isn't enough of an "upgrade" to consider at that price range.

For nVidia, the best choices are still the GTX 460/560 1GB.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

It's certainly the most powerful card at that price. It competes with the GTX 560 Ti.

Not really, 6870 doesn't oc very much so you have to keep that in mind. Do you remember the uproar on the forums when a few sites used a factory overclocked GTX 460 in the 6870 launch review? 6870 is closer to a GTX 560, neither one overclocks very much though. A 560 ti is a good bit faster but would be hard to find at that price.

I will tell you that in my experience recently nVidia has significantly better drivers than AMD. I switched from a GTX 460 about 2 months ago to a 7850.

You're comparing very mature Fermi drivers to very immature GCN drivers.

I can tell you right now I'm not exactly impressed with Kepler drivers.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

It's certainly the most powerful card at that price. It competes with the GTX 560 Ti.

That said, you can also get a vanilla GTX 560 for that price and it will have better drivers.

It comes down to your brand preference.

I will tell you that in my experience recently nVidia has significantly better drivers than AMD. I switched from a GTX 460 about 2 months ago to a 7850.

6870 is slower than 560ti

 

[alkemyst]

I don't see any 560ti's in my budget.

 

[SickBeast]

6870 is slower than 560ti

You're right; I looked again at some benchmarks and the 560 and the 6870 are pretty much equal. The Ti card will be a little faster.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

You're right; I looked again at some benchmarks and the 560 and the 6870 are pretty much equal. The Ti card will be a little faster.

I think the 6870 is pretty much in most games performing smack dab in the middle of the 560 & 560 ti

 

[cKGunslinger]

6850?

I haven't had a ATI/AMD card in years, but I just ordered this one for my brother's new PC build..

 

[alkemyst]

6850?

I haven't had a ATI/AMD card in years, but I just ordered this one for my brother's new PC build..

why not the 6870 at the same price?

 

[RaistlinZ]

Oh quit nit-picking and just get the 6870. The difference of $10-15 over the life of the card is nothing. Just get it and be done with it and be happy.

 

[alkemyst]

Oh quit nit-picking and just get the 6870. The difference of $10-15 over the life of the card is nothing. Just get it and be done with it and be happy.

umm I wasn't worried about the 10-15. Just wondering if a geek like yo'self could recommend a better option.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

umm I wasn't worried about the 10-15. Just wondering if a geek like yo'self could recommend a better option.

63,000+ post and your calling someone else a geek wow your a real piece of work LOL.

 

[alkemyst]

63,000+ post and your calling someone else a geek wow your a real piece of work LOL.

back off bro.

 

[RaistlinZ]

back off bro.

 

[alkemyst]

this is not off topic raistlinz, I am a GEEK too.

 

[Soundmanred]

6870 for sure.