Best sub $180 Card upgrade @ 1600x900 resolution

Lyfer

Diamond Member
May 28, 2003
5,842
2
81
I'm looking for a new card to replace my current Sapphire HD 4850 512mb card (in rig listed in sig). Old card is going into an older Socket 939 rig to give it some life for Starcraft 2. I play Battlefield 2:BC primarily at 1600x900 at medium details currently. Three main things I'm looking for: reliable (I don't overclock), isn't jet engine loud, and runs cool.

I've nailed down my options to the HD 5770 with these two candidates:

Sapphire Vapor-X HD 5770 1gb $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-868-_-Product

Asus CuCore HD 5770 1gb $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-363-_-Product

I really like the Sapphire card, but after see'ing some pictures of the bare card it seems it doesnt utilize all solid caps and only has a 2 year warranty (plus some cards have been shipping with incorrect BIOS's). The Asus card on the other hand a 3 year warranty and save's me $20.

Watcha think? :)

BTW which video card manufacturer has the best RMA process (knock on wood) if I ever need to send in my card for service?
 
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blanketyblank

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,149
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Save your money and get the cheapest 5770 you can since you don't overclock. The reference 5770 (at least I knowthe egg shaped cooler one is ) is a cool running card that is very quiet. Try to get XFX or Visiontek though for the lifetime warranties, but I definitely wouldn't pay extra for the Vapor-X if I wasn't going to OC.
 

Lyfer

Diamond Member
May 28, 2003
5,842
2
81
BTW will my Corsair 400CX be able to handle the 5770 in my current rig?
 

Dark Shroud

Golden Member
Mar 26, 2010
1,576
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I'm a sapphire fan, but I would go with the Asus card. The Asus card also uses PCI-X 2.1 and has free shipping as well. The Asus card is also price competitive.
 

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,907
0
76
5770 isn't that much faster than a 4850, definitely not $180 faster. You might be able to score a frys AM3 combo + ram for that price and be better off
 

Munky

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2005
9,372
0
76
5770 is barely an upgrade from a 4850. I'd just keep the 4850 until better cards are available for under $200.
 

v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
2,720
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+1 vote for keeping the 4850 and getting a modern CPU, motherboard and RAM. Who knows, you may score another 4850 on the cheap.
 

Lyfer

Diamond Member
May 28, 2003
5,842
2
81
It's going into a S939 rig

The HD 4850 is going into my old rig, A64 3700 socket 939 for Starcraft II (currently using some X500 ><). The new HD 5770 will be going into my Phenom II 955 rig listed in my sig.

Sorry if there was a confusion and thanks for the replies!
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
The HD 4850 is going into my old rig, A64 3700 socket 939 for Starcraft II (currently using some X500 ><). The new HD 5770 will be going into my Phenom II 955 rig listed in my sig.

Sorry if there was a confusion and thanks for the replies!

Like said above many times, a 5770 would be fine. Cool/low power and more than enough to runs games at that rez.