I am one who did this move in several computers, and I say, yes it is worth. Some comments on the replies:
1) All those benchmarks, specially Anand's, are
OLD. Pre-release 12.1? And even then, it is 5% within the HD6850 / GTX460 overall. Look for benchmarks on techpowerup of HD7770 using catalyst 12.3, it is closer to the HD6850 / GTX460. After catalyst 12.7, it will be ahead overall. Even better, some factory overclocked versions are almost the same price as the regular HD7770s, and those were already faster than the hD6850, even with catalyst 12.3 (Gigabyte HD7770 review on techpowerup)
Furthermore, something that almost everyone is missing is that the HD7770 does much better in
newer games (BF3 for example), and in others where its average fps are lower, its minimums are higher, hence offering better gamplay (Diablo III). Between HD6850 / GTX460 or a HD7770, just going by performance, get the HD7770, and that is without considering power consumption, noise or price.
2) The biggest complaint about the HD7770 wasn't about performance, it was about price. At the MSRP of $179, it was a no go. At $130 the situation changes. Even better, they are routinely
$110 after rebates, and the MSI twin fan version has been as low as
$95 after rebates (search hot deals) At $110 AR it already is compelling enough.
3) $40 for a used HD5770? Whoever that is selling those at these prices, I'll take a dozen. The HD5770 / HD6770 are almost the same price new as the HD7770. They fell to the $80 AR mark, but have gone up in price, and held steady. Ebay reflects it, and so does craigslist. You could still get $70 or better selling yours, almost breaking even in money spent over improvement.
In summary, a HD6850 can be had on a good day for $120 AR, more expensive for the same performance. Same goes for the GTX460, which happens to be much more power hungry and noisier. The HD7770 beats them overall, clearly in my eyes.
The HD7850 can be had for $210 AR, but that is not a constant price yet, and even so, it is almost twice as expensive as the HD7770 ($105 - $110 AR) It is not twice as fast. If the money is there, go for it, the HD7850 is the card to have if you can splurge on $220. But I am assuming you want to stay as close as $100 as possible, so then the hD7770 is for you.
And yes, I am pushing the HD7770. The one that is the wildcard is the
HD6870 as it beats the HD7770 convincingly and has been as low as $130 AR. Keep in mind, however, that the version of the HD6870 that has been on sale is the XFX single fan. It is noisy and runs hot, and while they have the lifetime warranty, I personally don't like XFX as they don't bundle absolutely anything, not even the DVI to VGA adapter (at least not in the HD6870 or lower). The MSI HD7770 twin fan even includes a miniDP to DP adapter.
Alex
PS. DP means display port, not what you found in urban dictionary
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