New Card for New Rig on a budget?

[avatardfuse]

I'm selling my current computer's guts and using that money plus a little of my own to buy better parts.

I've actually been very satisfied with my current set up and would not have considered upgrading at this point if not for this particular opportunity to sell it all and get upgrades with the same money. I'll be selling away a Q6600 and HD4870 as part of the package.

I will be buying an i7 750 Lynnfield.

My question is what to go with for graphics? My top choice is to stick with HD 4870 because it still runs all of my games well. 2 years after buying my first HD 4870, I assumed that the price would be lower by now (haven't paid much attention to the market since) but it has not dropped by much. I want the computer to stay current with whatever games I throw at it but don't want to spend more than 200 on gfx.

Is HD4870 the best buy for 200 or lower or is there something better?

 

[bryanW1995]

I would sit on it until pricing and performace data come out next week on gtx460. If you don't like how that looks then a used 48x0 or gtx 260 will save you some money while still providing good performance.

 

[TemjinGold]

Performance-wise you won't find anything significantly faster for that budget. I would keep it if it's the 1gb version.

That lynnfield is i5, not i7, and may not be that much of an upgrade from your Q6600 either (especially if the latter is OCed.)

Edit: The used gtx 260 bryan mentions would NOT be much of an upgrade.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

An HD4870 isn't a bad card, and they can be found under $150 which surely is cheaper than what you paid 2 years ago. You might also try to look a the HD 4890, HD 5830, GTX 275, or the GTX 460 if you want a little bit of a performance boost.

 

[bryanW1995]

a used gtx 260 probably won't provide any upgrade at all. He just mentioned that he's upgrading on the cheap so I assumed that he's getting more for his vid card than it would cost him to replace it on the open market.

@op, temjingold is right, especially if you have a 1gb 4870.

 

[avatardfuse]

Thank you for your helpful replies!

woops, yes I meant to write i5. I realize it's not much of an upgrade from Q6600 but I'm not really losing money in this deal either so I figure why not. The mobo that I'm selling isn't compatible with i5 yet the mobo I'm buying is a better value.

And yes to Bryan, this sell / buy deal is better than I would get on the open market. Nevertheless, I'm still leaning towards just keeping my HD4870 and then replacing everything else based on what you folks are saying. I will keep an eye out for this gtx 460 as well.